Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I'm new here, tihs is my first post! I found this forum a week or two ago, and have spent a long while reading up on fishkeeping etc, and I've come to realise the mistakes I've made in the past, along with what seems a lot of other people as well!

Anyway, I currently have two pregnant guppies, and I'm cycling a tank at the moment for them to give birth in. I only got the guppies two days ago, but I purchased another one, which was also pregnant. But after about 5 hours of introducing her into the tank, she had aborted the pregnancy and died. My ammonia, nitrates and nitrite levels are absolutely fine, and as I can tell, she was fully healthy. Could it just have been the stres of the travelling and being introduced to a new tank and a community of fish that led to her death, as all my other fish seem fine.

Also, what seems to be my more pregnant of the two is refusing food, (appearing to eat it, then spitting it out) and spends a lot of her time swimming up and down the glass when the males aren't bothering her. This is a sign of her impending birthing, right?

Sorry for the prolongued post!

Hello, and let me be the first to welcome you to the boards. Everyone makes mistakes...the key is that you learn from them. Even I made mistakes in the beginning.
I believe it was stress. You shouldn't be moving the female out of the water (stressful) until after birth. I have bred guppies for a year (a couple years ago). What I did is submerge the breeding box and get her in it, then move it to the surface. Things worked well for me. This was all the in main tank as well so it's the least stressful.
The refusal of food is normal... she's just telling you she's about to give birth... there's no more room in her belly.

As for when you have the babies...
You will need that other tank, and you will need fry food (it's the best for babies), but if you can't find any finely crushed adult food is fine. They need fed 3-5 times a day and they need plenty of light (daylight is fine, but if you have a light on them leave it on for no more than 4 hours or you'll have an algae bloom). The water will need to stay clean. If you have all these things at the optimum level, you will have yourself some fast growing babies (can't tell you how long it will take because it varies with all the above factors).

Also, since you just set your tank up, you do realize you could still lose some fish because of the cycling process. I'm not familiar with your treatment, so that may be boosting it. Cycling typically takes 4-6 weeks.

Good luck, and let us know how things go. If you think of any other questions, just ask.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Thank you for replying so quickly, and for welcoming me.

I can definitely say that I've very much learnt my lesson from the mistakes I've made in the past.

I don't have any fry food at the moment, the fish store was out, but I've some flakes pre-crushed, and I've also got everything I need to grow some brine shrimp. I didn't know they were sea monkeys!

The filter that's in the fry tank is actually already an established filter. I bought a newer one for the main tank, and left the original in there as well whilst the new one cycled and built up bacteria, so it wasn't as much a shock for the fish, but I've also added the 'Safe Start' fluid that the guy from the fish store recommended, so it shouldn't take as long, and hopefully it will be ok to put the fry in soon. I'm thinking of putting in my platties to help with the cycling.

I was really upset to have lost my guppy, she was absolutely stunning, with a really large bright orange fanned tail. I had trouble believing she was a female, minus her baby tummy and shape!

I'm hoping to transport the guppy who's going to pop with fry first, by using a bowl, instead of the net. I did notice her nibbling on the algae wafer earlier, so maybe she's not quite ready yet!

I normally leave the main tank light on for about fourteen hours a day (I sometimes work 12 hour shifts), and I have a lot of live plants in the tank, and I've yet to experience an algae issue, but I do have a very small catfish, a golden apple snail, and a lot of teeny tiny spiral shelled snails that tend to do a lot of cleaning for me. I also do frequent 10% water changes as well. We also have really great water, and I only need to add a little dechlorinator to it.

Thank you for being so helpful!

And of course I'll let you know how I get on with my fry. My first babies, fingers crossed!

It is sad when you lose any animal.

A bowl - that's brilliant. I never thought of that one, well I did, but I put my box with the babies in a bowl... now that was an experience. You've got live plants? Then your babies will be able to hide if you miss their birth. That mimics the natural world where they hide in the vegetation.
Sounds to me like you've got some pretty happy fishies. Best of luck, can't wait to hear your babies have arrived safely.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Well I am by far no expert, I had my first guppy babies born yesterday....My female never totally stopped eating although she didn't eat very much towards the end.
Her gravid spot, which was dark, turned red on saturday and last till sunday...then on monday it was dark again and when I came home from work yesterday (thursday), there were 2 fry in the tank...So I don't know how many she had, if any were eaten, ect although I did manage to save the two which are doing good so far.
So if yours turn red and then back to black, I'd expect them in a two-three days after that.

Congratulations on your babies! I'm glad to hear they're doing well.

At the moment, one has a dark brownie/pink gravid spot, and the others is still black, so it would appear as if I can expect babies sooner than I had originally thought!

I'm so worried about them having the fry when I'm out or asleep, that I've not managed to sleep since I got them! I'm hoping they have they're babies when I'm around so I can save them from the rest of my fish!

I'm hoping that if all goes well, I can line breed them to keep the amazing colours, and to mix in some of the other desired traits. It seems I'll never sleep! They're so worth it, though. I've spent many hours just watching them.

Thank you for being so kind and replying. It's all really helpful!

I think I missed her having the babies. I've just gotten home now and checked, and she's a lot slimmer, although there is no sign of any fry, but she still appears to have a gravid spot.

I'll be really upset if they got eaten!

I've noticed that the fry are pretty smart in doing their best to avoid being eaten. If there's anything to hide under/by, they'll do it. Like I said, you can leave the females in the breeding box for 24 hours, so if you really don't want any babies to be eaten you can leave the female in the box over night and release her in the morning. Trust me, you'll have more babies than you know what to do with. They don't call them the million fish for nothing.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."