Gupy fry quick few questions.

[Shootemz]

1. how long does the birthing take?
2. how soon should i feed them?
3. how long should i wait to feed some of them to my gouriami?
4. how many should i expect?
thanks.

[Goes to 11!]

1. Totally depends on her comfort.. A few hours or longer.
2. They will be picking at the biofilm around the tank right away.
3. Why wait? You are very likely going to have HEAPS of them.
4. No telling: Tens, Scores, Hundreds. This varies greatly as factors like water quality, Stress, Genetics, & the age and size of the mother are contributing factors.

BUT, Rather than worry about questions 1 through 4...

---> Have her give birth in the gourami tank.

[Shootemz]

Well i'm going to keep a few, and there is alot for my gouriami to eat, turned out to be about 30. i think, she seems done, so i put her back in the tank, she was in a separator. anyways even if she gives birth to a few more theyll get eaten, its been a good 30 minutes since on came out. I was wondering could i say freeze some for the gouriami and feed it those?

[Goes to 11!]

Don't bother freezing them, Just leave them.

Congrats on your gourami snacks.

[newtoshrimps]

No need to freeze them... the females will give birth again in about a month or two... the temperature of the water makes the difference... the warmer water will allow birthing to go faster and will make it easier for the female to give birth.

If the temperature is too cold, it takes longer for the embryo to develop AND the female will probably die trying to give birth (not a pretty site because she will burst (literally) trying to give birth). So keep the temperature around 77-79 F.

The other fish will eat the fry until the little guys are too big to eat. The mother guppy will also eat some weaker fry. (Male guppies will not eat fry).
The ones that survive though will be very strong and hardy.

NOTE: Pet stores will sometimes buy young guppies when they reach one inch (usually about 3 months old) if you have too many.

[MuckyFish]

The guppy is also called the millions fish, for a reason!

[filterfish]

I have just been breeding Guppies for a year and I can't answer number one as I have never seen them give birth. I leave them in my 20 gallon that is specifically for breeding. Once I see the fry I net them and put them in a Marina Hang-On Holding/Breeding box.

I feed them right away on Hikari "First Foods". You can also just crush flaked fish food for them. Feed them four or five times a day.

I only want the males so I wait until I know which is which and then I feed the female to my Bushfish. For me I can start to sexs them at 9 weeks. Others say they can sex them at one week by their gravid spot.
I only put three fry in at one time, as I don't want to over feed my bushfish. You can put the fry in at any age. Just not bigger than your gourami's mouth. New borns are so tiny, a week is better. I also feed them the deformed ones.

I actually spacifically decided to get my first bushfish to eat my excess fry. I didn't have the heart to cull them myself. I was consoled by other aquarist that fish eat fish. I think it makes for heather fish; live food.

One only gets 30 to 40 fry with a female guppies first mating. I found that they were born 21 days then the next batch 24 days later and the next batch 27 days laters and so forth. For up to 6 month of fry. (always exceptions) After the first 30ish then I got 100 fry for every next batch. I found I had enough fry to stimulate my Bushfishes hunting instincts until the next. And I got males to sell also.

I think I have rambled enough. Have fun!