# How big does the Mom get ?



## sunsation72 (Oct 24, 2012)

I am new to all this and recently purchased 3 females and one male. The one female who is very large. I'm thinking she must be an older fish because her whole body is at least twice the size of the other females. She is def pregnant. Large dark spot in the back and her bottom appears to be boxing off. I've read some of the info in these forums to familiarize myself to guppies.

How large will a guppy get before dropping her fry? I'll try to take a pic of her tonight. She's the largest guppy I've ever seen. My little girl picked her out and asked the man at the fish store for the big fish. I assumed she was pregnant but are the older females fairly large?

She's been not eating and not socializing with the other fish. I bought some 'guppy grass' and put that in the tank so the fry have some where to hide if I don't see when she starts to drop. I have a breeder box but don't want to keep her in it for that long while I'm at work.

It's an exciting hobby and I can't wait to get my new 35 gallon octagonal tank this weekend. I'm going to use that as the community tank once it's stable and set up. The smaller tank will be for the babies.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

oh my...you are in for it...be careful or you will have 37,822,963,108,793,221 babies...lol

i have seen some female guppies reach 2 1/2 "...but that is a bit rare...you will need lots and lots of floating plants like hornwort for the fry...i would say that she is ready to drop any day now...keep a close eye on her...i never use nets or breeder boxes for my guppies.. just the plants..no reason for putting added stress on her...that is why a lot of people lose the females...
the very best of luck to you...trust me when i tell you that this is a terribly addictive hobby...


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## sunsation72 (Oct 24, 2012)

My oldest daughter is allergic to cats so it was sad when we had to find a home for a kitten. Now that we started with guppies, she is thrilled to have a pet that doesn't cause allergic reactions.

I'm thinking this will be addicting! I check the tank when I'm at home and even get up a bit early in the morning to check in on 'mom'. I have another smaller female who is pregnant but since she's so much smaller, it'll be hard to tell when she's ready to drop. I bought some floating plants that they called 'guppy grass'. I also have lots of fake bottom plants with tons of hiding spots. I think letting nature take it's course will be better so I don't stress out the females. 

Thanks for the warm welcome. THis seems like a great group of fish lovers like me.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

HAH !!!!!!! just you wait.....this is my basement..............lol
i am also allergic to cats...and dogs too..

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/fish-aquarium-pictures/35115-fishroom-almost-done.html


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## sunsation72 (Oct 24, 2012)

WOW Loha.. what an amazing set up you have!!! You gave me ideas for my basement but that will take years of work! 

We have our first fry last night and were able to isolate him in a isolation box, leaving Mom in the community tank so she doesn't get stressed. This morning we found 3 more fry which we'll leave in the tank until we can rescue them into the box. It's amazing how fast they are and so tiny! My daughters were in awe of them, as was I. SInce we don't know who the dad fish was (bought her pregnant), it will be interested to see what colours come out as they grow! I hope the fry survive .. at least 4-5 of them. 

** See below for pics - FLIKR doesn't like inserting pics on here so had to make a photobucket account **

I'll post more pics when I'm home. Hoping she will drop more fry while I'm at work. She started to eat again so I'm thinking she may be done for a while.


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## sunsation72 (Oct 24, 2012)

*Link to pics*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

I don't think I have the pics showing up, here is my link to three pics I took of the fry, 2 of them Moms and our male guppy.


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## sunsation72 (Oct 24, 2012)

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