Only when you do so, you can understand how to control their population better. Many aquarium owners often face the question: are guppies egg layers? I will answer this question today to help you know more about the reproduction system of guppy fish. Guppy fish do not lay eggs, guppies are livebearers. What this essentially means is that they store their eggs inside the body. Only when they hatch, the guppy fry are released from their body.
During the entire pregnancy, the guppy fish store their eggs inside their body. The guppy fry are directly dropped by the female guppies from their body. Guppy fish can often lay anywhere between 10 to guppy fry in a matter of just 6 hours. This clearly indicates that they are able to store up to eggs in their body.
This is much higher as compared to some of the other fish species which you can include in your aquarium. This is the reason why guppies can breed pretty fast and their population can get out of control pretty quickly. As I stated above, guppy fish are livebearers. Each guppy fry, when released into the water, is only 0. Thus, it is pretty small. It can take up to 6 months for guppy fry to attain a size of 1. The size of 1. They then give birth to live baby guppy that can feed on their own and already know a few survival skills like hiding from adult fish.
Keeping only female guppies in a tank does not mean that there will be no baby guppies. Females are able to carry sperm from a male guppy for months. Thus, some guppies are already pregnant before you buy them at the store. They become mature enough to reproduce quickly, are not pregnant for long, and then can give birth to potentially a hundred babies at once! Guppy have a tendency to eat their fry. Guppies do not care for their offspring like many animal parents do. Once the guppy fry are born, they are on their own!
It is likely that most, or all, of the fry will be eaten by the mother or by the mother or other inhabitants of the tank. Some of the fry may survive if there are enough hiding places in the tank.
Guppies are also somewhat unique in the sense that from a single encounter between a male and female guppy, the female guppy can store sperm in her body for her lifetime, which allows her to reproduce even if there is not a male in the vicinity. Once guppies give birth, they can theoretically give birth again about days later if they mate with a male.
As mentioned previously, their gestation period is about days. This means that your female guppy may give birth as often as once a month. If you have more than one female guppy per tank, you may be seeing hundreds of guppy fry every month whether they are mating with males or just using stored sperm at a later date! Since guppies can reproduce so effectively, you may be concerned about limiting the guppy population in your tank. For the most part, even if you have females who are giving birth to fry every month, the population is likely to limit itself provided that you have a few things in place.
This is the most effective way to limit guppy reproduction. If guppies cannot mate, they are less likely to reproduce. You may buy female guppies that are already pregnant , or ones that have stored sperm away for a later date. Helpful 32 Not Helpful 3. Some say that moving your guppy to a breeding box will cause stress, enough to kill the mother and fry. Provide a large enough box for her to swim around in, clean water, and try to transfer her quickly in order to prevent over-stressing.
Helpful 16 Not Helpful 4. Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References 2. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: October 21, Categories: Fish Breeds Fish Health. Article Summary X If you think your guppy might be pregnant, look for a bulge in the fish's stomach that continues to grow over time.
Deutsch: Die Schwangerschaft eines Guppys feststellen. Nederlands: Erachter komen of je guppy zwanger is. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. They hide in the artificial plant. At 1 month all the babies are thriving; the ones separated, plus the 4 in the big tank. More reader stories Hide reader stories. Did this article help you? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy.
Dolores Garretson Nov 1, Melissa Petik Aug 13, We have what we now know is a pregnant guppy. The pet store only sells male guppies so we thought. Your article will help us provide the best care. Thank you! Rated this article:. Rose Britton Oct 4, This article helped me a lot, and now I feel more confident in recognizing and caring for my fish.
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