Worried about my guppy

[Guppymammy]

Hi everyone I'm new here and pretty new to fishkeeping, after cycling my 64l tank I bought 4 guppies 3f 1m 6 cherry shrimp and a plec. One of the females gave birth to 17 fry which I put in a 17l separate tank (also cycled) they were in a fry tank in the tank for about a week then moved into the tank. Those fry are all still thriving it's absolutely amazing to watch and I love them all they are 3 weeks old today. Anyway my other 2 females both look pregnant also I'm almost certain that they should have gave birth by now and I'm getting really worried. I've tested the water and everything is as it should be. I dechlorinate the water before adding it to the aquarium. I've read literally everything I can to get an idea if this is normal to try and find out if they are pregnant I've put them into a double breeder box now incase they were stressed about giving birth in the aquarium. I don't know what to do? Im normally just browsing the forums but I've seen how helpful you all can be so I thought I'd brave it out and ask. I've tried to add some pics sorry they aren't great they decided to be camera shy Tia

 

[Guppymammy]

Trying to get a better picture of her but she's really restless

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Guppies can look like they are fat and full of babies but it can also be intestinal worms. The worms build up inside the fish and they look pregnant. However, they probably are pregnant and just need time and a quiet area to give birth

Get some floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) and put it in the tank with the adults and the females can hide there while they give birth, and the babies can hide there afterwards. Water Sprite can be planted in the gravel too but definitely get some for the surface. Then feed them well and don't chase them around and when they are ready they will have babies

 

[Guppymammy]

Hi Colin thanks for replying I've seen you reply on other guppy posts and hoped you'd reply on mine. Much appreciated! I woke this morning and the smaller female had jumped out of the trap thing but the bigger female had gave birth to 1 fry but went on to have a further 22 some were badly deformed born with no tail just the upper part of the body, 2 lots of Siamese twins both joined at the chest area and one which was just like a blob with eyes they were all alive and swimming/moving but the deformed ones have all passed away now. The mother is fantastic with them I thought she'd eat them but she was just ignoring them, although she did judge the blob one round a little . Are deformities normal in guppies? I've never seen anything like it before but like I say I'm new to fishkeeping. My male is being rehomed to my mums tank now she's picking him up tonight. He in with the 3 week old fry now and he's small himself so he's doing fine in there the female fry won't get pregnant will they? I can't sex them yet. I've attached a few photos of the fry which passed away. Thanks again

 

[Colin_T]

The babies were born premature, probably due to stress from the female being caught and moved. They still have their yolk sac (the orange blob on their belly). They shouldn't have been born for at least another week, probably two.

If you ever have to catch a pregnant fish, slowly and carefully scoop them up in a container of water, Don't use a net to lift them out of the water.

The best thing for pregnant livebearers is to leave them in the main tank with lots of plants and use a small plastic icecream bucket to scoop the babies out of the floating plants. Then put the babies into a breeding net with a bit of plant.

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If the fry with the male are only 3 weeks old they won't be old enough to breed.

 

[Guppymammy]

Oh no I feel awful now. Especially if it was because of me. The other babies didn't look like they had any sort of sac on them but I can't be certain, will they die? They look healthy and were all eating last night. I feed them hikari first bites but honestly i feel so sad that I may have inadvertently caused a premature birth. You mentioned a plant yesterday called sprite, is it available in the UK? Thanks once again for your advice

 

[seangee]

You mentioned a plant yesterday called sprite, is it available in the UK? Thanks once again for your advice

http://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/ceratopteris-thalicroides-aka-water-sprite-1408-p.asp
You can probably get it cheaper on Amazon but I've been using these guys recently because their plants always arrive in perfect condition and are shrimp safe

 

[Guppymammy]

Thanks I've never heard of it before I have java moss and guppy grass but I'm always happy to have more live plants.

http://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/ceratopteris-thalicroides-aka-water-sprite-1408-p.asp
You can probably get it cheaper on Amazon but I've been using these guys recently because their plants always arrive in perfect condition and are shrimp safe

 

[Colin_T]

The other babies didn't look like they had any sort of sac on them but I can't be certain, will they die?

