Baby guppies and mother behavior

[Pankakes]

I have 4 female guppies and 2 male guppies. I'm proud to announce the addition of 7 babies. They have been here now for 2 days. I'm feeding them crushed up flake food. They seem to be doing great. My question is this. What is the behavior of a female giving birth? Do they give birth at the bottom of the tank? What are their behavior characteristics? I think I have another female ready to pop . Also, how much salt should i be adding to the tank?

 

[kickthefool]

I have a bunch of guppies in my community and the behavior changes by fish, some birth at the top and some at the bottom. You can usually tell how close it is by the way the stomach looks, not full like when they eat but protruding at the rear like its about to pop. I add 1 tablespoon for every five gallons, and mine have had thousands of babies in the same tank for the last few years. Only a handful survive even though i have a bunch of java moss, and hornwort. If you want them to survive you have to separate the mom before she gives birth making sure not to stress her out too much.

 

[Pankakes]

I can see about 7 babies in my 5 gallon tank. No more, no less. I pay close attention to my tank and 7 was the number I counted the morning there were babies. My tank is pretty well planted. Do you think they will be ok? How long does it take for babies to be out of the woods before they are safe? how often are you adding salt?

 

[kickthefool]

Plants will help them survive, I dont know what else you have in the tank. In my big tank w/ platies and swordtails they will take about four months to grow big enough to come out without getting eaten. If you separate them, it will be faster. If you have just guppies they might not need to get as big to survive. I add salt to water i do water changes with, once a week. I use unsalted water to top off since salt doesn't evaporate.

 

[Pankakes]

does 7 babies sound about right? I've only had the 4 females for about 3 weeks and this is the batch that they've had. Is that normal about 7 babies. I know the batch of babies vary but does that sound light?

 

[woofy]

the fry depends on the size of the female 1" will usually give 15-20 that ive seen. 2" wil be 20-30. 7 sounds ok if the mom wasnt moved, shell eat quite a few at birth.

 

[kickthefool]

if its her first time, about 10-20 sounds right, and of course few get eaten right away or are still borne. When she gets older and you take care of them with good water conditions, they will have 50-100 per shot. My 2 inch female has about 100 or more, too many to count, every month and a half or so.

 

[Pankakes]

Once born, how old do the females need to be before they can have babies?

 

[likestofish]

switch from flake food to cichlid pellets ground very finely and eye yolk dried than gournd in wiht the pellat powder casues really fast growth had a baby guppy that was born a week ago is now half of an inch.

 

[kickthefool]

Once born, how old do the females need to be before they can have babies?

depending on the fish and the level of care, anywhere from 4-6 months before the babies can start having babies. Pro breeders actually speed it up and bring it down to less than 3 months by having a warmer tank and doing lots and lots of feedings and water changes.