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How big should the guppy babies be before putting them back with the adult guppies? And i read on a website that u take them out of the tank that has the adult fish is that true? because i did that n i was wonderin wat would happen if i left them with the big ones... And One More Thing How Do U Tell Them Apart By The colours Right? help me plz

How big should the guppy babies be before putting them back with the adult guppies? If you've taken them out, I would think once they are bigger than the biggest mouth in the main tank.

And i read on a website that u take them out of the tank that has the adult fish is that true? because i did that n i was wonderin wat would happen if i left them with the big ones... You don't have to take them out. If you leave them in the main tank, it depends on what exactly you have in there. If it's just the guppies, then you should be fine, although some guppies may eat the young. However, my guppies didn't pay any attention to the fry, really.

If there's something else in the tank, you may have to be careful. In my case, zebra danios were a nice way to control population. If the fry survived for more than a few days, no one bothered it.

Dense, small leaved plants are ideal for fry to hide in. Java moss is a good plant, too. Fry are good at hiding. However, I found it was easier to feed the fry when I separated them. I was intent on keeping the first drop of my first guppies, so I separated them in a net breeder. Worked well.

And One More Thing How Do U Tell Them Apart By The colours Right? Not really. While males DO have more colors than females, that's not really noticeable in the first few weeks.

You'll notice as they grow that females will develop a dark black spot near their anus. That's the gravid spot. Found this pic on the web (as my guppies don't stay still enough to get good pics ):



Males will develop a modified anal fin. On a female it will be spread out like a fan. The anal fin on a male will be shaped like a straw. Here's another pic I found on the web... not guppies, but same idea:



See how the bottom fin, closer to the tail is different? That's what you're looking for. The gravid spot would show up on the body in the same general area. It's very obviously on light-color fish.

In my experience, the gravid spot develops first, but keep an eye out for the gonopodium. In my case, I didn't WANT anymore fry, so I split them up as soon as I could tell the difference. Just keep in mind that livebearers give birth about every 28-30 days and that even if you split them up, females can keep giving birth every month for 6-9 months.

Edit: I can spell, really I can!

Last edited by Kitten at 12-Mar-2005 15:13[/font]

Last edited by Kitten at 12-Mar-2005 15:15[/font]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

one more thing... can brothers and sisters guppie mate?

and thanks for your help kitten

Yes brother and sister guppies can and will mate, so will mother/son, daughter/father, and any other combination they can think of. They only know that one is female and the other is male. Too much inbreeding can bring out any genetic flaws in their make-up.

My original three guppies I got from my sister's fiance... they were young and he told me they were all girls. Well, hah, I could tell pretty quickly that one was a male. They were all sibs, and I wound up with fry.

I don't know if THEIR parents were sibs or not. However, I noticed that of the fry they threw, all the females were fancy, but many of the males were "wild" colors. My male was a yellow and black leopard print (snakeskin, I guess is the technical term) and the females were yellow/black as well. However, many of the male offspring resemble endler's livebearers in color... splashes of neon orange, green, red, black... I think this has something to do with the parents being sibs, but I'm not sure.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Yes, siblings can mate as pug said, and parents can mate with their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins....family trees in the fish species can become quite interesting and complicated:%)

In actualality, fish are not like humans on gender. Of course it is luck of the draw. I read this article a couple of months back that said a lot of the times it will depend on the temperature and pH a fish is being raised in. I thought it was interesting and possibly a hoxe, so I posted the link somewhere here, in fp and I believe that DarkRealmOverlord or AcidRain (sorry guys don't remember which one of you responded) even confirmed that they had "played" with the theory themselves. I don't advise you messing with this as if you don't know what you are doing you could end up killing off all of your fry.

As for leaving the fry in the tank with the adults, go for it just make sure you have plenty of plants for them to hide in...I prefer Anaracharis so that you can leave some floating and some planted...

Anymore questions let us know...Heidi:%)

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

One More Thing... Dose The Female Guppy Have A Bigger Stomack Than The Male One?

Yes definetely. (At least in the adults)