guppys

[sheehanfish]

im very new to having guppy's and one of the females I bought had little babies, now she is just kinda sitting on the bottom. she is alive and still moves but not very much. do females die after having babies? or do they need to recover? or is she just dying for no real reason
thank u

[SueD]

It's not usual that a female will just die after having fry. But depending on where you bought her, it could be that she is just not a very strong specimen and you could very well lose her. You should find that the fry born in your tank will prove to be stronger.

There are a lot of other factors, of course, such as the age of the female, tank maintenance, water parameters, total stocking in your tank, etc. How many did you purchase and how are the others doing?

[sheehanfish]

I bought six of them and one died the day after. I have a total of nine in my 36 gallon tank. The tank is in its beginning of the cycle, i think, but the others are all very strong and doing well. I have about six little fry swimming around my live and fake plants in the tank. She is still doing well. I noticed a few of the males following her then she lays back down in the rocks. I believe she is a cobra guppy, if that matters any. Also she is very large in comparison to my other guppys.

[Goes to 11!]

I have to mention that I don't think cycling with fancy guppies was your best option, Is there any other stock in the tank?

What level of ammonia are you maintaining? & How long have you been cycling?

[SueD]

I agree about the cycling. Would not have added these before cycle was completed. Hope you are testing water daily and doing water changes as often as necessary.

[imma24]

I bought six of them and one died the day after. I have a total of nine in my 36 gallon tank. The tank is in its beginning of the cycle, i think, but the others are all very strong and doing well. I have about six little fry swimming around my live and fake plants in the tank. She is still doing well. I noticed a few of the males following her then she lays back down in the rocks. I believe she is a cobra guppy, if that matters any. Also she is very large in comparison to my other guppys.

Did you ask how many were males versus females?

The ratio that is usually recommended to avoid stressing out females is 3 females to every 1 male. Males will go after females to mate and sometimes if there are too many males, females can get stressed to death - I'm not saying this is your case - you also have to be diligent about checking your water parameters and make sure your ammonia does not go above .25ppm while the tank is cycling.

[sheehanfish]

the ammonia is very low, not even showing. I do have more males than females. i am going to check the levels again on sunday, because i think the cycle just started or it is just ending. thank u eveyone for all your help with this.

[imma24]

If you have a low ammonia level then you are not finished cycling - you will need to maintain your ammonia at .25ppm by testing daily-if it goes above .25ppm (like to .5 or more) you will need to do a large water change to bring it down. Once your tank is cycled, your water parameters will read 0 for ammonia & nitrites, 20ppm or less for nitrates.

[SueD]

Watch the nitrites closely too. If the ammonia is low or zero, you may be getting nitrites and be in the middle of the cycle. These are just as bad.