Have large female guppie, what to do? ?

Question

Currently have a variety of fish (all communal) however due to the loss of a couple I have got 3 male and 1 female guppy (aware this is maybe not so good and will sort it). The female has been getting fat, males harassing etc and then she deflated a bit. Then this week she has gone huge again, been trying to find quiet places where the males won't bother her and as a result have put her in a breeding pen within the main tank. Q1. is she most likely pregnant? Q2. Is the pen a good/bad idea? Q3. Basically any advice on helping the process.

Answer 1

Yes, guppies are always breeding, she is most likey breeding. Put her in a pen when she is giving birth.  (guppies pop out like CRAZY I tell ya!)  But when no more babies are "coming" take the mom out, that way, she wont eat the babies. Leave the babies in the pen for a couple days, or intil they get bigger!

Answer 2

in order 1. yes 2. bad 3.remove male and put him in the pen so the female can give birth

Answer 3

I sometimes use a breeder box for my guppies and after a couple days they will calm down and be fine. After a female guppy has given birth before there will be a bend in its spine right above its dorsal fin. The female will also fatter for a while sometimes permanently. If the female is about to give birth she will start to excrete a white membrane from her a**s. (The membrane should give of a sort of shimmering or distortion in the water.) When she does this you have between 3 hours and 3 days before she give birth. Also when she is really pregnant you can sometimes see eyes in its lower midsection or above the anal cavity

Answer 4

Yes and if your happy with your present livestock then let the fry fry to the others.If not get more tanks till you find someone willing to buy them.It will go on and on though.

Answer 5

turn the heat down  

Answer 6

Q1: Look at her. does she have a little black spot near her rear?

If she does, shes preggo.

Q2: Bad idea. the fry can slip through the slits on the 3-way plastic livebearer thing.

Q3: Just leave her alone! make sure the fry have some plants to hide in and let nature do its work. check for babies every 2-3 hours and get a tank ready for the fry. when you see them, scoop them out with a aquarium net and put them in the fry tank. it is normal for less than half of the fry to survive.

GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 7

1.  Yes

2. No but since you have 3 males harassing her it may be the lesser of 2 evils.  The breeding traps are very stressful for the fish but so is being chased constantly.

3.  Fish have been giving birth for thousands of years alone.  If it is stressed out by the trap it may abort or reabsorb the fry.  Unless you want to try to save the fry and even if you do most likely 75% of them will die, I'd just leave her be in the tank and try to get the ratio straightened out to give her a break.

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Answer 8

Answer to question 1.   She is very pregnant.   Answer to question 2.

Depends on what your goal is. If you want to breed your guppie and save the fry then yes a pen is a good idea. It will help save the youngsters.  All the fish in your tank will eat the babbies. If you dont care about the babbies then just leave her alone. However she will be harassed by the males and she will get pregnant. A LOT!    If you want the males to leave her alone the only thing you can do is seperate them, and if this is your goal then just get rid of the female. They are not near as attractive as the males anyway.  

You can also try putting some plants in your tank.  Gives the fish (babbies and females) a place to hide. However the females are going to be harrased by the males. No way around it.