Is It True?

[EmeralDQueen]

Hey everyone, I've been breeding guppies for a couple of months now, but my females died after birth. Is it true they die once they gave birth once? Or is just a myth? Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, however the first gen fry came out perfect then mom dies, second gen fry only one 1 survived and mom died ☹️ .... after a ammonia spike of dead fry dad died. Only one female survive and she was so sad, she lost her coloration and I try hard to save her and she did survived. I got some new guppies to the scene and she is very happy now...

Anyway I'm all eyes and ears 🧐👂

Edited December 1, 2020 by EmeralDQueen

[ange]

Guppies are short-lived fish (1-2 years) but it's not true that they always die after giving birth! It's possible that she may have had a mineral deficiency. If your water is very soft you can raise your GH by adding Wonder Shells. There are also additives like Seachem Equilibrium, but most people that I've seen with livebearers in soft water prefer to use the shells.

[EmeralDQueen]

1 minute ago, ange said:

Guppies are short-lived fish (1-2 years) but it's not true that they always die after giving birth! It's possible that she may have had a mineral deficiency. If your water is very soft you can raise your GH by adding Wonder Shells. There are also additives like Seachem Equilibrium, but most people that I've seen with livebearers in soft water prefer to use the shells.

I've use the shells and I think they are great for the 10 gallon tank that I have my guppies in, so something else must have had gone wrong the trio of females and the male were very vigorous and full of life and all of the sudden they all died with in days apart. I've did notice on one of the females while she was fighting for her life, that she was spitting like a small white little tongue, so I thought it might have been parasite? I'm new to the hobby even though I did have a aquarium when I was younger but I was not particularly curious about breeding way back then and my fish for some reason where alive and well all the time, I guess I was doing something right way back then lol...

[lefty o]

no it is not true that they will die after giving birth once. like every other animal on this planet though, they can have complications from giving birth which leads to their death. a female guppy will give birth many times over the course of her short life.

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

I would assume that either an illness wiped them out or something was off water wise, perhaps with ammonia or a pH crash or something. Going forward, the first thing everyone always recommends to do when things go wrong is to test the water and be sure that that isn’t an issue, then go from there. As far as guppies go, I’ve never heard that they die from giving birth once, nor have I seen it. Guppies are a livebearer and, correct me if I’m wrong, can store sperm for several months after mating, and can produce several batches of fry from just one spawn. This is why people line breeding guppies for a certain look often separate males and females as early as possible, that way they know only their best males are breeding with their best females for whatever traits they’re going for.

[Tiffany]

When I got my guppy females they gave birth and died. The first gen did mostly the same and not many babies made it..I think I had a couple females survive and one lasted through birthing..she’s lil sharkey cause she’s huge and has no problems. I think it may have been a combo of things for the first few girls.. here she is..she’s bigger then the basket that my plants came in..