why am i having such bad luck with guppy fish?

[societyfinch15]

every time i go and buy a female guppy that is pregnant they always end up getting really close to having the babies then they stop...do you think i should just stop tying to get the most pregnant one and maybe get a non pregnant one...or a early stage pregnant one.



i always here people talking about how thy bought pregnant guppy's and they had babies or how they had a male and female and all of a sudden they would not stop breeding what am i doing wrong.

 

[snakestersnake]

When I first started with guppies I also had this problem. Often if you buy the most pregnant one, the stress of moving will cause her to terminate the pregnancy by reabsorbing the unborn young. I eventually gave up and invested in numerous male and female guppies, then one month later when I came back from holiday I had a tankful of fry (though since I also have sword-tails and platies I am unsure which fry I have)
I think it is most likely the stress that is causing this however if your fish are as you say getting really close once they are at home, it may be that they are birthing at night but then eating the young as most fish do. Mouth bearers and Cichlids are the only fish I know of in the home aquarium that do not eat there own young.
To try and cure this if this is what is happening, you can try buying several soft plants such as hair grass or ambulia making sure that you either have some plants reaching the surface or floating plants because the fry will a) swim to the top in search of cover from their mothers and oxygen no matter how well oxygenated your tank is, $b) the plants will provide cover during the day once the fry are exploring the aquarium. Also plant the plants densely and in the brightest spot in the tank since the fry will be attracted to the light.