fancy guppies/ghost shrimp

Question
HI, i just had a few questions reguarding fancy guppies.  First, how long does it take for a female guppy to mature?  i have tons of small 1/2 babies that have gravid spots on them.  I have three males and a ton of baby females in the tank.  I was planning on getting some adult female guppies for the tank soon also.  2nd, i put in about 10 ghost shrimp in with my guppies, they are in a 55 gal fish tank.  now i only can find about 3 or so, and thats it even when i feed them.  about a week ago i notice one of the ghost shrimp was carrying eggs.  i was just wondering how can you tell if they are fertile?  Last time i looked they were light green in color.  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Dustin;

Guppies are sexually mature anywhere from 4 to 6 months old. They can have babies while still pretty small but there will only be a few in their first litter usually. As the females grow larger they will have more babies at a time.

Ghost shrimp can hide very well and will especially stay hidden when they shed their skins to grow. Or, they may have died and were eaten. We can't tell how old they are when we buy them so they could be old too. There are many possibilities for them to disappear. Here is a web page about their breeding habits;

http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk/Shrimp.htm?Caridina.htm~mainFrame

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins