# Guppy problem - pregnancy and death



## ramon82 (Oct 20, 2009)

Guppy problem - pregnancy and death

Hi all

A few days ago I ve placed two pregnant guppys in a hatchery. See video here @ Are my guppies pregnant? - YouTube

This morning I found one of the guppies dead  - http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2626/dscf0486p.jpg

Any idea whats wrong here?


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

They had no room, and unfortunately, one of them made room.
On the rare occasions I make use of a trap, it is for one fish, and not for more than 24-48 hours, max. One of your guppies was not very gravid - I think the one that got killed.


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## danilykins (Dec 22, 2010)

I suggest buying some plants for your tank. I have wisteria, it's bushy. This will do two things 1) hide mom when she wants privacy when she births and 2) the fry can hide on the plants to survive. 
Some people get a separate tank just for birthing (if you want all the fry to survive). This gives mom privacy and also homes the fry without them getting eaten.

I'm sorry the momma got killed  unfortunately if they don't have protection this can happen either by another female or an aggressive male


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## ramon82 (Oct 20, 2009)

Hi all,

Since I ve posted this thread I had a lof of activity going on in my tank, but unfortunately not very nice things happened  I had two guppies give birth in the breeder box and almost all fry died except for 3 or 4. Now I have this strange problem which I cant get hold of.

See this photo: http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4400/imag0553h.jpg

I ve seen this guppy in her last minutes. Her belly was looking whitish in pink and when she died I noticed that her belly was almost punctured! in fact when I squeezed it a bit, her internals popped out....its the second death in two days (

Any help is greatly appreciated.

PS: I found both male and female dead, but the male had no sign of this problem


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

It looks like a bacterial infection, but that's a guess from the photo. Have you bought any new fish and added them in lately?


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## ramon82 (Oct 20, 2009)

Yes and the dead guppy is one of them...I also added some new plants


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

It will have come in the new fish - I would guess the fish died of septicemia. Whether it spreads a lot will depend on luck, frankly. The pathogen is on the loose and it will run its course.
The books suggest quarantining all new fish, but no one keeps a quarantine tank all ready and cycled. I can't suggest treatments, since we don't know what kind of bacteria it is. Just throwing in antibiotics is bad for the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and won't help the fish if you don't accidentally choose the right antibiotic for what's in there.
I would do 40% water changes weekly, and maybe do a couple of voodoo dances. The cat is out of the bag, and you have to ride the problem out.


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## ramon82 (Oct 20, 2009)

Hi again,

Since my last post I did a 40% water change, did a kit test and confirmed everything is within normal pH parameters, and still finding dead guppies. This time I am noticing that most of the dead are males. They dont have any sign of trauma or disease. I am suspecting in two factors:

-Could it be that the water is too warm? at the moment its around 29-30 degrees celsius

-Could it be that there is a female majority and therefore they are killing the males? at the moment females are more numerous than males...dont know the exact number though.

Thanks for your help.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Males are always the weaker sex. Even in humans, guys (I'm one) die at significantly higher rates than women do during epidemics. 
I still think it is bacterial (or viral) from the new fish, and that it will work its way through. I don't think it's water related, although fighting it is - keep the 40% changes coming every few days. Give the fish a chance to fight back.
You may lose the whole tank - an introduced disease can really do damage. Or, it could be something some of your fish have resistance to. I hope so.

Female guppies don't kill males, as much as they may want to. 

30 is hot for them, but they should be able to take that if not overcrowded or in dirty water. They won't be happy, but they should normally survive that.


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

You said that things are within "normal PH parameters" but what is your reading for ammonia and nitrites? That redness on the body can be a sign of septicemia from ammonia poisoning. I also believe that that temp is much too high for guppies, although they will perhaps tolerate it.

Mine are kept at 74-76F and I have never used breeder traps. The trap hanging on the outside of the tank is too small with no water flow. If you think you must use one, there are net type breeders that hang inside the tank and get the benefit of the quality water from the main tank (provided of course that the main tank parameters are well maintained).

You will find that if you can manage to successfully breed and keep some fry, the fry will be hardier than those you initially brought home from a pet store.


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## Miss Vicky (Jul 6, 2012)

SueD said:


> Mine are kept at 74-76F and I have never used breeder traps. *The trap hanging on the outside of the tank is too small with no water flow.* If you think you must use one, there are net type breeders that hang inside the tank and get the benefit of the quality water from the main tank (provided of course that the main tank parameters are well maintained).


I don't have any suggestions for the OP, unfortunately, but I did want to point out that the type of trap the OP is using is _inside_ the tank and has slots/vents that allow water flow. When I had livebearers (years ago) I used something similar. It has a grate at the bottom that allows the fry to fall through and minimizes the risk of cannibalism from the mother. The one I used was maybe a bit larger though and came with a divider that would allow two fish to be kept in it without actually having contact with each other.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

danilykins said:


> I suggest buying some plants for your tank. I have wisteria, it's bushy. *This will do two things 1) hide mom when she wants privacy when she births and 2) the fry can hide on the plants to survive.*
> Some people get a separate tank just for birthing (if you want all the fry to survive). This gives mom privacy and also homes the fry without them getting eaten.
> 
> I'm sorry the momma got killed  unfortunately if they don't have protection this can happen either by another female or an aggressive male


+1 on underlined above.

That's what I do and had lotsa guppies as a result.


Still just my .02


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

Miss Vicky, I can see that you are correct after looking at the video again. The trap does seem to be hanging inside.

I think if the OP can add several plants, there might be a better chance of the fry surviving without any intervention. Some strains of guppies are more prone to eat their fry than others. I haven't had this issue with mine and have kept everyone in the same tank. (Males were later separated out to slow things down) But you really don't know until you try.


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