Female Guppy After Giving Birth

[greatfish123]

Well, one of my female guppy gave birth about three days ago. Before giving birth she used to be the most active of the females that I have and would always be seen swimming around. However, now she seems to be very lethargic and retracts herself from the rest of the crowd. Most of the time (95%), she is seen sitting at the bottom of the tank. (when she first started doing this she would atleast hover about the gravel using her fins to stay afloat, now she simply sits at the bottom) Also, she look very very thin now and her tail is not as rounded as it was before. (its more of a oval shape now). Also my tank seems to have been infected with a parasite so i'm treating it with copper safe. I also gave her a salt bath to relieve her of any parasites that might be on her. That does not seem to help her either. My water stats checks out fine with ammonia and nitrite being 0 and nitrate being 20. Thanks in advance for those helping me and my fish.

P.S: At first I thought she was simply tired after giving birth, but after three days that seems to be out of the question. (she only gave birth to abt 6 or so fry). Also at times, I can see her not moving her mouth for a while and then she would start gasping and taking heavy breaths while moving her body, but she still remains stationary. I also think that she has fully given birth to all her fry... thx

 

[*Fishkies*]

I have noticed this in lots of mother fish who give birth. They often get depressed and just sit at the bottom. My friend and I who care for fish have noticed that they get this depressed or sick looking. We have had one already who has gotten sick and died. Have never been able to find the cause or why they do this yet. Best of luck with your search in an answer!

 

[JamieBailie]

It's normal, They normally come round again within a few days.

 

[merry78]

my females have not shown this symptom before....i'd be worried about the gasping...can you increase your aeration any further?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It sounds like she just had a very stressful birth. The majority of female guppys who give birth recover absolutely fine from giving birth, however sometimes you get female guppys who go down hill in health a great deal after giving birth due to a stressful birth- most females who get this are either old or were carrying a great deal of fry (particularly if for a very long time) etc, as these things can put a lot strain on the female guppys health.

My advice would be to separate her from the other fish so she can recover in peace from her ordeal. If you have a cycled quarentine/hospital tank of decent size this would be an excellent place to put her in, as its vital that she gets some time on her own to recover, otherwise in the main community tank male guppys could over-harrass her while she is in this fragile state and other fish could just generally over-compete with her for food etc. If you don't have a separate tank you can use, you could make a large "breeding net" suspended in the main tank to put her in (see the DIY section of the forum for easy to make breeding nets etc), this would also be acceptable as long is of decent size.
Feed the female guppy a high energy diet concentrating on fresh or frozen foods- bloodworms, brineshrimp, daphinia and krill make good high energy foods for small fish like guppys. If you do this while separating her from the other fish, she should regain her strength and weight over the next couple of weeks .

 

[bubblesburst80]

i hope your guppy recovers soon

xXx

 

[greatfish123]

Thanks for all your replies

my females have not shown this symptom before....i'd be worried about the gasping...can you increase your aeration any further?

i've turned on all the airpumps that I have and have lowered the water level by an inch to allow for more surface agitation. Also there are only 9 fishes in the entire tank(46g) so I doubt oxygen is a problem but thanks for your concern.

My advice would be to separate her from the other fish so she can recover in peace from her ordeal. If you have a cycled quarentine/hospital tank of decent size this would be an excellent place to put her in, as its vital that she gets some time on her own to recover, otherwise in the main community tank male guppys could over-harrass her while she is in this fragile state and other fish could just generally over-compete with her for food etc. If you don't have a separate tank you can use, you could make a large "breeding net" suspended in the main tank to put her in (see the DIY section of the forum for easy to make breeding nets etc), this would also be acceptable as long is of decent size.
Feed the female guppy a high energy diet concentrating on fresh or frozen foods- bloodworms, brineshrimp, daphinia and krill make good high energy foods for small fish like guppys. If you do this while separating her from the other fish, she should regain her strength and weight over the next couple of weeks .

Strangely the one male guppy that I have was least interested in her. He kept going around the other females but would simply pass by her. I tried looking at the DIY section for a breeders net but couldnt find anything on breeding nets. I also do not have a cycled tank ready to go at the moment. Alternatively, I have placed my biggest net(8") on top of the tank with the female in it and have been feeding her. I'll continue to feed her 3 times a day and see if I see an improvement.

i hope your guppy recovers soon

xXx

Thanks for the concern. I hope the same too

Hopefully she will be full of life in a few days.

 

[greatfish123]

Just wanted to give everyone an update and see if someone can tell me what to do now that I have the picture. I managed to take a pic of the female today. However, her body seems to be bent in the center of her spine with the head portion being lower than the tail. Also when I feed the main tank she is not interested in eating anymore. So I'm netting (8" net) the female and raising the net slightly above the water line so it forms sort of like a breeding net and then I feed her. Still she only cares to take a bit or two. Now she either is at the top of the tank acting in a sluggish manner or goes down to sit at the bottom. The tank is well oxygenated too with five airstones running and the water line recessed to increase surface agitation.

the female is on the far left.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Can you get a pic of her from above? If her spine is bent she could have fish tb, so its important to get a pic from above as well.

 

[greatfish123]

I doubt its fish TB as it only appeared after she gave birth. But I've attached the pic of the fish from the top. Its the one on the left.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

From above she looks fine, if her spent had appeared bent from above it would have been fish tb, but her spine is probably just looking a bit bent from the side from carrying a lot of fry for such a long time and then delivering them all at once- older female guppys can also develop a less straight spine as time goes by too.
Does she have any white/stringy looking poop at all?

 

[greatfish123]

From above she looks fine, if her spent had appeared bent from above it would have been fish tb, but her spine is probably just looking a bit bent from the side from carrying a lot of fry for such a long time and then delivering them all at once- older female guppys can also develop a less straight spine as time goes by too.
Does she have any white/stringy looking poop at all?

Yes, she sometimes does have the white stringy looking poop.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes, she sometimes does have the white stringy looking poop.

She probably has internal bacteria then, which is a very common disease in fish like guppys. White stringy looking poop and an inflamed looking anus would indicate internal parasites, but white stringy poop without the inflamed anus is a classic symptom of internal bacteria. Internal bacteria can affect fish in a variety of ways, but essentially it will kill the fish sooner or later. I'd advise treating the whole tank with an anti internal bacterial med like "anti internal bacteria" by Interpet .

 

[greatfish123]

i've pimafix at hand which is supposed to treat internal and external bacteria. can i use that to treat the entire tank

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

i've pimafix at hand which is supposed to treat internal and external bacteria. can i use that to treat the entire tank

I've personally found pimafix to be great for treating external bacterial infections, but not that strong when it comes to treating internal ones. Personally in my experience i have found the Interpet internal bacterial med to be the best for treating internal bacterial infections, it also lasts a lot longer than Pimafix and doesn't need daily dosings of the tank .