Hi, just wondering if someone could help me out..

I bought a young female guppy at the end of last month, and she was about a week or two pregnant.. Her gravid spot has darkened and not sure it could possibly get any darker, and the signs that she'll be giving birth are starting to show (she separates herself from the other fish and her eating habit has changed slightly) but what worries me, is that her tummy hasn't become larger, and has in fact stayed the same.. Is this at all normal for a young female? Or has something gone wrong with the pregnancy?

All my fish need cold water, and my guppies aren't the fancy ones

Please help, thanks

I never notice the behavior you mention from my Gups. Are there males in the tank? It is possible she isn't pregnant. Sometimes if the tank isn't right or the fish is under a lot of stress they can abort theor own pregnancy. They can have young about every 30 days.

I had taken the males out so they don't eat the babies. But if she were to abort, it would've happpened last month before I got her, but the gravid spot has gotten darker since then so I don't think that's happened.. There hasn't been any reason for stress, the tank is clean, and temperature is still stable.

The fact she was 1-2 weeks pregnant when I got her means that she should be giving birth any day now.. So I'm a bit worried, that if something has gone wrong in the pregnancy, maybe the fry aren't developing properly or maybe slower than the usual pace?

I'm not sure how to attach any pictures via my phone to help work it out :/

Noticing that all night she's been swimming around one of the fake plants (its thick and together, making a great place to hide) but she tries to sort of like, perch/stop right on the grass-like leaf parts of it.. Is that normal?

I sit and read this and wonder how you know she was 1-2 weeks. I have been growing Guppies for a while now and have about 100 of them and for the life of me could not look at one and say she is 1-2 week into her cycle. I only know because they produce about every 30 days and I know when they are due and just had young. Not saying your wrong. You can't see stress. Maybe she will have them soon. And, males and females will eat their own. In fact, the one giving birth has been very well known for eating them as they come out for near all species of livebearer.

What is the temp of the tank? Even though they aren't fancy guppies they are still a tropical fish. They do need warmer water.

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I doubt it is the temp in the tank, I've had guppies for a Long while (though this was my first female) and none of them have had any problems..

I knew how long she was pregnant when I got her because the person told me.

Regardless, she somehow managed to get stuck in the filter last night and died :'(
My father and I are going to be making the filters top-notch-safe so this doesn't happen again.

Though if anyone does have an answer as to why she was still thin, please feel free to leave a comment.

Ummm....my original answer.....she wan't really pregnant and was stressed. IME, fish that get stuck in the filter are already dead before they get stuck there, or too weak to swim away from the power of the intake. Next time try drip acclimating the fish to your tank. Relieves stress and gives the fish a better chance of survival.

I agree, I think she was stressed out and weakened by it. Most likely why she was sucked into the filter. I have plenty of guppies and mollies. And it is always VERY apparent when they are pregnant. It's like the belly is half of their mass.

just saying - the people at the fish store don't know what they're talking about. don't take their word for anything. do your own research. the guppy was probably sick, not pregnant.

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