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All was well till late yesterday afternoon. This particular pregnant guppy is awaiting her second drop, due any day now. When I came home I noticed she was sitting very still on the bottom of the tank. I figured she was getting ready to delivery as this is what she did with her first drop a little over 4 weeks ago. I checked on her before retiring for the evening and got up this morning expecting either a new load of fry or a dead momma. Well instead of either I discovered 4 dead fry from her first drop. She is still at the bottom of the tank just sitting there. Breathing fine, but she appears unable to move her tail fin. Is she having a difficult time delivering or is she possibly dying on me.?? Is there anything I can do to help her?? Or anything I should be looking for in the way of illnesses? Water quality shows as being in perfect form and none of the other fish are acting unusual.

Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

BTW ... it is a 25gal tank with 2 Bronze Corys, 4 Harlequin Rasboras, 5 Guppies & 6 Neon Tetras

well breeding livebearers in a tank with other fish will result in dead fry. an ideal tank would be a 10g planted for herself and babies. but anywho. that might be why the baby fry died. i have the same problem with a female but she is still swimming. i would check her tail everyday to see if it is getting infected, or she just isn't useing it. good luck.

Chances are she is and will be fine...keep in mind how long it can take a human to deliver 1 baby, and for her we are talking about many. I've known a female to be in labor with fry for a day or two...just because her tail isn't moving doesn't mean she is ill...she may be concentrating on the business at hand. She is probably stressed, and who wouldn't be...does she have some plants to hide in? Turn off the lights, feed everyone normally, and keep the lights off, and don't worry...she'll be fine...heidi

EDIT: Welcome to FP

Last edited by heidi at 29-Mar-2005 20:49

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Bettachris, my son, it takes a woman Good advice though just in case.....
Heidi is right prolly just big, fat and prego


Angel Eel

Thank you for the welcome to FP and thanks much for the reassuring advice.

Yes, Heidi there are plants for her to hide in and this morning that's where she is. I had to look for her figuring she would either be well hidden in the plants or in the divers helmet that she likes swimming in and out of all the time.

Still no babies and no tail activity. But I am hoping that when she is finished delivering she will once again return to her normal self.

As for the fry that died they were self contained in the tank away from the adults. I was actually getting ready to release them next week into their own grow out tank.

Out of all my fish I love my guppies the most. The ones I have are from the very first fish I purchased and I have raised them from fryhood. Unfortunately two days after giving birth their mother died.

Thanks again for the help.

I too love my guppies, and am hoping to end up back where I was back in december when I had a serious problem:#(though what happened I still don't know...and like you I have some from the original guppies I got about 4 years ago now, and the male is busy in the tank with his errrr family membersso there is hope

Just be patient with her, and chances are you know, you won't see the fry for sometime unless you are looking very closely, carefully, and are lucky. Just make sure they have the hiding they need, crush the food to powder and keep on feeding, they will be found soon, and from my experience leaving them in the adult tank is just as easy, and usually for me safer than moving them, till they are juveniles...they have places to hide and will...don't worry, relax, it's up to her now...heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

com'on guys can give good advice angel.lol

n.e way if i read it right u said the mother died. well try and see waht happened, and correct the problem(if possible) and try again. u might want to get those traps for breeding so the babies will be safe.

I had a guppy die on me giving birth ... sorry, but i thought if you knew what happened to me you could look out for signs.

she sat on the floor of the tank & then developed a lump instead of producing the babies...looked like a bubble. We put her in a seperate tank to stop a randy male hassling her but after another day she passed away.

If you give me your email address I can send a picture but I dont know how to put pics in here sorry.

Happilly I found two babies about a week later so all was not lost.

Good luck though, I'm sure you're will be a happy birth.