Female Guppie?

Question

I have had a female guppie for a while now and she hasnt given birth but got skinner, I have put her in a 10 gllon tank herself the last 2 times, with lots of spawning grass,javafern and lots of plants, I meen lots, and i checked to see if she was skinner and she was, So i took all the plants out and there was no trace of fry, This has happend twice, Oh and i forgot to mention, Were her gravid spot is meant to be its just like clear..see threw,. But she gets fat, She is quite a big female and i really want fry from her because she isa nice colour, Well her tail is anyway, So any ideas why shes not given birth? and doesnt seem to have a gravid spot

Heres 2 pics if they'll help.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l13/dunozl/Photo-0211.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l13/dunozl/Photo-0205.jpg

I know they eat them,
But i put her in a 10 gallon FULL of plastic plants it was full.. theres no way she could have eaten everyone. And i dont like puting them in small boxes.

Answer 1

Oh wow... guppies do NOT spontaneously change sexes! They are born the sex they are for life! Sometimes what people think is a female is just a young male that was slow to develop a gonopodium. Or someone was just not very good at sexing guppies. But a female will not change into a male, or a male into a female.

Now, as for your female getting skinnier but there not being any fry around, it's possible that she aborted her fry. Female guppies will spontaneously abort their fry if they are too stressed. They can also hold their fry for long periods of time if they don't like the water conditions. You didn't post any water conditions, and you mention that you moved her from one tank to another, so if the water conditions didn't match or if she was stressed out by the move, she may have aborted her fry for that reason. I'm not saying it's your fault, you may just have an easily stressed guppy.

I had one female that freaked out every time she even saw the net in the tank and she aborted her fry right after I moved her to the birthing tank. She developed fin rot shortly after that and later died. All of my other guppies were and are perfectly healthy, my water conditions are great, but she was just a very easily stressed fish, and couldn't handle being moved.

If you really want fry from this fish, you may be better off putting all your "fry hide-out" plants in the tank she is usually in and let her drop in that tank and then try to catch and move the fry as soon as possible after she drops them. She can always have more fry, but once you lose your female, that's the end.

Answer 2

I have some males and females that exact same color and while those have reproduced just fine, I have a couple females that aren't colorful do the very same thing, and also a couple sordtail females that have. They get really dark big gravid spots then I seperate them and later notice the spots are smaller and look clear but yet no fry. I have had fish for years and altho there are a lot of explanations from people saying they have to be eating them, I don't think they can get ALL of them when there's a lot of hiding spots. I may be wrong, but it's wierd that a lot of people have this same problem with no "good" exxplanation. I am going to research more into the theory about the females turning into males... I'm not sure how that happens. Maybe the dark spots could just be eggs they are getting rid of in the process of changing sexes..

Answer 3

I'd Also Get A Breeder Box, Something Like:
http://www.petco.com/product/7449/Lee-s-Multi-Purpose-3-Way-Breeders.aspx

Where The Fry Can Fall Through Into A Safe Place,
I Don't Know Why She's See Through Though.

Her Tail Is Very Colorful Are You Sure She Isn't Changing Sexes On You, I'v Had A Few Do That.

How Many Males Do You Have In With Her, I Tried To Keep Atleast One Male Per Every 10-15 Females Or They Would Become Males On Me.

Answer 4

Some guppies that have been outbred to wild endlers will be sterile. Some guppies that have been too inbred will be sterile. Also, some females, sometimes if they are too stressed or other unknown reason, will either reabsorb their eggs before they get birthed, or will drop their eggs prematurely (so they can't hatch outside the mom). Make sure you are feeding your female a high protein diet to make sure she's at the top of health. I used to occasionally fed my female guppies just a little boiled egg yolk from time to time just so they'd get that extra protein.

Answer 5

Maybe a stupid question, but do you have a male in your tank as well? Because without a male you won't have any babies

It should be 1 male to 2-3 females in your tank if you want to have babies

Answer 6

Do you know that she is really pregnant or your just guessing? I can't really see any black marks near her anal fin then this is an indication that she is pregnant. Try posting a picture that yo can see the whole one side of her body.

How did you know she was pregnant??

Answer 7

she will eat her own,you can get a hatching box for her next time it will keep her seperated from the young,i had the same problem.good luck.