pregnant female guppy acting wierd ?

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AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
937
0
0
Okay, I've had these guppies for 2 weeks now. I have 6 male guppies and 1 female. I had 2 females, but lost one yesterday. They all seem to be getting along fine. One of the males got his tale nibble down to a nub, but he doesn't act like it's bothering him and he's as active as the rest and I haven't seen anyone acting aggressive since then. I think they were just establishing who the boss was. I got all of them from Petsmart and the females were separate from the males at the store, so they shouldn't have been pregnant when I got them.

I've been doing approx. 25% (maybe a little more) water changes every other day, I am putting in stress zyme, 2 tbsp aq. salt, and aquasafe every time I change the water. I've only been doing the salt the last 2 times though. Anyway, so yesterday I had a female guppy die on me. I noticed a few days ago that she'd been swimming really slowly and hovering in place a lot and just fluttering a little with lots of gill movement. Over the past couple of days, she went from looking fat and healthy with a nice round tummy, to looking really skinny (never saw any babies) and almost a little concave in the belly area. She swam slower and slower until yesterday morning she was just floating around on her side and breathing, but not moving on her own unless I disturbed her. I took her out of the tank, in case she had something catching and put her in a bowl with a bit of food and salt. She died shortly after I moved her.

Now the 2nd female is starting to behave the way the first one did. She's REALLY fat and looks pregnant to me and as of this morning, she has still been as active as the rest of the group. Now, tonight I'm noticing she's swimming slower and hovering in one place a lot. She doesn't have any other obvious signs of distress or illness. Just not swimming as actively as she was. Now, I've been pregnant, so I can relate to feeling lazy. LOL So I hope that's all it is, but I've never had guppies before, so I don't know how they act when they're pregnant.

Oh, they're in a 10 gallon tank with a betta and a little baby cory cat. The betta doesn't bother them, he keeps to himself. The guppies seem to rule the tank.

I just tested the water and the nitrate and nitrite levels were at 0, the water is soft, the alkalinity was between 180-300 and the PH was high, 8.2. I'm using test strips, so matching up the colors. You guys probably use something more accurate, but this is what I could afford right now. Anyway, so I dropped in a Tank Buddies PH neutralizer and that brought the alkalinity down to the 180 color and the PH to the 7.2 color.

Any ideas what might be going on with my girls? I don't want to lose this one. I added some floating fake plants and some faux breeding grass, to try to help out. There are plenty of hiding places. I've got tall plants in the back, the middle has 2 different caves with plants and the front has the breeding grass and an ivy looking plant with long arms.

Okay, tell me what I need to do or not do. I'm ready, I think I can take it. :worthy:

Oh yeah, and I know they say I should have more girls than boys, but I really don't want THAT many babies, and really, everyone seems to be getting along fine, now that they've established hierarchy and all that.

Thanks!
Annette
 

Nolapete

Monster Tank Builder
May 29, 2007
5,274
1
0
New Orleans, LA
How long has the tank been set up? Has it completed cycling?

Stop doing water changes every other day. Once a week is fine.

Do you have a test strip for ammonia? If so, what is it at? If not, you really need to get that. I'm guessing that with 0 nitrate that your tank isn't cycled and your ammonia is going to be high and the culprit in your sick fish.

Why are you adding 2 tbsp of salt every time you change 25% of the water?
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
937
0
0
I was adding the salt because it said "when changing water" on the carton, so I guess I should stop doing that? How often should I add salt? I only did that twice. I don't have ammonia test strips yet. I'll get some. The tank is a little over 2 weeks old. I put the guppies in after a week. The betta had been in there for about 3 days before the guppies. I know, I probably rushed.
 

silentskream

AC Members
May 16, 2004
1,860
0
36
Florida
definitely get a test for ammonia, most of us prefer the liquid drop kind, but if the test strips are all you can get, they should be fine.

