When will I know when to put my guppy into the birthing tank?

Question

Hey,
I have six guppies in my tank and I bouth my fancy female guppy already pregnant. I bought one of those floating tanks for her to have her babies in with a divider to protect them from her and other fish.
The only problem is, I don't know when she's pregnant enough to be put in there. I don't want to put her in to early and run the risk of stressing her out and having her abort the fry. I know it isn't easy to tell when they will give birth within the next two days or so, but if someone has good tips, could they please help me?
Thanks.

Answer 1

You will notice that she gets a squary appearance about her, which is most noticeable beneath her head
to picture it better, just read the article here and watch the video, then you will know what i'm talking about
this appearance usually appears about 1 week before giving birth
http://www.fishlesscycling.com/articles/breeding_tropical_fish.html




hope that helps
good luck



EB

Answer 2

If it is a guppy only aquarium, I would do the easy thing and put some floating aquarium plants -live or fake- in the tank for the female to drop her babies when she is ready and for them to hide in as they grow. Sometimes putting a fish in a breeding container causes stress and she then keeps the fry inside longer. Of course this isn't a good thing, and makes it much more difficult to time her release of the babies.

If you want to use the breeder trap, I'd suggest writing down her "pregnancy date" and counting down until it's time for their release (check online to see good calanders for this as different types of guppies could vary -ie between endlers and domestic strains there is a small difference). Of course this is much more hands-on for you, so, as I suggested, maybe the easy floating plant idea would work best for you.

GL!

Answer 3

A female guppy usually gets a corner at the lower left and lower right of her belly, so it's not quite as round as it usually is, a couple of days before they are going to give birth. Also you will see them looking for a place to hide so they can give birth.

personally i would just make sure your aquariam has plenty of hiding places and shelter for your guppies to give birth and for the babies to hide whilst they are growing as is causes a lot less stress for your female.

hope this has helped. =]

Answer 4

See your vet or go to the place you bought them at