Blue Tailed Guppy Fry

I love bluetailed guppies. They would have to be my favourite guppy.

I have 4 females and 2 stunning males all housed by themselves as I was after some fry from them. This morning I woke up, checked their tank and did a double take - yep there was one, tiny, really lightcoloured fry hiding in the plants. If I hadn't had my glasses on I would have missed it for sure! I hurriedly turned on the tank light - the fry are attracted to the light so they swim to the top of the tank and hide amongst the plants up there.

One of the females was definitely having them at the time as one by one fry appeared at the top of the tank which made it easier to scoop them up. Adult guppies are notorious for eating their fry as soon as it is born so you have to be real quick.

Signs to tell when your female is ready to give birth -

* her tummy looks like it is going to explode soon lol

* her tummy has a kind of squared look to it

* the gravid spot at the back is dark black (what you are actually looking at is the babies inside her)

* she starts hiding or sitting at the bottom of the tank

* other fish start harassing her

How to increase the chances of catching fry

* guppies often delivery around sunset and sunrise so check around these times

* have a well planted environment with lots of growth covering the top of the tank for the fry to hide in

* remember that fry are attracted to the light

* whenever my female is giving birth I add food to the tank to keep everyone concentrating on that and not looking for the fry

* always have a small net and a spare container next to the tank for catching and separating fry

The maturity level of your female guppy is the deciding factor on how many fry she will have. Young ones will have anything from 6 to 2 dozen, while much older ones have around the hundred mark.