Why no babies

**johnbrooke** · 12-10-2011, 10:11 AM

I have a 10 gal tank with 2 male and 4 female guppies and 2 bottom feeders all guppies are atleast 6months of age ive had them for over 2 months a no babies ive heard guppies are easy to breed but the only time i end up with babies is when i buy a already pregnant female from the store

**Aeonflame** · 12-10-2011, 10:35 AM

Do the females become gravid?

**johnbrooke** · 12-10-2011, 11:49 AM

yeah some will have a big dark spot in the gravid area for a week then it will become clear then this will happen a few weeks later and so on

**Honey Badger 1** · 12-10-2011, 12:35 PM

My GUESS is since the females had gravid spots that went away they are having fry but the fry are getting eaten. I have a similar set up with guppies and they've had many fry in the short time I've had them, but they are so tiny it's difficult to see them, are you sure there are none in the tank? Mine hide in the gravel, under the bigger rocks and in the plants, they are very difficult to see at first.

**johnbrooke** · 12-10-2011, 02:12 PM

yeah im sure there not having any i have seen guppies being born in the past only cuz i have boughten pregnant females but none in my tank im not sure why maybe just my luck

**Lady Hobbs** · 12-10-2011, 03:52 PM

Agree with mommy. Babies are lunch for the adults. Putting the female in a breeder net attached to your tank and removing her after she gives birth will insure more success with babies but with a 10 gallon, you really don't have room for a lot of them.

**hyp0r** · 12-15-2011, 09:25 PM

I have had success with breeding guppies in my five gallon tank. I have lots of plants and rocks for them to hide under.

I would agree with others that are saying your guppies are birthing. I've had it happen where I didn't see the birthing or the fry, but a couple showed up when they were big enough to survive on their own. I assume they adults ate almost all of the fry before I even realized they were born. But a few made it into hiding without being eaten!

**johnbrooke** · 12-17-2011, 09:34 AM

one of my females just gave birth yesterday and i see all the babies so i guess it just took a month before they started breeding so i guess im a lil impatient lol

**dr_lew** · 12-20-2011, 03:03 PM

That's good to hear. It's possible the females were rather stressed at first, being in a new environment, and were dropping their eggs prematurely. Sounds like now they are more settled in and are carrying to term.

Was the tank newly set up when you got the guppies? If so, the tank may have been cycling, adding yet more stress and possibly killing any babies that managed to be born. Do you keep track of your water parameters (pH, ammonia/nitrite/nitrate)? If not, it's probably a good idea to get a complete liquid test kit, and read up on cycling if you have not already. If this has come up elsewhere, I apologize, but if it hasn't he point needed to be raised.