A pregnant guppy is staying at the top of the tank because she is very close to giving birth. At this point you can shift her to a new breeding tank if you really care for the newborn fry.
If your main tank has other male guppies then it’s possible that they will eat some fry right away. Sometimes even the mother eats her own fry right away. If you want to protect the fry from eating out by male or the mother you can keep the female in a net from where the fry will fall down but mother won’t be able to pass.
Also it’s good that the new hospital tank should have live plants in it like Hornwart so that fry get lots of hiding spaces when they start to swim freely. Sometimes when the pregnant guppy female is at the top of the tank, she will try to hide behind plants as well.
How to identify a pregnant guppy?
Not all female guppies that are at the top of the tank are pregnant though. A fish being at the top of the tank can even be a sign of not getting enough oxygen because of some disease caused by internal parasites.
In case of a female guppy you’ll find the following visible changes in her body.
- She will have a belly bulge just like women (when they are pregnant)
- Her body shape will become boxy square
- A dark spot called as a “gravid spot” appears near her anus.
- This gravid spot goes on becoming darker as she gets near delivery.
- When she is very near giving birth, you’ll even see baby fry eyes through the gravid spot.
- Some female pregnant guppies will tighten muscles and loosen them occasionally.
If you find these visible signs in the female guppy then you can safely assume that she is pregnant.
When all fish are at the top of the tank
When a female guppy is swimming at the top of the tank it is considered that she is about to give birth and you should separate her to a new tank. If you want to save fry from eating out then you can separate her further in a net.
But sometimes all or most of your fish (male and female both) are at the top of the tank. In such cases it is considered as lack of oxygen in your tank.
Fish survive on dissolved oxygen in fish tank water. This exchange of gases happens mostly at the top level of the tank and that’s why when oxygen levels in the water column decrease fish move to the top of the tank so that they can breathe easily.
What if female guppy is not pregnant, but swimming at top of the tank?
We just saw some definite symptoms of female pregnant guppy and if you see these visually on her body you can assume that she’s pregnant. But it’s possible that you can’t find any of the signs or symptoms on her body but she’s still wandering at the top of the tank.
Then in such cases you must see or observe for some presence of an internal parasite attack on her. In such case she gets deprived of oxygen and breaths heavily. Her oxygen demand will start to increase day by day and to fulfill those demands she is more likely to swim at the top of the tank where beneficial gases exchange into tank water.
In a fish tank because of filtration water gets circulated and gases keep moving with water currents but if there are more fish in your tank then such gases are likely to get consumed.
That is why fish tanks where oxygen levels drop, fish tend to move to upper level to fulfill their needs of oxygen. If you find just one fish at the top of the tank or gasping for air by putting his mouth out of the water level, you can fairly assume that he’s suffering of an internal parasite attack and needs urgent treatment.
How to de-stress a female guppy?
1) Maintain male to female ratio
You must have observed that many of the problems related to fish and their behavioral problems are closely related to stress. As the owner of the tank it becomes necessary that you create the perfect habitat for male and female guppies that will make them happy and keep the happy.
In most case if you keep male and female guppies together they will mate and the female will become pregnant. So it makes sense that if you don’t want to see tiny guppy fry swimming in your tank don’t keep male and female guppies together.
If you want to at all keep them together you must maintain male-to-female ratio intact so that male guppies do not fight over just one female guppy. These fights can be even deadly and can be a big reason for continuous stress in a female guppy fish. Always avoid overcrowding your fish with too many male guppies if you have just one female guppy around.
2) Maintain a water cleaning schedule
Maintaining your tank with proper water parameters is the key to creating a healthy and happy habitat for not just guppies but any aquarium fish. Fish are practically swimming in a toxic gas chamber that needs cleaning so that levels of harmful gases are maintained within limits and fish feel safe.
In a tank, oxygen gets mixed with fish tank water at the top levels of the tanks and fish survive on this oxygen. With presence of other toxic gases like ammonia, nitrates and nitrites it becomes difficult for fish to feel safe. A partial water change can easily solve this problem.
3) Avoid overfeeding
You must only feed your fish food that they can consume immediately and a tiny amount gets settled at the bottom of the tank. Fish don’t eat all the food they eat and some of it gets settled at the boom of the tank. After a few days if these uneaten particles start to decay and turn into harmful ammonia gas. Ammonia is highly toxic for fish and its levels beyond limits can be dangerous.