Guppy pregnancy basics

[BF McUmber]

My main question is,  if a platinum color guppy has a gravid spot that regularly goes from black to red and black, does that mean that she is pregnant and producing fry? 

 

Background

I bought a trio of guppies a year ago.  They had a round of 4 fry that made it.  Then I had some illness break out that killed all my guppies but one of the young females.  The young girl would have been 4 months old when the outbreak happened. I would really like fry from this girl as these guppies have sentimental meaning. 

Since 12/18/2022 she has been alone in a tank with an amano shrimp and bladder snails.  Today i took the amano out in case he was eating the fry.  Comparatively I fed her a lot but only once a day. She is nice and chubby and eats and swims happily. She is in a 10 gallon tank with a decent amount of moss but no floating plants of mass. I am willing to go get her a male counterpart,  but if I don't have to for a generation or two I would prefer not.  Mainly in fear of disease.  

Do you think the amano and or the mother is eating the fry, or is she just not producing fry? I am making a floating 10 cup container with a mesh bottom of we think she is eating the fry as well.  

 

[Theplatymaster]

@BF McUmber

1. chances are the amanos are not hurting the fry, and neither is the mother. There is a chance with the age she was when the males died that she is not pregnant.
2. My other tip is look VERY carefully, its good that you provided hiding spots, and guppy fry are VERY good at hiding, you might have some you dont know about, or it could just be my first idea.

@xXInkedPhoenixX@Guppysnail

[BF McUmber]

I wish I had better hiding spots,  but the guppy grass did not do as well as it does in my work tank and the floating pearl weed is struggling. 

So maybe I should get her a male soon before she ages out of breeding capabilities?

 

[Guppysnail]

She may be absorbing the fry is she is stressed from being alone. 
I have heard of Amano shrimp eating fry but I can’t confirm. I have never kept Amano. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:36 PM, Guppysnail said:

She may be absorbing the fry is she is stressed from being alone. 

ive never heard they could do this, that is interesting.

@BF McUmberif you were to get a male, get another female with it to prevent any extreme harassment on the female

[Guppysnail]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:40 PM, Theplatymaster said:

ive never heard they could do this, that is interesting.

Yes it is not uncommon 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:44 PM, Guppysnail said:

Yes it is not uncommon 

if it happens with platies, ive never seen it.

I also have never kept guppies.

[Ken Burke]

I found this article that says female guppies reach sexual maturity at 3 months.  So maybe?  I find water sprite is terrific as a floating plant.    

[lefty o]

it is possible she was/is pregnant, it is also possible she has aborted, or she could have eaten the fry herself.

[BF McUmber]

I made a isolation box with size 7 plastic mesh in the bottom.  I could put her in it and see if the fry fall through.  

If she did abort or absorb the eggs, is that something she would choose to do on a monthly basis? 

From the sounds of it the gravid spot alone is not evidence of pregnancy though.  

 

[lefty o]

a gravid spot is a decent indicator, but you know for sure when the abdomen starts to square off a little bit from the fry growth.

[BF McUmber]

I feel like she has been boxy in the past so I was hopeful and then confused when I did not see fry. I don't notice her drastically getting skinny though so maybe she is just fat off lots of food.  

I'll wash my containment container I made and see where I get with that.  If I give it a month or two and don't see anything I'll get a male. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 2/22/2023 at 6:36 PM, Guppysnail said:

She may be absorbing the fry is she is stressed from being alone. 

I agree with this. I had one doing this once. 

On 2/22/2023 at 6:45 PM, Theplatymaster said:

it happens with platies, ive never seen it.

I believe it does happen with platies but usually only when stressed 

On 2/23/2023 at 4:18 AM, BF McUmber said:

made a isolation box with size 7 plastic mesh in the bottom.  I could put her in it and see if the fry fall through.  

This might actually make it worse. It will stress her out and can cause other issues. I wouldn't recommend it. I would get her some company. You could try another female guppy or maybe even another species of fish. 

I had something very similar happen with my first female guppy. I made all the mistakes. I put her in a breeder box or a 5 gallon before she gave birth and she would just reabsorb. I then figured if moving her is an issue I'll keep her alone at all times!  This just turned into exactly what you are describing. Every month she would he big, get square, and then get skinny. 

Tbh, there are worse things that could be happening. I mod a guppy group on Facebook and I can't tell you how many times I see people with a female isolated or moved or alone that ends in tragedy worse than this. Sometimes she will hold the fry in until she dies. Rarely she will pass infertile eggs. Increased stress will also increase her chances of eating the fry. 

Your #1 job with her is to reduce her stress. Getting her some company is tye first step you need to do to accomplish this but there are other things you can do as well. 

Here are some things that will make her feel more comfortable when it's time to give birth:

1. Provide places to hide for both mom and babies. Live or fake plants are amazing for this. Especially consider some floating on the top. They like some cover over them so they can hide while giving birth. 

2. Remove any fish harassing her. They can be returned later. The ones to watch the most is the males. A little bit of harassment is actually good and can encourage her to drop. Watch that it doesn't get too intense and stress her out. If it does, remove him until she gives birth. 

3. Turn the lights down and avoid watching her. It can be tempting to watch this miracle happening buy try to resist. She will be stressed out and not feel her babies are safe if a large predator is watching her. She and her babies are vulnerable. She needs to feel safe. 

[PineSong]

If you want to avoid the risk of disease when adding more guppies (or any other fish) you could buy them from a local hobbyist or even from a hobbyist online from this forums' Sale area, or from Aquabid and quarantine them for a couple of weeks before adding them to the tank with your lonely guppy girl. Fish from other hobbyists are much less likely to be sick than store-bought fish. Also, if you get fish from someone in your area, they will already be acclimated to the water there.

[BF McUmber]

I gave her a little more time on her own and then went and bought a male to put in with her. The male I got was pretty small so I'm not sure if he was there just as company or as a mate. Regardless my guppy got big once again, but this time dropped about 26 fry 🙂 It is exciting. In another month or two I'll have all the guppies. Assuming they survive I'm going to go get them at least a 29 gallon tank. 

When I got the male I treated him with paracleanse and then waited 2 weeks and treated again. I was going to treat a 3rd time as has been said in some livestreams... but that's when the babies came. I'm assuming I should hold off on any of the other dewormers with the babies being young correct?