Guppies are also known as million fish. The reason behind this is they breed a lot. A pregnant guppy can go through many issues that can also cause pregnant guppy to pass away. So, Why did my guppy die before giving birth?. Let us find out.
Guppy dies before giving birth due to stress, bad water condition, and illness. Guppy stress level increases naturally when pregnant, and any issue can excessively increase that stress level. Therefore, make sure to provide perfect water conditions and stress free environment to a pregnant guppy.
We will discuss why guppy passes away before giving birth in detail and will know the prevention to take in this article. So, let us get into it.

Contents
The reason behind guppy passing away before giving birth?
The possible reasons behind your guppy passing away before giving birth are:
- The pregnant guppy was under stress.
- There is a poor water condition and unstable water parameters.
- Your pregnant was suffering from illness before getting pregnant.
Stress
Stress is the most common reason behind pregnant guppy passing away before giving birth.
When the female guppy gets pregnant, the stress level increases naturally, and we cannot do anything about it.
Pregnancy is very stressful, and it’s normal for your pregnant guppy to come under stress in pregnancy.
But we can prevent our pregnant guppy from suffering from excessive stress.
Maintaining a proper water condition is essential to prevent your guppy from additional stress.
Your pregnant guppy will already be under stress during its pregnancy, and in this situation, making sure that they live comfortably is essential.
Your pregnant guppy will need perfect water condition, enough space to swim, and good nutritional food to live comfortably and healthily.
An aggressive tankmate will be a threat to your pregnant guppy.
Make sure that the water parameters are the same as before when placing your pregnant guppy in a separate tank.
These are the signs which will indicate that your pregnant guppy is under stress:
- Refusal to eat.
- Swimming erratically
- Sitting at the bottom of the tank.
- Inactive
Check for these signs regularly and if you notice any of them, then take immediate action.
Poor water condition
Bad water conditions and unstable water parameters can affect your guppies health.
With water conditions, water parameters can also be the reason behind your guppy passing away before giving birth.
Unstable water parameters arise, especially when we move our pregnant guppy in a separate tank that doesn’t match the same temperature as before.
The rapid change in water parameters can make your pregnant guppy suffer through the critical condition, and even your guppy can pass away because of excessive stress.
Bad water condition includes unfiltered and dirty water.
You can add a heater to your guppies aquarium to keep a stable water temperature.
Illness
It is possible that your pregnant guppy was suffering from a disease before getting pregnant.
There can be various explanations for this like, poor water condition, unstable water parameters, stress, and injury.
Sometimes, it is possible that your guppy was already pregnant when you bought it from a pet store and have caught disease there too.
Pregnant guppy will pass away if it is suffering from an illness.
This is why we recommend keeping the aquarium condition clean so that your guppies can avoid such diseases.
The guppy keeper needs to be aware of diseases that guppies can affect and know to cure them.
You should constantly look for any symptoms which indicate that your pregnant guppy is suffering from some illness.
Not only when the guppy is pregnant, but you should also always keep a constant check on your guppies if they have any symptoms of illness.
Earlier you get to know about the illness, more the possibility of recovering will increase.
How to take care of pregnant guppy?
Take care of these things when your female guppy is pregnant:
- Water condition.
- Water parameters.
- Nutritional food
- Stress free environment.
However, these all are things you should take care of even if your guppy is not pregnant.
You must know that guppy is also known as million fish.
We call guppies a million fish because of their breeding behavior. Guppies can breed like crazy, which means they can even be pregnant right after giving birth.
Such behavior of guppies makes it essential for guppy keepers to take care of all the above points.
Water condition
Guppies are freshwater fish species and prefer to live in adequate water conditions.
Poor water conditions can attract various diseases and infections, critically harming your guppy fish.
Pregnant guppies will be weak during their pregnancy, making them vulnerable to various diseases.
So, providing your guppy with an adequate water condition becomes necessary to prevent them from diseases.
Poor water condition can also result in your guppy coming under stress, which can be a critical issue for your pregnant guppy.
Ensure that the aquarium water is free from ammonia, chlorine, heavy metals, and nitrite like harmful chemicals.
Keep a check on the filtration system of your aquarium as if it is working properly or not.
Water parameters
Water parameters play a significant role in keeping your guppies away from stress and various diseases.
Providing your pregnant guppy with a stable water parameter is essential.
There should not be a rapid change in water parameters as it can stress out your guppy fish.
Nutritional food
Providing good food to your pregnant guppy will prevent them from weakness and diseases.
Guppies are omnivore fish species and need both plant and meat matter food in their diet.
Provide your guppy variety of food to fulfill their nutrition requirement during pregnancy.
You can feed them brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, tubifex worm like food in their diet.
Stress free environment
Making a stress free environment is the primary thing you should do when your female guppy is pregnant.
Pregnant guppy in stress can result in abortion of fry and your pregnant guppy passing away.
Many things can stress out your pregnant guppy like:
- Poor water condition and unstable water parameters.
- Aggressive and non compatible tankamtes.
- Overcrowded tank.
- Lack of food.
Ensure no aggressive tankmates are present in your guppies tank, as it can make your guppy come under stress.
During pregnancy, your guppy will get weak as it will lose its appetite, and with this, the possibility of getting bullied and attacked will increase if there is an aggressive tankmate present in your guppies tank.
Taking care of all these things will make your pregnant guppy healthy, and the guppy fry will also be born without deformities. The chances of pregnant guppy passing away during or before pregnancy will also be less.

Can dead guppies give birth to guppy fry?
Dead pregnant guppy can give birth to fry if it has passed away just before birth.
If the pregnant guppy has passed away long before giving birth, like a couple of days, then they will not be able to give birth as the fry will also pass away.
All we can do is prevent our pregnant guppy from passing away by ensuring there is a perfect water condition, stable water parameters, enough space to live comfortably, and no aggressive tankmates.
Conclusion:
Guppies are excellent breeders and will breed a lot if you have male and female guppy in the same tank.
Female guppies go through a lot during pregnancy, which naturally increases their stress level.
Pregnant guppy can pass away if they come under excessive stress.
We can prevent our female guppies from excessive stress by providing them an adequate water condition, compatible tankmates, and good nutritional food.
Reference: ResearchGate