I've been wondering why my FAT female guppy was not giving birth for a couple of months till one evening. While enjoying the guppies, I saw one female giving birth to one fry, and immediately turing around to eat the fry!!!

I was adviced to do 3 things to help the situation:

1. Feed the adults properly. I give them LOTS to eat, till they cannot eat anymore. However, I only feed once a day. Should I increase to 2 times?

2. Put lots of plants. I have floating plants, and plastic plants at the bottom. However, they cover only about 20% of the surface. Problem is, the mother will give birth in a clear area, so that the fry don't even have a chance!!

3. Put them in a basket with lots of holes. I did this with the fry-eating-mother, and got good results. Problem is, WHEN do I put them in the basket?? Most of my female got big round belly. A friend said that once the round belly becomes square, it will give birth in 3-4 days. Problem is, I have lots of trouble identifying "square" belly!!! I mean, some round belly is HUGE, and some "square" belly is only slightly big. So, should I put the small square belly female in the basket rather than the HUGE round female????

Finally, I hate using baskets!!! It is soooo difficult to feed them!! I mean, the food will just drop out of the basket as well!!!!

Anyone got any comments, or any tricks that you could share???

Hello,

The best method to get the highest fry is to record when is the last drop from the female. Most probably the next drop is about 28days after the last drop. so you can plan when to put the female in breeding trap. try it!

Good idea!!!

But first, I've got to wait for a random birth, then monitor from there!!! Last weekend, I suspected a birth, and put the females in a basket for 2 days. They were so freaked out they did not eat!!! Now that they are back in the tank, they are eating like a pig again!!!

Anyone got any other ideas??

Hmmm,

28 days gestation period is just an estimation. Some females have their or biological rhythm they followed. Even with my keen eyes, some I expected to deliver by a weeks or so could translate into weeks even months. I noticed that females would be able to delay birth if the conditions are unfavorable Therefore the best method still to look for 'squarish belly' the experts talked about. Never failed me yet....

Sometimes female do drop a little brood maybe due to different fertilisation period as females are known to store few batches of sperms. So sometimes you might think they dropped prematurely but in actual fact thats a real drop.

Canibalism among females are common especially red eyed guppies since they can't differentiate between fries and food. But it can be trained. My females don't prey on the fries after a few drops

After much research, it still comes down to the "square" tummy!!! This is a skill that I really have to learn!!!

Last week, I put 2 "square" tummy females in a seperate tank, and another 3 "round" females in their original tank. After 2 days, I got ONLY 2 frys but in the original tank with "round" females!!!

QUESTION: If I put the "square" females in a basket in a seperate tank, they seem "unhappy" and don't really eat. How many days would you recommend me to leave them there before I return them into their own tanks???

Hahaha Jason,

Sometimes transfering a ladden female into a new environment will cause what I termed "stress induced spawning". If the fries are not mature enough most will not survive or worst still all dead because underdeveloped/premature.

The females will definitely stressed when you house them in a basket/new environment but this will not be very fatal. Maybe another sign you can looked for is prior to spawning, females tend to isolate themselves from the group, staying still at a corner or laying down. All these signals that it is about time. If they are still swimming happily then maybe is not time yet.

Normally the ripe female will spawn within a day after being transfered into a new environment. If by end of second day they still haven't drop then return them to their tanks.