Do you mean the babies that are 3 weeks old now?
If the other babies didn't have a yolk sac and were swimming about straight after being born, that means they had enough time inside the female to develop properly and use the yolk sac up and they will be fine. But any babies that are like the one in the picture (and still have the yolk sac visible) are premature and have not had enough time in the female to use the yolk and grow to term before being born.

 

[Guppymammy]

The babies that were born yesterday didn't have any yolk sac that I could see. They were also swimming around but I'm still worried & a bit confused because if those ones were due but the deformed ones weren't, does that still mean I've caused premature labour? Ive been really upset about it and I know people (my hubby included) say well they're only fish but, I really do love them they're so comical. I suffer from really bad anxiety and they really help me relax. I've taken your advice and purchased some sprite from the link the other poster recommend and I'll also be leaving it to nature in future if it's going to be easier on the fish. I know how it feels to be stressed and not in control and the last thing I'd want is to cause that for my fish. Especially when I'm in charge of their welfare. On a brighter note the fry are all doing smashing. Is it better to leave them in the nursery box now or allow them into the tank once the sprite arrives?

 

[Colin_T]

If one fish gave birth to fully formed fry and the fry with the yolk sac attached, then she had two separate batches developing in her and one batch was born fully formed and the other batch were born premature. This is rare but does sometimes occur. Normally tho the females only have one batch of developing eggs/ babies in them at any time.

The photos show two females, and if one female gave birth to normal fry that were swimming around and the other female gave birth to the fry with yolk sacs, then one had a normal birth and the other had a premature birth.

If it's any concilation, and it probably isn't, most baby fish born in the wild don't live longer than a week. And you still have the female so if you look after her and don't move her when she is pregnant, then the next batch of babies should all be fine

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The fry stay in the nursery tank/ breeding net/ box until they are a month or so old, or at least half the size of the biggest fish in the tank. They basically need to be big enough so they don't get eaten by the other fish in the tank.

By keeping the fry in a small environment, they are closer to the food and don't have to waste energy looking for food.

The Water Sprite is for the females to hide in when giving birth and for the babies to hide in after they are born. When you notice babies in the Water Sprite, you use a 2 litre plastic container to scoop the fry out from the plants and add them to a breeding net or small tank to grow up. The easiest way to do this is simply push the top edge of the bucket a couple of mm under the water surface near the plants. The suction caused by this draws the fry, plant and water into the bucket. You remove the plant and carefully pour the fry into a rearing container.

 

[seangee]

Once the plants have established I would leave them to it. Guppies are prolific breeders and so are shrimp. Chances are you will soon be needing more tanks .
The water sprite will provide good cover for both. The attached pic is from a single bunch that I planted around 3 weeks ago. I suggest you plant half in the substrate and just let the other half float in the top of the tank.

 

[Guppymammy]

Hi again just a quick question, my older fry who were born on the 1st of may they are all doing fantastic starting to show colour all except one, it's around the same size it was when it was born maybe a touch bigger it's tiny compared to the rest of them. He/she seems happy enough, very active, eats at every feeding I'm just worried incase it starts getting bullied of the bigger ones. Is there something I'm doing wrong? This little guy is my favourite of all the fry and I'd be devastated if I lost him/her. I've added the best pic I could get, all the same age born from the same mother but a big difference in size.The little one is in th right hand corner near the heater

Thanks in advance

 

[Colin_T]

The smallest fry is not eating as much. It should have a fat round stomach at all times while growing. It is quite slim compared to the others. This might be caused by an intestinal problem, genetic defect, the fish could be male and the others female, or it could be a hybrid with an Endler's Livebearer, which don't grow as big as guppies.

Make sure the fish is really well fed.

If the fish eats and does normal poop then it is unlikely to be an internal issue.

Sometimes more fancy looking fish with bigger fins grow slower and don't get as big as they could. Time will tell if that is the case. Or it's just a genetically smaller fish, like a dwarf.

Female guppies grow bigger than males.

Going back 50years and guppies were hybridised with Endler's Livebearer to get more colour. Then the breeders screwed guppies up by inbreeding generations of related fish with one another for bigger tails and different colours. Unfortunately that screwed guppies up (and every other domesticate aquarium fish) and made them weaker. To counter this problem, the breeders added new Endler's Livebearer bloodlines to guppies about 10 years ago and you sometimes get throwbacks to the Endler's. Time will tell if that is the case.