Guppy Keeps Aborting...

[Morquinn]

Ive been trying to get my female to drop fry because of her and her mates beautiful coloring... thing is, there is no babies anywhere! First time she was heavily pregnant, next day she had lost her stomach and gravid spot, I thought YES Babies!... Well I havent seen a fry since then, just platy fry everywhere... so the next time she was gravid and about to blow up, I put her in her own 10 gallon fully cycled birthing tank, just incase the other ones were eaten.. well that day as I sat and watched her (she seemed really stressed out) I saw what looked to be an egg or bubble of some sort come out of her... I thought maybe it was just an undeveloped fry or something, well later that night I saw another one... and so I turned the lights off and waited till morning, woke up the next morning and she was totally skinny again with no signs of fry anywhere, nor egg/bubbles... is she having false pregnancies? Im not sure if thats an actual thing she could have, but im just clueless as to what happened. Maybe I put her in the new tank too soon and she was ready to drop that night, but I thought that the fry hatched out of the eggs before hand anyways. Can someone fill me in, this is a new one on me, I havent had this problem before and im really excited about getting fry out of her.

 

[nmonks]

OK, it's difficult to say specifically what went wrong, but here's some tips:

1. Don't move any female fish within 2 weeks of giving birth. The stress of being caught and then moved often leads to miscarriages. Been there, done this. The trick is put the female in the birthing tank as soon as she's pregnant. Ideally before, then let the male loose for a few days, and then move the male.

2. Optimise the diet. This means lots of algae-rich food! Livebearer flake is sold for a purpose: use it!

3. Raise the temperature a little. In a perfect world, poecilids like it a little warmer than most tropicals, because they live in shallow water that warms up quickly. Aim for around 26-28 C

Assuming all is well, she'll have another brood in a month or so, and this time you'll be ready. It's actually amazingly rewarding getting your first batch of baby fish. Read up on the pinned topics for general advice, and if you specific questions, please post them!

Cheers,

Neale

 

[dabaers]

Did you give the fry a ton of places to hide? If not, it's possible she ate them.
It's normal for them to have an undeveloped egg or two.

 

[Morquinn]

Well im not new to breeding livebearers, the female guppy in question is actually a kept female from a different females batch... I figured I moved her too late, so I will probably try and move her earlier this time. The babies have plenty of hiding spots, I use all large rocks or decorative rocks and not aquarium gravel, all the babies usually dip down and hide in there until they are big enough to come out, so I dont think her eating them was the problem. I feed all the livebearers tropical flakes, bloodworms, beefheart and brine shrimp, they like to nibble on algae wafers also. I have the temp between 76-78F at all times, I couldnt convert celcius if I tried, so im not sure what temps you are suggesting. But I will definatley try your other suggetions. Thanks

 

[nmonks]

76-78F is about 25C, so crank up the heater to around 80F. Mollies and guppies appreciate the warmth. Do watch out for oxygen concentration issues though (warm water = less oxygen).

Are a Fahrenheit person eh? Gotta love folks who stick with a system based on when the Baltic Sea freezes (0F) and the body temperature of a freshly killed pig (100F).

Cheers,

Neale

I have the temp between 76-78F at all times, I couldnt convert celcius if I tried, so im not sure what temps you are suggesting. But I will definatley try your other suggetions. Thanks