two Guppy questions

I am crossposting this with alt.aquaria and also freshwater.misc........

I just got a trio of guppies for my 5 gallon bow front as I heard you should
have 2 males to every 1 female to cut back on stress from the constant
chasing to mate. One female is turquoise and black, the other female is
purple and black. The male is purple and black too. One female already has
a small black gravid spot, I'll estimate her at 1-2 weeks along.

My questions are I read gestation is 3-4 weeks, most saying 4 weeks. One
site had a comment that this timeframe depends on the temperature of the
tank. Is this true and how would temperature make the difference and what
is the difference? My tank is 80 degrees.

The second thing I read was that if your tank has brighter light or even
grow lights, this speeds up their mating and they can have fry as soon as
2-1/2 weeks. True?

Also, I plan on keeping these babies and I have a breeder containment to
put in my 10 gallon when I think the time is getting closer. Having guppies
in the past I know they usually get very large, sort of bursting before they
actually release the fry. So I hope I time it right. If anyone has any
tips please do tell.

Twas Thu, 10 Jul 2003 02:47:06 GMT when "Cammie"
put finger to keyboard producing:

I am crossposting this with alt.aquaria and also freshwater.misc........

I just got a trio of guppies for my 5 gallon bow front as I heard you should
have 2 males to every 1 female to cut back on stress from the constant
chasing to mate. One female is turquoise and black, the other female is
purple and black. The male is purple and black too. One female already has
a small black gravid spot, I'll estimate her at 1-2 weeks along.

My questions are I read gestation is 3-4 weeks, most saying 4 weeks. One
site had a comment that this timeframe depends on the temperature of the
tank. Is this true and how would temperature make the difference and what
is the difference? My tank is 80 degrees.

The second thing I read was that if your tank has brighter light or even
grow lights, this speeds up their mating and they can have fry as soon as
2-1/2 weeks. True?

Also, I plan on keeping these babies and I have a breeder containment to
put in my 10 gallon when I think the time is getting closer. Having guppies
in the past I know they usually get very large, sort of bursting before they
actually release the fry. So I hope I time it right. If anyone has any
tips please do tell.



Gestation is around 4 weeks at 26c (78.8f)
and around 3 weeks at 28c (82.4f).
This is in my experience.

I keep the lighting on 12 hour cycle so I don't kknow about lighting
effects.

Wait until she has released her fry then net them to new container. If
the container is another tank try to get as close as possible to the
chemical state of the original tank, particularly PH and temperature.

--
Regards.
Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)
__________________________________________________ _________
"To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
http://www.mr-nice.rulestheweb.com mr.niceATsofthome.net
http://community.webshots.com/user/mrnice106
__________________________________________________ _________

Twas Thu, 10 Jul 2003 02:52:27 GMT when "Cammie"
put finger to keyboard producing:

I just remembered another question. On yet another site, this one (
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/199.../others?p=2737 )
it says the lifespan is 12 months. I have had other species of fish live
years and year, is 12 months really accurate?

My working/breeding females last a year at the outside.
Males longer.

--
Regards.
Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)
__________________________________________________ _________
"To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
http://www.mr-nice.rulestheweb.com mr.niceATsofthome.net
http://community.webshots.com/user/mrnice106
__________________________________________________ _________