Fry With Curved Spine!

[Sasha]

My female guppy guppy delivered fry about a month ago, but I was only able to save 4 of them. I recently noticed that one of the fry has a slight birth defect. The lower part of her spine (behind her dorsal fin) is curved upward and resembles a flatten "U." Would this defect cause any probelms when she mattures? She's eating normally and swims with no difficulty. It's like she doesn't realize that she has a problem. I'm willing to keep her if she survives!

 

[DeepSeaFishin]

you should get rid of her

 

[Dragonslair]

Unfortunately you need to destroy this one. It will cause you many problems as it gets older. Let nature do it for you, drop the fry in your main tank. If it's fit enough to survive than sobeit, otherwise it's a case of survival of the fittest, something that would happen naturally anyway. You just delayed it.

 

[Sasha]

I could never destory a fry! Her spine isn't that bad, but it's a little bent. She's eating and swimming normally, so I'm just going to wait and see what happens. How is this defect caused?

 

[modernhamlet]

Why did you bother to ask for people's opinions if you had already made up your mind?

 

[Angry_Platy]

The best you can do is not letting her breed....if she survives thenobviously it was meant to be....

As long as the fry are eating and swimming then there is no reason to cull them....IMHO anyway....we aren't all perfect!!

 

[JoKeR]

I agree with dragonslair Take nature and let it have its way,



As for modernhamlet I dont know if u should be talking

 

[GuppyFan]

Sasha

We have been breeding guppies for a few months now. From our experience, we have seen that a few fry are born with bent backs, all of which are born with store bought females who are pregnant when we bought them. We assume that the fish were probably impregnated by unknown males who may have been sick or not in the best of health due to the way guppies are farmed. Especially those from chain stores such as walmart.

We actually kept all of our fry, bent backs and all. One was so bad that it could barely swim at all, and when it did it went in circles. That particular one ended up growing completely normal and its back eventually straightened. In a similar fashion to the ugly duckling, that one ended up being the most beautiful of all the fry. Only one of the bent backs ended up growing irregular and all that was affected was growth speed. The back ended up straightening as well.

I have read, however, that it is linked to genetics and therefore any born with bent backs should be removed from the tank and should not really breed. I can't imagine ever culling our fry. But you decide...

 

[Sasha]

I guess I really inended to ask how is this defect caused, so thanks for answering. I wasn't sure if it was the mother, the water chemistry or a genetic problem. I'm not going to breed her, that is if she survives and hopefully her back would straighten out when she mattures. Is there any way to avoid this defect or is is just something that can't be detected or prevented?

 

[DeepSeaFishin]

its just a genetic thing...i had a batch of 50 fry and 4 females were curved spines so i put them in my spare 2 1/2 tank so they wont cause any more defects with future breeding...they seem to be having fun...Slumber party!!

 

[Mesome]

Some of mine have curved spines also. I heard that it was like scoliosis (sp?). I'm not planning on reintroducing any of my guppies into the outside world, so I keep 'em. I never put them in a seperate tank or net or anything though. They seem to find hiding spots on their own.

 

[smyth19]

Hi sasha i was reading somewere that the temp of your tank can effect the young, e.g. tanks over 80/82

I was reading this from an experament on a guppy web site, from guppys being breed at 74/78 which had all perfect young whereas with 80/82 the young were deformed.

Duuno if this helps but thought i'd let ya know!!

Goodluck joe!

 

[Fishkeeper2004]

Don't kill any of your fry, let them be and see what happens. There is every chance that it will grow perfectly normal and grow out of it's problem.

One thing you shouldn't do is keep it with any overly agressive fish, aswell as not breeding to stop this problem reacurring.

 

[-Chewy-]

Hi Sasha.

I think that you should keep that fry, it wouldn't be able to mate at one month old anyway. I don't know about other people but all my curved spined fry straightened out before they reached two months. I suggest that you keep it untill it reaches 2 months... (which i am quite sure it will straighten out - unless it's a genetic problem)

-Chewy-

 

[Annastasia]

Don't kill the little fry. I have had a bunch of curved fry, and almost all of them straightened out. The ones that didn't, they went into my 5 gallon, and they are all happy.

Just my story!