# Guppy died after giving birth?



## Cmkanimations (Jul 18, 2015)

Okay so, I had 6 guppies, 2 males, and 4 females. I noticed at least one of the females were pregnant, so i kept an eye on her and the water chemistry for several weeks. She gave birth, and i had the tank very well decorated for the fry to hide, and they are still doing well. However one day i come home from work and notice that the mother was dead in my tank (about 2 weeks after birth). No white spots, or tale tale signs of a disease or infection, just laying there lifeless at the bottom of my tank. 
Now i understand livebearers can have problems after birth and have a higher chance of death than egg layers, but i was just wondering if this was preventable. My ammonia, and nitrites always stayed at 0, nitrates hovered around 10. I do weekly water changes, sometimes more since i feed the baby guppies 3 times a day. (some of the food settles).

The reason i'm worried is i have 2 more pregnant females and i just want to make sure that it's not something i can prevent. I treat all the water with dechlorinator and the tank has been running for 3-4 months now with no problems.

Thank you,
Cmk


----------



## brads (Mar 23, 2013)

Cmkanimations said:


> ...but i was just wondering if this was preventable. My ammonia, and nitrites always stayed at 0, nitrates hovered around 10. I do weekly water changes...


You did all you could. Sometimes it happens. Keep an eye on the others for any kind of problems.


----------



## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

brads said:


> You did all you could. Sometimes it happens. Keep an eye on the others for any kind of problems.


Giving birth is hard for females. You did nothing wrong. I guess nitrates of 10 is fine for guppies. I like to keep mine at around 5, but I breed Discus so I am obsessive.


----------



## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

It is not uncommon for fry to get stuck in the birth canal especially with guppys. If you ever not it again, before death, try an epsom salt bath as it acts like a laxative.


----------

