jessipanda
Aquarium Advice Freak
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!!!
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!!!