# couple of questions



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

seems just when you think you have fishkeeping under control you get a curve thrown at you!
7 month old platy raised by me has a severe deformity in her back. her spine has a "v" shape. did well until the last few days. Now she swims a bit then sinks to the bottom and rests, or she sleeps head down and resents being wakened for food. Clamps her fins a lot, but seems to be clear of parasites.
my guess is she feels aweful and may be having swim bladder problems.
Another young platy seems to be stuck halfway between male and female. Anal fin has not completely developed. there again he has a bit of a curved spine but not severely like his sister. otherwise seems to be a happy little fish.
Gold guppies i got from a neighbor.-- the males die at about 6 months with what i call the whirling disease. They swim and then spiral down, panting on the bottom to get their breathe. After a couple of weeks of this they die. 
The females live a bit longer but they seem to lose interest in eating and gradually waste away. they come up to look at the food but don't try to eat. gradually get thinner until they die.
One guppy male in with 6 females. he is not interested in mating. The girls have never gotton pregnant! he is too busy eating algae.
they never fatten-- yes I have had guppies for the past 3 years so i know about the breeding business. I got this male from the same lady that i got the goldies from.
i am thinking her fish are too inbred. Any ideas. i need to get these girls bred soon as they are almost a year old and i would like a few guppies in my tanks.
i really love the females best.
Mouse


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

You are correct, Inbreeding is a serious problem with many guppies. Stop out and pick up a new male and female to give a little bit of a new blood line to the mix. That will help out long term.


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## doggydad38 (Jan 18, 2005)

I agree. It's sounds like the fish are inbred way too much. If your females are almost a year old, then don't expect them to give you any fry. Usually a female has to be bred early, around 2-3 months of age, or it becomes very difficult for them to ever get pregnant. The longer they go, the harder it becomes. New blood may help, but a year of age is getting close the end of their breeding lifespan. Good luck.


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