Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am fairly new to fish keeping as ive only had a 15 gallon aquarium of goldfish and pictus for a year now (dont worry BOTH types of fish are being moved into an indoor pond once they get bigger) my boyfriend though has owned and kept fish his entire life and is teaching me. but i decided i wanted to try caring for and breeding guppies for me,my sister,nephew and boyfriend. as i am getting ready to move my 2 orandas and 3 catfish into the new pond i will have an empty 15 gallon tank. i also set up a 10 gallon as a baby tank (which is being cycled as we speak) and i also have a 3 gallon for when the fry are very small as well as a net breeder. i purchased 4 pairs of guppys (4 females 4 males) the small 3 gallon has no filter and i used water from my 15 gallon to fill it up with. i do have small snails as ihave heard that you can use them to act as mini filters helping to eat up the old food and a bubble stone going.
some questions i have are
when should i be able to tell when to move the female into the breeder net?(i have one pregant female already and one i am unsure about)
one of my females has doubled in roundness since bringing her home but she only has a very small "gravid" spot in her tummy could she be over eating or is she just really fat early on in pregnancy or is she close to haveing them?
also i read in a book that baby guppies need "still" water when they are really small otherwise they will die becuase they wont be able to eat. i have a small air stone in the 3 gallon but it does move the water around quit a bit i noticed when i sprinkled some test flakes in. should i remove it?
and how do i do a water change when the fry are very small?

You will probably notice the males picking on the females, as a 3 female to 1 male ratio is preferred (so no one female is being picked on). Otherwise, it sounds like your set up is suitable. The snails will help maybe a little, but not majorly. You will still have to do many water changes with the smaller tank as the fry will need fed several times a day. Keep in mind that you have 4 females, and if it's their first time breeding they can have anywhere from 8-20 fry (their first time and many more there after).

You will be able to tell when your female is ready to pop by the gravid spot (the dark spot on her abdomen, close to the anus). If I recall correctly, I think it's a cycle of 28 days from fertilization to birth. You will be able to tell... trust me. Mine used to rest on the bottom of the tank because I imagine their bellies were quite heavy. You can only keep the female in the breeding box/net for 24 hours... otherwise you will stress her out tremendously... and she could lose her babies.

It is likely that your female is pregnant if she was with males at the pet store. If not, she very well could be over eating, but guppies are very easy to breed... so my guess is she IS pregnant.

I never had a filter in my fry tank, but I made sure the water was well aerated and clean. So the air stone will be fine, an added bonus to relieve stress from the babies.

Water changes should be performed carefully. It takes some getting used to. I did not use a siphon to perform my water changes. Also, keep in mind that the fry will be more sensitive than their parents, during the first little bit of life, to water changes. So do little changes more frequently. I'd say maybe 1/2 gallon every week, or more if your specific tank needs it. I used a one gallon tank for my fry, but I only had one or two females breeding at a time and they were new mommies.

Good luck.
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Phishie
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