Pregnant Guppy Distressed?

KingKrueg

Hey there everybody!
First-time breeder here.

I have four guppies, two female and two male, along with two ghost shrimp and a blue lobster.

One of my females has been pregnant for weeks, and I feel she is on the brink of giving birth soon. I know because she's "boxing" and her gravid pod is dark as anything. She's not eating, and loves to hang by the heater, which is currently at 78 degrees.

I did what I assume was correct and placed her in a plastic breeding trap. (The one with the grate that the bottom to let the fry fall through so the mother doesn't eat them)

After placing her in the breeding trap, she seems to be bugging out. She keeps swimming side to side and rams into the corners trying to get out.

I'm concerned if she is too distressed to be in the breeding box. I just recently bought a filter sponge just in case I was going to risk her having he babies in the communal tank.

Could I have put her in the breeding trap too early? Is the temperature off? Should I risk letting her have her babies in the tank with the others?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

bearwithfish

those little traps are very stress full ... you would be better off setting up a little 2.5 gallon or something like that for her to drop in if you dont think there are enough hiding spots in the main tank.... with a blue lobster in there they are not likely to live long i am actually a little surpirsed the guppies have not fallen prey yet LOL ..... another option could be to get (or make) a tank divider and get her to a secluded side so that others will leave her alone and after she drops move her to the other side of the divider so the fry have the section to them selves...

KingKrueg

I have taken it upon myself to release the female Guppy into the tank. She seems pretty content. She's swimming all over the place now.

More importantly, I have decided to risk it and have her give birth in the communal tank. My goal is that if I happen to be around during the birthing process, I'll snag as many fry as I can and move them to a different tank.

We all learn from mistakes, right? haha

marc89

i reccomend buying few plants fake or real so the fry have plenty of room to hide i tried breeding traps but found them useless causes too much stress on the fish wich can lead to premature birth i just use the breeding trap for raising the fry till big enough size so they dont fit in the over fishes mouths

thefishboy

+1 as the others ahve said it is very stressful for them... Moss balls help to and if you can buying a seperate tank and put the pregnant female in... Also it should be a ratio of 2 females to 1 male so get more females!!