Stillborn Fish?

[Cartman8779]

Hi,

My uncle's swordtail gave birth about 4 hrs ago and they didn't seem to be alive. They were white and laying still on the bottom of the breeders net that we had her in. We had to go out with some family for dinner so we decided to wait and see if they would come alive. We thought that maybe this was normal and they would awaken later? Is it? Can fish really give birth to stillborn fry?

I'm completly stumped. If it's true that they can and this is what happened I want to know what caused it and if there's anything we can do in the future to prevent something like this from happening again?

Is this the case and if so is there anything we can do for the future?

Thanks for reading this and any reply would be appreciated.

Aaron

 

[suemack]

hi Aaron

sorry to hear about the fry. Stillborn births can happen with livebearers. Causes are varied
.......sometimes it just happens....one of those things
.......sometimes it's genetic - has she had babies before?
.......toxins in the water - not enough to cause her to show symptoms but enough to cause the fry to die.....medications can also cause this
.......netting when they are very close to dropping their fry can trigger them to deliver the fry too early
.......having the mother in the breeder net for too long can be too stressful and can cause this to happen

There's a few of the reasons why the fry may have been stillborn

hope this helps
sue

 

[Cartman8779]

Thanks for the reply:

I think the reason why they died was probably because we had her in the net for about two weeks which must have been too long. She had been pregnant for a while and we didn't know when she was going to give birth. We had been expecting it for some time now...The problem is that there's no way to tell exactly when it's going to happen...We put her in early because last time she was pregnant and gave birth the other fish ate them before we could seperate them. Unfortunantly this must've been the problem.

My next question's is : Is there any way I cn prevent putting her in too early without her giving birth outside the net and having the other fish eat the fry?

I really need to know this because I recently (yesterday) bought a pregnant swordtail from my lfs and I put her directly into the net because she looked very pregnant. I don't want this to happen to her but I don't know how long she's been pregnant because she's been at the store. Is there any tell-tale sign that she's close to birth? Is there any way to reduce the level of stress on the fish in the net?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Aaron

 

[suemack]

hi again Aaron

there's not really any way you can tell that is 100% but most of the livebearers get really box-shaped in the tummy before they drop their fry.......they look as though they will explode. Putting loads of plants into the tank both planted and floating means that the fry have somewhere to hide ...though gouramis are very good fry hunters.

The other thing you can do is gently slide the net under her when she starts to drop the fry.....if you think she's going to do it while you are away you could put her into the net for the day then maybe let her out later. So long as you're not netting her it shouldn't cause too much stress. A piece of plant in the net is sposed to make the fish feel less exposed

I'm not an expert on the use of the nets cos I've got a couple of 5 gall tanks set up for the birthing female guppies where they're away from the other fish - means that I don't have to use a net.

good luck with her

sue

 

[Cartman8779]

Hi,

Thanks again for your reply!

I decided to put some gravel and a few small plants in the net with her. I guess I'll just hope for the best!

Aaron

 

[Annastasia]

Good luck with your fry!