Still born?

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jbarr

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
335
Location
Hennepin, MN
How often do (can they even?) livebearers have still-borns?
As in delivering dead fry?

I ask this because I brought home a Xenotoca Eiseni (Red-tail Splitfin) and it was very far along in pregnancy apparently. I read that Eisenis are very easily stressed and shouldn't be moved after they are pregnant.
She has yet to give birth.
Did the stress of moving from the store to my house cause her to abort?

Can fish deliver still-borns, and if so, why??

Any help thanks.
 
I don't know exactly why, but yes it is possible for livebearers to give birth to still-borns. I've seen my guppies give birth to some.

It may be possible that your Red-tail splitfin will still give birth to healthy fry! You'll have to be patient :)
What other inhabitants are in the tank with her? How large is your tank, parameters?
Does she still look pregnant??
 
Just a note. I renamed the topic to something aken with the discussion as the previous topic title while it was somewhat close to being on the acutal topic it was also something I didnt want to see discussed here in any way.
 
My apologies, fishfreek.

Tank is 10gal, lightly planted (Some anacharis and java fern)
2 other male split fins, and 3 corys.

Should I remove any of them?

I'm afraid the corys wouldnt get along with my cichlids/pleco in my community tank.

I know I already made a topic like this but any help is appreciated!

Once again, my apologies to anyone I may have offended with the previous topic title
 
I don't think you should worry about the cories! They won't eat any live fry. It is possible that your male splitfins (and the mother as well actually) will chase around and eat (depending on size) some fry, but if they have some hide out places there should be fry that will survive.
Good luck!
 
Don't count on the cories not eating fry, mine do, I have caught them in the act. They ate their own eggs and ate their own fry as well as my swordtail fry.

Your splitfin could have stressed out to the point she miscarried and will absorb the babies. If you look at the stomach, can you see the eye spots of the fish at all or does this species allow you to see them? My neon sword female, she is absolutely huge, will seem like she is ready to pop for weeks and nothing. Then all the sudden I have a tank full of babies. The key I have found is to look for her to square off. This is hard to explain but I will try. When your fish is getting ready to pop, the part of the fish by the anal fin will actually start to extent back and toward the anal fin. This gives her stomach a nearly square look toward the anal fin which, I think, gives the fry a better avenue to be delivered.

Have patience and keep an eye on her. If she is going to pop it will happpen sooner or later and then you have to try and catch the fry if you don't have her in a breeder setup.
 
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