My momma platy died giving birth..

[carligraceee]

Hello guys! Recently, one of my momma platy has been consistently pregnant. She gave birth to two babies and I have been raising them for several weeks. Yesterday evening, she started showing signs of bloating/swim bladder malfunction. Because of this, I put her in a small bowl full of the tank water, hoping she would pass the poop and be okay.

She didn’t.

My grandmother let me know that she had died. And she had passed one baby and there was one more sticking out of her. She said the babies were very large. The one baby she did pass was also dead, right along with her.

Is this normal? Is there anything I could have done to prevent this? Did she abort them? What did I do wrong?

In case you need the water parameters:

pH: 7.6
gH: 120ppm (I know it’s a bit too soft for mollies, currently working on it)
temp: 78
ammonia: .1ppm (had a small spike, it’s been decreasing)
nitrites: 0ppm
nitrates: 5ppm

I hope it wasn’t something I did- Sally had been through A LOT, an uncycled 5g tank for several months, an uncycled 11.5g for several weeks, ammonia issues, nitrite issues, you name it.

 

[jonny-5]

It is normal for some fish to die during birth. It maybe down to the exposed levels of Ammonia & other conditions in the tank that has broken down the fishes immune system, Then the whole birthing is a huge stress on its own. But then to be moved during birthing/pregnancy can be another huge stress.
I know its sad but just put it down to experience. Next time round you will have a clearer picture of what can happen & stop it before it does

 

[carligraceee]

It is normal for some fish to die during birth. It maybe down to the exposed levels of Ammonia & other conditions in the tank that has broken down the fishes immune system, Then the whole birthing is a huge stress on its own. But then to be moved during birthing/pregnancy can be another huge stress.
I know its sad but just put it down to experience. Next time round you will have a clearer picture of what can happen & stop it before it does

Thank you.
As I had said, my ammonia levels used to be pretty high but that was months ago and she had given birth already. I assume it was just too much stress for her to handle.

I only moved her because she was having trouble swimming and ended up getting stuck in the house I have as decor. I moved her to keep her from damaging her fins.

Why were the babies so large when they came out? And when they came out they were dead?

 

[jonny-5]

The fry will die inside the mother if she dies, So yes it is very sad but its not uncommon.
I know you say the fry were large, But large compared to what?
Livebearer fry are a lot bigger than egg layer fry as they are obviously born live & free swimming. So are not squished up to fit inside an egg sack.
If they were abnormally large then maybe it was a genetic disorder or maybe even worms which Livebearers do carry often & yes these can be passed onto the young as i have witnessed first hand. So that can make the fry appear larger.
I had a pair of Guppy females that were bloated most of the time, After i dewormed the tank, The fish ate better & were not as large in the belly area.
Im not saying they have worms but its just a thought & worth bearing in mind. Hope your next batch work out better

 

[emeraldking]

Livebearer fry are a lot bigger than egg layer fry as they are obviously born live & free swimming. So are not squished up to fit inside an egg sack.

Actually they are squished up in an egg sack when they're still in the mother's body. At least, this is the case with ovoviviparous livebearers such as platies, swordtails, guppies, mollies, etc. Viviparous livebearers however, the embryos will develop and grow the ame way as mammals.
Newborn fry of viviparous livebearers are larger than newborns of ovoviviparous livebearers.

 

[carligraceee]

The fry will die inside the mother if she dies, So yes it is very sad but its not uncommon.
I know you say the fry were large, But large compared to what?
Livebearer fry are a lot bigger than egg layer fry as they are obviously born live & free swimming. So are not squished up to fit inside an egg sack.
If they were abnormally large then maybe it was a genetic disorder or maybe even worms which Livebearers do carry often & yes these can be passed onto the young as i have witnessed first hand. So that can make the fry appear larger.
I had a pair of Guppy females that were bloated most of the time, After i dewormed the tank, The fish ate better & were not as large in the belly area.
Im not saying they have worms but its just a thought & worth bearing in mind. Hope your next batch work out better

Okay I was thinking this was the case. Every few weeks she would pass stringy white poop but since it would go away I didn't think anything of it. Now I am seriously regretting it.

They were larger than any fry I have seen come out. I currently have fry that are about 3 weeks old and are almost the length of my thumbnail. They were about that size.