how do i save fry from a dead livebearer?

From what Alan said, the 'surgery' he performed was on a still live fish which was past saving, I guess this is why it is an extreme measure as I guess there is no way of saving the fish afterwards.
Personally, I don't think that I could cut open one of my beloved fish alive or dead although if you decide to give it a go Jazzer, let us know how you get on.

The fish was dead when I done this but I did have to kill the fish to preform.
I too get attached to my fish, but where I used to work woth trout and I've killed over 100,000 over the years (for the table), I've lurnt to stand back and do it, if it need's doing.

Of coure this would be pointless on a fish dead for longer than than an hour. to know if it's worth trying you have to look at the gills, if there still slightly red, the you could saving the fry, if their very dull red and the tip's are white or gray, this would be a pointless task.

Alan

some times u have to give up some lives to save more lives.i would,in fact i've already tried the operation on my dead fish ages ago but it doesnt seem to really work coz they are all dead wen i find them.this is prob coz i damage the belly too much wen i am cuttin it.in some cases the 'some lives' dont have to be given up at all because they are already dead.

can u explain y the fry wont be worth saving if the gills and white or wateva plz alan?

AS Alan has said it is pointless proforming any form of life saving operation if the pregnant fish has been dead longer than one hour.
 I look at the fish to see if there is a liklyhood of any birthing problems, If there is then I put the female into some tank water and add epson salts to induce delivery, this works for me and I have found this advice works for others too. The epervesants of the salts open the gravid spot to allow any obstruction through,this can if the female is not in very good health cause the death of the female.
 TC

The reson to check the gills is u can get an idea of how long the fish has been dead. If bad then it's pointless saving the fry coz with both Goodeidae and Poeciliidae the fry would of starved of oxygen for to long.

Alan

oooooooooooo i geddit now.its was wat y the babies die if the female has been died for an hour i was confused was but now u sed they need oxygen i geddit now.well thats really pointless for me coz most of my die wen im in bed.

How much Epsom Salts do you put in the water to induce birth Tim??

I use about half a teaspoon full , seewhat happens then add more if you must.
 As soon as the female starts to give birth , put her back into the breeding tank.
 Its a bit hit and miss at first till u get uset to doing it.
 TC

Sounds intresting, will have to try my self.

how does epsom salts make the female give birth?i understand wat happens but dont understand y epsom salts work.i used epsom salts in constipation for fish so there might be kind of a link there.....

From what TCatfish has said earlier in this chain Jazzer, it may be the effervescence caused by introducing the Epsom salts which causes the female to begin to drop.

o ok thx

bear with me as i have only just emtered fish keeping after a long break, but years ago i rescued several batches of guppies from dead females. it depends on how far gone she was i would slit her underbelly open with a sharp knife and gently squeeze out the fry. however they would generally be still curled up with their tails attached to their heads and the yolk/egg sacs are still very large and present. and therefore premature. if your lucky they uncurl and start swimming after a few hours, or else you may have to nick them apart with the knife. its all very risky and it depends how valuable the fish is to you.

well i've tried the knife thing loads of times but i think most of them fail because the female has been there too long or i squeezed a bit too hard and damaged the fry. its so annoying i once did it to a ameca splendens and there was about 5-6 perfectly healthy babies but they was all dead, probably because i saved them too late...........

I guess you need to use a really sharp knife or a scalpel, otherwise you will damage the babies in getting the fish out. I had a problem with a Jenynsia multidentata a while back which was heavily gravid, I knew it had died only a few minutes before. I was tempted to cut her open, but I didn't because I was too squeamish.