guppy's dieing at point of giving birth

[ady]

hi there...

i bought some guppy's a month ago....i bought 2 types,from 2 different retailers..i have lost 2 males and 6 females.

no obvious signs,just gone within a few hours...

weirdly the females have all died at the point they were going to give birth.all were pregnant when i got them,as usual.

been feeding flake,brineshrimp eggs,algae wafers,bloodworm pellets and daphnia,so the ywould stand a great chance of thriving..

filter was matured by seeding form main tanks external.all water parameters are spot on.great flow from filter,including venturi.air line active in tank aswell.

tank not over stocked,water changes of 30% weekly..just really weird.

i take it the strians are getting weaker and weaker thru too much cross breeding.....

[ItWentWhereverIdidGo]

Maybe it was something to do with using two different sources and an acclimatisation thing.

[ady]

had another death this morning.another female found floating.

totally at a loss what going on.

maybe the acclimatisation as suggested.floated the bag for 15 mins,then added tank water.added more after 10 mins.left it 10 mins then added them to the tank.with the lights kept off for 2 hours after release.

gutted

[orange guppy]

Hi,

By two types do you mean two colour strains?
what did you mean by just gone within a couple of hours?
How many guppies in what sized tank? different people have different ideas of stocking levels. What did you mean the females died at the point they were going to give birth? when I think my females are about to give birth i'm always days and days off and also there is only a slight difference when they have given birth?
Also is there any chance of overfeeding? I know you probably don't but thats a huge list of food, my guppies get flake food once a day and some blood worm once a week and seem fine (my oldest I've had since last October). Also what is your ratio of male to female?
(I have no idea of what your experience with fishkeeping is so forgive me if some of the questions are too obvious)
(* just read your amount of posts so sorry about some of the questions)

[Angel Fish]

Is there a difference between your pH and the shops'?

[ady]

hi.the food list was fed as a random amount.normally it was just flake but,i would alternate between the other food stuffs.
this was done to ensure a complete bablance of nutrients.

the fish in my main tank are fed using the same method.i feed once daily,in the morning just after lights come on.

as for the 2 types i bought....1 was described as electric gold,the others were cobra guppies.

didnt witness any fighting,there was a m/f ratio of 4-1.to limit the constant harrassment of the females.all healthy specimins,not outwards signs of disease.

all the females were pregnant,feeding well.they developed a large gravid spot,deep and dark,you could see the fry in them.

as for a few hours and they gone,it was literally that.alive and healthy at night,check in the morning and a fish would be dead.in fact my last female was floating this morning,she was heavily pregnant.

the tank is a 54 litre 2ft.using a a fluval 2 plus filter.the tank is used as a growing on tank.the filter was mature as had fish in it already.sold all my young one's and replaced them with the guppies,within 24 hours.all was fine for weeks then sudden deaths started.

i have 2 tiny fry swimming freely at the mo.thats all.after inspecting the dead females,it looked like they were all unable to eject the young at point of birth..so weird.

as for PH,i'm not sure of shops levels.but they came from my tried and trusted local branch of swallow aqautics and another local store.never had any problems with the fish from these sources before....

ady

[Carylnz]

This may be totally off base but I wonder if the females have been bred with a male type that is much larger so the fry are giving the mother trouble and, as you hypothesise, getting stuck. Those cobra guppies tend to be smaller than other types don't they? They seem to be here in NZ anyway from what I have seen.

[Angel Fish]

(My bad, sorry Ady, just goes to show I don't always look to see who's posting - you would've known about pH changes )

I think it could be the fact that most fish now have been weakened by over/inter breeding. Unless you have a young pair from different strains that breed it's hard to tell what has happened in the bloodline before you buy the fish.
It's a shame that Livebearers are still being shipped in - It would be fantastic if the lines could start again

[ady]

it ok angelfish .i welcome all input,from experts to novices...

i agree with the bit about constant shipping of live bearers...they must be bred at a prolific rate now to keep up with demand.have to agree also about the bloodlines getting so muddled now....

only got 1 male left now,so gutted...we have a facebook page that is dedicated to selling tropical fish/tanks etc...in my area.i have managed to sell on all my babies so far,thats why i wanted the guppies. to be able to watch em and pass the fry on and reinvest in my hobby...that plans gone a tad wrong now.

poor fish tho..