Just for Hasitha LOL

This post is just for my friend Hasitha, who... err... let's say needs some help... I am being totally cheeky here and know he is just going to laugh at me. But hey, it will help clarify it for everyone else too ;)

I am going to show and explain the differences between male and female guppies. Mollies, platies and swordtails are all similar, so you can use the "boy bit" and "girl bit" information for them too.

Adult female guppies are full bodied (stocky) and only have colouration on their back tail. Please note the shape of the anal fin behind the gravid spot. The gravid spot is a dark spot near the vent, which is actually the babies inside the mummy. The darker it gets the more near to giving birth she is.

The vent, btw, is where the fish poop (those long, usually dark, worm looking things coming out of the back of the fish. Don't laugh - I can't count the number of times newbie fish keepers have asked me why there are "worms" in the tank.)

Here is a picture of a female guppy -

The adult male guppy on the otherhand, has longer fins, his body is sleeker and smaller than the female. The males will have colour on their top fin, body AND back tail. (gotta impress the girls :P) He also has a gonopodium (the boy bit) which delivers sperm to the female.

Check out this picture of a male guppy -

Guppies start reproducing at three months old. Imagine just how many babies they have in their liftetime when they breed every month (between 2-200 babies each month depending on the age of the guppy) and live to approx. three years old.No wonder they are nicknamed the millions fish!

Hasitha, if this doesn't help you stop bringing home only girls or only boys, Honey, you need glasses :P Love ya!!! hehehe

Information and pics to help me out were from -

http://board.fishchannel.com/Uploads/Images/76b92168-88ed-4e53-b58a-f6c7.JPG

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Livebe6.jpg&imgrefurl=http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Aqualand%2520Q%26As%2520II%25200306.htm&usg=__TABpSURcxsPcZTI24axHqSnlTec=&h=290&w=427&sz=10&hl=en&start=8&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=C2IWjxIDRphIdM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmale%2Bguppies%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/guppy.htm#sex

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/423206/fish_owner_tips_how_to_tell_the_sex.html

Baby Blue Tail Guppies

All my female blue tail guppies had their babies last weekend except one. She was getting so huge I thought there was a possibility that she was either 1. Going to explode or 2. The babies would start falling out by themselves lol

When I came home this afternoon I checked her and saw heaps of little babies swimming around! FINALLY!

There was actually too many babies to get out without stirring them up for her to chase so I decided to make life easier for all concerned and take her out. lol Once the new mum was out of the tank I took my time catching the babies and putting them in a container for transporting to the tank with the other blue tailed babies. Anyway, I ended up counting 35 babies. :D

She done good ;)

So now, I can't believe it - I have 60 something blue tail guppy babies! Well there is that tank of blue guppies that I wanted without even paying for them :P

This is a pic of the 35 baby guppies that were born today.

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.