Guppy Has Been Pregnant For 5 Weeks?

[giggsey]

We got four guppies 5 weeks ago (2 male/2 female), and both females started getting fat within a few days of going in the tank.

We expected both of them to give birth some time last week, but one of them died (not sure why), and the other has continued being fat.

The two males have been giving her quite a bit of attention over the last few days.

Any ideas?

 

[KittyKat]

Describe your set-up in detail.

While it is possible for birth to occur as seldom as every 6 weeks, this is uncommon. The most common causes for pre-birthing deaths are problems with the birthing itself, stress from harassment by males or stress due to lack of a "safe place" to give birth.

It sounds like the remaining two males are harassing the lone female quite a lot. If the tank allows it, addition of three females might be the best option.

 

[giggsey]

Describe your set-up in detail.

While it is possible for birth to occur as seldom as every 6 weeks, this is uncommon. The most common causes for pre-birthing deaths are problems with the birthing itself, stress from harassment by males or stress due to lack of a "safe place" to give birth.

It sounds like the remaining two males are harassing the lone female quite a lot. If the tank allows it, addition of three females might be the best option.

The tank is new, we didn't know much when we got it, and listened to the LFS. So over the last 5 weeks, we've been trying to do a fish-in cycle (I know, I know, won't happen again). Over the last week or so, the levels have dropped down, and we're getting a lot lower levels (I'll do a test when I get home from work and post it in here).

The tank is the one in my signature (although only one female guppy at the moment). There's a medium bit of plant life in the tank, and the one who died was having no problems going somewhere by herself (normally one of the rear corners). Although we did move her into a separate hatchery thing when we noticed her keeping to herself and in one spot. She seemed fine after we did that, but died the next morning.

We'll try to get a few more female guppies this weekend.

 

[OldMan47]

It is time to wait for more fish Giggsey. A fish-in cycle is a real pain to maintain properly and more fish simply means lots more large water changes to keep up. Wait until you have a fully cycled tank before even considering adding more fish.

 

[giggsey]

Okay, thanks OldMan47

 

[giggsey]

Okay, small update.

I added some more fish (3 more female guppies) and the levels are stable still.

The new guppies are looking pregnant already (as expected), but the old guppy still hasn't given birth. Any ideas?

 

[hughessomefish]

If the guppy has been "pregnant" for over six weeks because you posted this the 10th of november, then I would say the guppy is not pregnant.

 

[OldMan47]

You say your levels are stable. What are the numbers? If you are just reading pH and temperature, they would have been stable after the first 2 days but the tank would not have been cycled.
As HSF said, a guppy is not still carrying fry after a period of 7 or 8 weeks. You are probably seeing the effect of feeding the fish well. It can be very hard to judge the right amount of food for a simple trio of guppies. You will almost inevitably be overfeeding them.

 

[giggsey]

I've cut back on their food (I was near the bottom of the old tub, and they were getting powder instead of flakes).

But the female guppy gave birth yesterday sometime. We have one fry that we can find (and have separated), and are presuming that any others got eaten.

The levels are pretty stable, ammonia is staying between 0 and 0.25, nitrites are 0, and nitrate is between 10 and 20. I haven't checked the pH for at least a month, but it was around 7.4. Temp is between 25 and 26C.