Why Do Post Partum Females Die?

[LilyRose Tank]

I can't figure out why every female platy that has given birth has died within 24hours, Can anyone shine a light onnthis problem. I have lost EVERY female, without fail....so what am I doing wrong?

 

[SBL]

platys may be subject to too much stress after birth or platies are too young

 

[OldMan47]

I honestly cannot say why you are losing females after a drop. In your other thread, you showed fry that may have well been 2 or 3 days premature. It is a bit unusual to have many at all that are that premature. One thing that can cause a drop that early is stress. Is it possible your female is experiencing stress that causes her to drop early and then she does not recover from the stress? Just a wild guess on my part but you might examine your fish's environment. If you have small children, do they like to bang on the tank glass or anything like that?

 

[LilyRose Tank]

thanks om47, that last comment could have been it, but lily has lost interest in the tank since all the brightly coloured platys have gone, so its not that. i still have flicking going on occassionally, but cant find the reason for it. no real other symptoms....when you say they look premature....what do you mean? whats the difference so i can spot them.( but if anything they are overdue by dates....5 weeks)

 

[OldMan47]

Carrying the swollen belly that looks like the remnants of an egg sac is a sign of them being premature. The picture in the other thread clearly showed a fairly large egg sac still attached to the fry.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

oh, i thought they were good yolk sacs as they feed from them for two days, and i thought they were bigger than the last drop i witnessed which is why i thought they were overdue
gestation was approx 27 days...is that premature, i dont know maybe a little

 

[OldMan47]

The 2 days they spend feeding from that yolk sac is 2 days longer that they should have been carried by the female. That is why I guessed stress causing premature birth. A mature fry drop has fry that are quite hungry within a few hours. In that respect livebearers are very much different from egg layers. A typical egg layer fry becomes free swimming with a very large egg sac / yolk sac attached and uses it to survive while it is only capable of bumping along the bottom of the tank. This stage of a newborn egg layer fry is indeed a stage where they cannot eat and will not try to eat foods that are presented to them.