Pregnant guppies died

[jessipanda]

Well guys, I'm at a loss... My daughter got 4 female guppies and one male fry back in late January for free from our lfs. Only 1 female was full grown, and the male was mistaken for a female by the store owner as it was too young to tell. Realized he was a boy about 4 weeks after bringing them all home.

The grown female was (I'm assuming) already pregnant, but not showing. In mid March she squared off, I could see the eyes on the babies, then she died with no visual issues. I tested water--0 amm, 0 nitrite, >5ppm nitrate, pH 7.6, temp 76F. I do 2 20% water changes on this 10g each week. Plenty of floating plants, a sponge filter, and the guppies were the only inhabitants. I was dumbfounded. Confirmed she was pregnant with dissection.

Within a week, a second female died. Also pregnant (confirmed with dissection), but barely, and had no visual issues. Looked completely healthy. Acted completely healthy until the day she died. This one sat in the top corner of the tank her entire last day. Tested water again, same results.

At this point, I chocked it up to poor quality/inbred fish. After a couple weeks, I noticed the little male was harassing the remaining 2 (now grown) females constantly, so I moved him to my 55g community tank. Both girls ended up pregnant, and both girls ended up dying JUST before giving birth. One died about 4 weeks ago with no outward signs of issues. She gave birth to ONE SINGLE fry (who is still going strong) before she died. The other appeared to be in labor this morning, so I kept her light off (still isn't dark in her tank during the day though). Checked on her a few times, trying not to stress her. Then, about 3 hours ago when I checked on her, SHE was dead... Only, she pineconed...none of the others did, and she wasn't pineconed about an hour prior to me finding her. I confirmed she was pregnant (although, didn't need to as I could clearly see the babies eyes through her gravid spots). Parameters are the same, haven't done a water change since Thursday, always use Prime and temp match....

My 55g has supposedly “sensitive” fish, but haven't lost any fish other than guppies since I got back into this hobby a little over a year ago. I still have all my rummynose and cardinal tetras from December-ish, as well as my bristlenose pleco, farlowella, EBR, and 4 neons. So far, the male guppy and the single fry are still fine as well. Is it possible that all 4 of our female guppies were poor stock? Coincidence they all died pregnant? Am I doing something wrong specifically with the guppies...? I'm very confused by this. Any advice will be appreciated! Thank you!!!

 

[Delapool]

It does sound very strange and like poor stock as first time. Unless very young. I'm not sure if age makes a difference. When we had cattle, they had to reach a certain age before being put with the bull (learned that the hard way). No idea if fish are the same.

Only thing I can think of is if they were being harassed while giving birth by the male?

 

[jessipanda]

Couldn't have been harassed while giving birth with the last 2. I moved the male to the 55g community tank to prevent that. Possible they were too young. They weren't full grown when we got them in January. Thanks for the brainstorming, Delapool.

 

[Delapool]

Fingers crossed, hope your luck picks up for the next lot.

 

[guppie lover]

i have had guppies die after giveing birth and water is fine ,i quess is bad luck .make sure you feed a high quality food as for ages i had cheaper food but didnt no was cheap.since then fish alot healthly and lots of babies healthy.keep trying as takes a while to get to know all about this amazing hobbie.

 

[jessipanda]

Thanks guppie lover. Unfortunately, mine never gave birth except for a single fry from one of the females. That fry is still happy & healthy so far, hanging around with a young male we still have. As for more in the future, I think we're going to pass. Out of the 50+ fish we've had in the last 2 years, all of them are still thriving except for the 6 guppies we lost. We still have a couple kinds of tetras, catfish, dwarf rams, and minnows that have been doing great. We've only lost guppies. Not sure why, but I'm sure there's something I'm missing and plan to just avoid guppies as well as similar fish for the time being. We feed all our fish the same diet which consists of a variety of foods including certain frozen foods, high quality flakes, and blanched veggies. Except for the minnows. They're outside in a pond and just get a snack maybe once every week or two. They feed on insect larvae and other natural things outside so I don't really need to feed them.

Other than losing so many guppies, I really love this hobby as well as our fish. I plan to always have at least one tank until I am too old to care for one! Lol

 

[platylover26]

It could be stock. I had guppies for a while before eventually giving up. I think it was either the place I got them from, or that guppies or too overbreed and inbreed and what-not. Either way, if you decide to try your luck with another batch or switch to a different fish, maybe try getting the fish from a different store, if possible. It could be that that one particular store you go to has a poor supplier. Good Luck!

 

[jessipanda]

Platylover26, I thought of that too, but I only have 2 stores here, a big chain and a small hobby store. Some of all my different types of fish came from the big chain and the rest from the hobby store. Only the guppies have died, and I've had 2 batches from each store. I suppose it's possible that all of them were of poor stock, but still unlikely as each batch was sourced from a completely different place.

Whether or not that's the culprit, I won't be getting anymore guppies from either store. If I ever get more, I plan to look elsewhere. Probably online.