Questions about Guppy

[Hydroponics Curacao]

Hi,

I'm growing guppies in 2 raft systems of mine. And the systems are doing wonderful!

But I have 2 question:

1. I saw today that a guppy became pregnant. I've separated her into a cup (big enough for the fish) which hangs in the raft system. I've put some plants in there for when the babies are born, they can hide. 
   But I don't know for sure that she is doing well in there. So I wanted to ask: If the guppy die, can I open the body, take the eggs and put them where the males are? Will they get fertilized? Or must they be in the female's abdomen? 
2. The second question is: If the pregnant guppy isn't in a bin where I can see through, how can I see from above when she is about to have her babies and how can I see that she is done having babies?

Hope you guys can answer these questions for me. 

Thanks,

Brandon

[Ellen Roelofs]

Brandon,

Congratulations on your guppies!  I think you will find that once they start breeding, it is very difficult to stop them!  To take a stab at your questions, guppies are livebearers, so the eggs are fertilized internally.  If your female has been kept with males, has gotten very fat and looks otherwise healthy, she is probably already "pregnant."  You will know she is done giving birth very shortly after you see babies. These babies will be free-swimming and gravitate toward the surface of the water, so floating plants make the best cover for them.  The fry are large enough at birth to eat crushed flake food or any type of fry starter.

[Hydroponics Curacao]

Thank you very much!

This is the third time they are having babies. 
So that means that the egg thing won't work.  

Actually, I take a look at them everyday since I've put them with the males. But they are all fat (some of them are really fat). But when I look at the gravid spot, it ain't black. 

I've seen a video on youtube and the female stopped giving birth for about 1 hour. And then started again 

I will let the plants float then. Because I've pressed them to the bottom (they aren't water plants).

[Ellen Roelofs]

The egg thing actually might work... I had a female platy (also a live bearer) die when gravid.  I left her body in the tank and 3 days later the fry had found (eaten?) their way out of the mother's body.

If keeping females in a cup in the tank isn't working, you might try moving some fat females (and maybe a couple handsome males just for good measure) to a separate tank/tub/bucket of several gallons/liters (I'd say at least 5-10g/20-40l, with a sponge filter). You may already have something adequate set up for raising the fry, perhaps?

[Hydroponics Curacao]

Wauw. That's weird. 

Well, I've put the female back into the main thank. And i've put more of these plants in the water (they are starting to have roots). But they are still harassing the female. Does this mean she's not pregnant? 

Yes I do. I've made my own bin where the fries can live in. It has sponge on it's sides so it won't sink. But it's in another thank. Because the one where they are in now, doesn't have more space to put the thing i made. Only cups. 

Can i put them in another thank without harming them? Because when they are big enough, they will be going into that tank.

[Ellen Roelofs]

Yes, you can move them, but you want the water to be about the same temperature and from the same source (or you must slowly mix the water in a bucket).  

[Hydroponics Curacao]

They are at the same temperature. But i think that the ammonia level isn't the same

[Chip Pilkington]

I'd recommend you leave them - intervention often causes stress and more problems. Mom is really good at both giving birth and fending off pushy males until she's ready again. As long as you don't have other species in the tank, the babies won't need any help either. As mentioned, they will look for cover like roots, etc. Also as mentioned, finely crush some flakes and you'll have fat, happy babies!

If you really enjoy the live-birth and watching the babies grow, set up a small tank/goldfish bowl and toss a few males and females in - it won't take long. They don't need heat or even air (unless you want to throw an airstone in). Then you don't need to disturb those hard workers in the raft tank :)

[Hydroponics Curacao]

In my tank, they do need help. I've a lot of plants, but still. They ate 8 baby guppies. 

ahahha. Ok then. Thanks for the help