Mysterious Problem Killing off my Guppy fry

[Goldiegupp]

Sorry for asking so many questions lately...but this is kind of a problem!
Today I found 3 dead fry in my guppy grow out tank!!! I know its normal to find a dead one occasionally, but I have never lost a single ONE until now!
DESCRIPTION OF DEAD FRY:
The first one had black speckles all over (keep in mind...they are only about 3 weeks old) and red in the body. Both eyes were HUMONGOUS and JET BLACK. The last two both had the huge black eyes and their heads upturned for some reason.
SETUP: Currently, water temp 72 degrees faregnheight. They are in a plastic floating breeder trap and fed roughly 5 times a day on a diet consisting of:
-Powdered bloodworms (a suspected culpret of the deaths)
-Powdered hardboiled egg yolk
-Ground fish food
A sponge filter and an air stone is provided. Ammonia 0, nitrate 0... bla bla bla. Pristine water quality basically :b

Another thing...many fry have redness around the gills...is this normal???

Also, I had 25 babies in the trap (yes I know its crowded) and I am now down to 22.

PLEASE HELP ME SOMEONE!!!!

 

[misterking]

NitrATE 0? What's your nitrite? There might be an issue there. Or it might of course just be a typo haha

Unfortunately it's hard to say what might be happening. Disease outbreaks are easiest to identify when the fish affected is adult and you can see the symptoms properly. There could of course be genetic problems due to inbreeding, this generally isn't a problem with guppies but it happens from time-to-time, and is known as causing a lack of resilience in other fish such as neon tetras. The fish may have been born with deformities or may not be developing properly, causing the deaths. Sorry it's so vague!

 

[Fishman1995]

How do you know when to put the mother in the trap, cause i cant tell when shes going to have them?

 

[jclee]

I've noticed egg yolk can really foul up the water, and with just a sponge filter, that might be a problem. Maybe see if a substantial water change helps any?

 

[Goldiegupp]

Thank all of you for all your help!
With so many fish in a 1/2 gallon trap, it was essential to move them to a larger home. I went out and bought a tank divider, set it up, and created a new home for my fry. At last, they stopped dying on me.
I'm thinking the problem was the frozen bloodworms actually, because it is a very rich food for such a small organizam, and I was feeding it very frequently. Yes, the water WAS very fouled up from all the egg yolk lol. But now with a bigger area and more water changes, that isn't a problem anymore thank goodness.

Fishman1995, to tell if the female guppy needs to be isolated is a tricky thing. The way most of mine have had their babies was being placed in the trap due to aggression :b they must have liked to be alone, and it triggered their "giving birth hormone" heehee. But other than just getting lucky, you can inspect your female in the following places: Look at the gravid spot. If it is small and light in color, she probably won't give birth for a while to come. Also, if she is pretty skinny she probably needs more time. Now if the gravid spot is big and dark (big as in when you view her from the back, it takes up almost all of her body width) then she may be approaching a birth. I knew how to put one of my females in the trap by her swollen body and huge gravid spot the day before she gave birth. If she looks like she is going to explode from being so fat, throw 'er in!
It is also best to put them in the trap at night considering most guppies give birth in the early morning hours. You probably won't be awake to watch her giving birth until the last few fry, but when you wake up and look in the trap you will know she had a busy time. If she HAS NOT had her babies, put her back in the tank until the next night (but this part is up to your judgment - if she still looks super pregnant, feel free to keep her in for a few days). It does help to relieve the stress to place them in the main tank during the day because they don't like to be in small areas for a long period of time.

Thank you all and good luck with your fishies!!!