Last week we bought a few fish, one like the one we had sence Christmas, the only one like it. Today we found 2 baby fish in the tank that look like the one we got at Christmas, and the one we bought last week. How long does it take for a fish to have babies?
2007-02-10 13:57:15 · 9 answers · asked by jeeccentricx2 5 in Pets ➔ Fish
Perhaps it was a buy one get one free kinda fish
2007-02-10 14:05:52 · answer #1 · answered by the_little_one_said 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It depends on the type of fish you have. it sounds like you most likely have a form of live bearers, such as guppies, platys or mollies. If so, these fish actually give birth to live fish, instead of laying eggs. What may have happened is that you may have purchased a fish that was already pregnant, as live bearers can start having babies as early as a few weeks old. Live bearers normally do not live much longer than 1-1.5 years, which is why they reproduce at such an early age. You may not have realized that your fish was pregant and so the other fish ate the babies that could not escape. Trust me, this is no reflection on you as a owner, and from personal experience, there was a time, when I wished my fish would eat most of the babies. I started out with about 5-6 guppies and ended up with like 100+, not a fun experience.
The general gestation period is around 21/40 days, do it is most likely your fish was already pregnant before you purchased her.
2007-02-10 14:12:53 · answer #2 · answered by tigerlilly2255 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chances are you have livebearers - mollies, guppies, swordtails or platies (also called moons) - and one was pregnent when you bought it. Here's another surprise for you - the females of these species can "store" sperm from a male, so she might still be giving birth 6 months from now!
Here's a website so you can identify your fish: http://www.fishlore.com/
Here's what to look for to know if your fish is a male or female (this will work for the species I mentioned above ONLY!):
Look at the anal fin (the one on the bottom closest to the tail. If it's shaped like a triangle, it's a girl. If it's thin and pointed (like a finger), it's a boy. You may have two females - and if they were kept with males where you bought them, they may BOTH be pregnant!
Some egglayers can lay eggs and have them hatch in a few days, but then you should be seeing lots of babies (unless the parents are eating them).
2007-02-10 14:09:20 · answer #3 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure what kind of fish you have, but if you have a live bearer (like a molly or guppy or platy) they can give birth up to 6 months after mating with a male.
2007-02-10 14:02:27 · answer #4 · answered by Miss. Kitty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of two things happened.
Either you bought a pregnant livebearer at the store that gave birth in the last day or two, or you bought fish that are egg layers and they spawned shortly after you got them.
2007-02-10 14:10:33 · answer #5 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I brought a Platty Home and 3 days later I had 15 new babies.
She was undoubtly already pregnant when I bought her.
2007-02-11 02:04:16 · answer #6 · answered by Ragweed 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not very long. not knowing what kind of fish doesn't help but female fish can lay eggs have them hatch in only a couple of days.
2007-02-10 14:07:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe one got pregnant at the pet shop.
2007-02-10 14:05:07 · answer #8 · answered by jo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think very long...
2007-02-10 14:05:02 · answer #9 · answered by Lauren 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