Breeding issue

[obabyizdean]

Everytime i see a pregnant guppy, i place her in the breeding box and like about two days later, her stomache gets flat and the and the black spot on her belly goes away. Still, i get no frys!...so i was wondering if it's because they need a heater, or somethin im forgetting?

[Mzungu]

Could you explain a bit more about your tank? How big, any other fish, what kind of breeding box, how long each female has been pregnant, how old, any circulation in the breeding box, etc. Anything else you can think to tell us about your tank will be helpful.

[obabyizdean]

sure..its a 20 gallon..other guppies and 10 tetras...not sure wut kinda breeding box. its like a rectangular prism shape and i guess when the fry come out, they fall through a slit in the middle of the breeding box to prevent the mom from eating them...seems like she has been pregnant for a couple of days like 4 or 5 days?

[Mzungu]

Ok, gotcha. Guppies usually give birth about once a month. Does the breeding box have a separate compartment for the babies, or is it made so that when they are born, they can swim out into the tank?

[obabyizdean]

ohh isee...there's a separate compartment at the bottom of it to prevent the mom from eating it, and from them swimming out to the tank.

[Mzungu]

I've never had much luck with breeding boxes. I usually just let nature take its course, and most of the time have enough babies survive until they're big enough not to be eaten. I have some guppies right now that have had a few batches of babies, and they're swimming among the plants toward the bottom of the tank. The other fish in the tank are either too small or not aggressive enough to eat them.
If you're interested in having a few babies, I would just leave the females in the tank with everyone else, and make sure the babies have enough hiding places. That way the mother doesn't have the stressful experience of being in a little box, as well. If you're interested in "maximum yield," I would probably just keep guppies in the tank (what kind of tetras are in there now?), or just transfer all your females to another tank (if there is even 1 male in there, they're probably all already pregnant) and wait about a month to see what happens.

[Mzungu]

Sorry, one more thing. I have no idea what is going wrong, and why you're not seeing any babies. It could be any number of reasons, from the female getting stressed in the box, to her eating the babies too quickly for them to escape, to maybe the female had already given birth before you transferred her and others got to the babies first...lots of possibilities that really can't be narrowed down without more info or observation.

But, on the bright side, I have probably at least 20 baby guppies swimming around in an 18g tank with about 6 adults, some Celestial Pearl Danios, a couple small types of killies, and about 5 kuhli loaches, and that is plenty of babies for me. :) I'd say just make sure there are enough hiding places and see what happens. :)

[obabyizdean]

i have neon tetras in there and about 10 female guppies along with about 4 male guppies...i guess i can wait a month to see what happens.

[PhishPhreek]

I never have had much success with "Traps" I prefer a 1g pickle jar with a bit of java moss in the bottom.
The java moss provides protection for the fry (someplace to hide while they learn how to swim) and food (infusorians live in the java moss and they are just the right size for little live bearers)

You can also use a plastic mesh scrubber - anything with holes large enough for the fry but too small for the other fish.

[guppymax]

If I wanted as many babies as possible I would try to keep the birth dates on a calendar and expect them to be about 28 days apart. So, at 26 days or so I would put the female by herself in a one gallon or more, tank full of hiding places, real or plastic. There is no need to have any other fish in there to eat the fry. If I was busy and she had the fry while I was away then I would put her back in with the males when I returned. If I found her in delivery then I would use the trap to seperate her from the fry. I might raise the trap to help the fry out of the trap and into the tank during delivery. I feel that it is too cruel and just not necessary to just keep her in the trap for days. I would raise the fry in the nursery tank for up to a month or so if it was a small tank and use another nursery tank for the next drop.

max

[villa1973]

well definitely, there is a few things to add, 1st and foremost,its weird that you havent had any babies, one thing i do is keeping really good records so i can know when to take my female to a net, i use big nets, and if the female is albino or gold bodied i strongly recommend this, the other thing that can be happening to you is :the females are not yet mature, what size are they?
in any case if you feed your guppys well they will give you good fry.