you should read the sticky on fishless cycling.. it will give you the information on what's happening to your tank during the initial stages. and kindof give you some background info. once you've done that, and have tested for ammonia, let us know what it is.. if there is any ammonia reading in your tank, that means you're not cycled, and it means you're going to be doing what's called a "fishy cycle" which you will learn more about in your reading.

good luck and keep us posted!
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
937
0
0
I actually did read that sticky, but I decided to go with fishy cycling, with the hardier (reportedly) fish, so we could start enjoying it sooner. I definitely will do fishless cycling with the two larger tanks I'm working on setting up though, as we are interested in some more expensive fish for those. Don't get me wrong, I really hate when even the inexpensive fish die, it just seemed to be going so well up till the last couple of days. I dropped in another PH neutralizing tank buddy today, after using the dip stick again and getting a high reading again. I will go out to Petsmart tonight and get an ammonia test. I was thinking of picking up some "cycle", would that be a good idea? I wasn't sure, because I'm already using Stress Zyme and Aqua Safe, which I'm switching to Stress Coat now that I have used up the Aqua Safe sample that came with the tank.

I've got two books checked out from the library that I'm reading and I'm studying all the stickies and posts and fish specific websites and everything else I can get my hands on. I love DrsFosterandSmith. I sit here reading that site every night and making notes for my future two 29 gal. tanks. We're thinking of buying a 55 gallon, because my husband is obsessed with Oscars. I am trying to convince him to go with Discus instead, since they don't get quite as large.

As an aside, the clawed frogs are doing fantastic and I'm SO impressed with how clean those snails are keeping that tank! And their water doesn't read as high on the PH as the other tank, either.

Thanks!
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
937
0
0
Okay, well, I got the drip test kit, like you suggested. I tested and my ammonia level looked to be somewhere between 4 and 8, but probably closer to 8. It was almost as dark a green as it could be. :uhoh: Since I sortof expected that, I had gotten a pack of tank buddies ammonia neutralizers, and a small air pump and stone to add in and help oxygenate my water. I did a 25% water change first, as the directions for the tank buddies suggested, added in half the amount of recommended Stress Coat, put the air stone in the bottom corner (bubbles coming out of a skull - looks really cool!) and then dropped in the ammonia tank buddy. I seriously think I could see an immediate difference in my fish's behavior. They're all swimming all around the bubbles and checking them out. Now, it's been about an hour or so since I did all this and that little female who was acting lethargic is already swimming around more and has left the surface.

How often should I be testing? Every day? I probably will anyway, I'm totally obsessing. :)
 

Malefic23

AC Members
Nov 7, 2006
661
1
0
51
Charlotte NC
One small note. The reason you're supposed to have three females for every male is, they are going to kill her. They will litterally chase her to death over a period of weeks, trying to get her attention.

Normal guppy breeding, the male chases a few fems around untill one gets tired and sinks to the bottom of the tank. Then the male nips in an impregnates her. With that many males, there will always be a fresh male to keep chasing her, even after she's preggers. She'll be exhaused all the time from too much attention. This eventually wears out the fish. Make sense?
 

Temo

Joshie BaoHuu Tran
Jun 27, 2007
887
0
16
Grand Prairie ,Tx
Real Name
Joshie BaoHuu Tran
um the female have to be over power the male, 6 male= 12 female
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
937
0
0
yes, I got it now. I am down to 5 males and 1 female this morning. One of the males apparently was getting picked on and when I saw him this morning, he was chewed on and skinny and barely swimming, just getting tossed about by the filter. Anyway, I moved 2 of the males in with my frogs - the frogs are too small to bother with them right now, they're more interested in their worms anyway. Now there are 3 males and 1 female still together. The female seems to be doing much better today and really, so does everyone else. I think the bubbles are probably something I should have done from the start. I'm considering taking the female in to Petsmart and seeing if they'll trade me another boy for her. I've gotten friendly with a couple of people in the fish dept, so maybe they would. Seems like that would be kinder than leaving her there hoping that she makes it till I can get the other larger tank set up to move the rest of the boys into.

SIGH I'm planning the fish for the next tank VERY carefully as I don't want anyone to be unhappy again.
 
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