Gem Died

[BlueDragon]

So I made a post about my little Gem a while back saying she had been squared off for a week with no sign of giving birth and I asked if that was a problem. In the end I just waited to see what would happen as people said she should be OK. Yesterday I found her collapsed at the bottom of the tank. She was on her back breathing heavily and her gills were inflamed. Before this she had been totally fine, not showing a single sign that anything was wrong...

I took her out and humainly helped her off to forever sleep.

She was still squared off and had never shown any sign of giving birth. I never saw a birthing tube or saw her straining or struggling at all. I was just wondering if it could have been a birthing problem, maybe with her being so little?, or if it was more likely another casulty of my diasterous Fish-in cycle?

I know it sounds like ammonia poisoning but I really don't think it was. Everything has been going so well recently. Could it have just been from a former build up from when it all started that finally got to her?

I will be keeping an eye out for her babies in case she did manage to have any.

She was such a lovely, lively little Fish. So cheaky and playful. I'm going to miss her antics : (

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Aw, sorry that didn't turn out well. I've lost 3 females to birth issues. You'll probably never know exactly what the issue was that caused her to not birth.

For one of mine I have assumed that babies got stuck somehow and took too long to dislodge (mine did give birth in the end to a huge number of still borns as well as live babies).

 

[BlueDragon]

Well, I did a water change yesterday, syphoned the gravel etc, but I found no babies. Dead or alive.

I thought that maybe they could have been too big for her? Or maybe, with her being small, there were just too many and they got stuck?

But I suppose not, I'll never know. It does make you think though. Did I miss something? Could I have done something to help?

The othe Fish are doing fine though, including the bigger fry that are now living in the main tank.

 

[OldMan47]

Your problem sounds like either disease or water quality to me BlueDragon. I have never seen a healthy female react like yours over the last 5 decades but I have seen plenty of fish in distress during that time.

 

[BlueDragon]

So it might have been my fault?

She never showed any outward signs of being sick. Right up untill the last time I saw her she seemed her usual lively self. She had no spots or rips in her fins. She wasn't bloated or puffy (she was definatly square, not puffed up). And her gills were fine before I found her.

I suppose that only leaves the water?

But all the othe Fish... who's left anyway... are acting fine. By now I thought I'd learnt to see when something wasn't right. Even the babies are doing really well. I honestly think they're doing better in the main tank than in the fry tank. And I really have been watching them like a Hawk. Watching for any sign of stress, upset or illness. But I've seen nothing.

Could adding some of the fry have done something? I've only been adding two or three at a time and only once a week at the most, depending on if there are any ready to move. They're only about a CM long at the most, so they're still not big. Could I have messed something up adding them into the main tank?

The only other thing I can think of is that I cleaned the inside of the tank's glass last week. It was looking a bit cloudy above the gravel in places so I just used a scraper to scrape it off, but I did it once the water was out so I could scrape it off without it geting lost in the tank water. Could that have caused something?

I'll do another big water change.