# i got 2 females today and after coming home i found that they where both preg...



## arrow564 (Jun 7, 2005)

*i got 2 female guppys today and after coming home i found that they where both preg..*

i got 2 female guppys today and after coming home i found that they where both pregnint one looks like it will burst at any moment and the other i saw the graved spot and she was kind of fat so i assumed... 
is there anyway of knowing when she should deliver 
and how do i protect the fry from the filter if i put a mesh over it they will then get stuck to the mesh and be killed that way, do i turn the filter off all together?


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

What kind of fish are they by the way...you just said females..not the actual type of fish. Thanks  and babies are so fun hehe  so good luck!


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## Arlene (May 20, 2005)

Hi...I just got some baby swordtails last night and to be honest i didnt notice any big changes in the mother before she gave birth. She was still swimming around and eating normal. When she was getting near to giving birth i noticed she was staying near the back and beside the darker plants ..not hiding as such but in the darker spots. I also noticed that her vagina (if that is what it is called in a fish) was lower kinda pushed out. Thats why i decided to watch her and i managed to see her giving birth. The one that you say looks like she is going to burst sounds like she doesnt have long to go. Have you got other kinds of fish in beside her if so have you got a breeder net or seperate tank ready for her/fry to go in? Or are you just going to leave them in the community tank?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

yup, i would watch out for those females the fry may become food. do you have a breeder net or another tank that you can use?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

A word to the wise, unless seperate when you purchase them, female livebearers are always pregnant.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/data/540/3646giving_birth.jpg

Guppy giving birth photo.

If you look at the body you can see where the silver/gold color turns a clear. When they are ready to give birth this has a black color like in the photo and sometimes you can even see movement inside. It is a really neet thing to see.


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## arrow564 (Jun 7, 2005)

fish_doc said:


> http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/data/540/3646giving_birth.jpg
> 
> Guppy giving birth photo.
> 
> If you look at the body you can see where the silver/gold color turns a clear. When they are ready to give birth this has a black color like in the photo and sometimes you can even see movement inside. It is a really neet thing to see.


i cant accsess the photo


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

http://www.aworldoffish.com/forumphotos/3646giving_birth.jpg

Try this. It didnt cut and paste correctly. so I copied it to my webspace.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Sometimes the fish wont look ready to give birth and what do you know you'll have babies! Other times I've waited and waited and the fish just wont have them even when they are bursting!


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## sbsociety (May 1, 2005)

Yeah, me too. Sometimes they look like they're going to burst FOREVER... and sometimes, hey barely look pregnant and they release then. I guess they just do it when they're ready. But no doubt, if it looks like they're going to explode, I wouldn't count on them being pregnant any more than another week tops. I also notice, the bigger/older the female is, the less "swollen" she is when she drops. All my guppies, since smaller than my mollies will be extremely (over)fat before she drops. I have full grown adult mollies who BARELY look pregnant, but release tons of fry. It's hard to tell with my adult livebearers since they don't really get that "square" look. They just kind of release whenever they want to. But with guppies, it's easy to tell because since they're so small, they get really fat when pregnant and have that squarish look. 

As for the filter, I use no filter in my fry tank, but do very frequent gravel vacs. (30-50% every 2-4 days... usually 2) A lot will say that you can leave the filter just the way it is and if the fry are healthy, they won't get sucked up... I just leave mine with no filter. And when I do the vac, I stick a filter from the tank next to it in it for about 3-4 hours to get the stirred debris up, then take the filter out and put it back in the other tank. (saves me from buying another filter, it works, as long as there is no disease in either tank)


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