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Neurotic guppies

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  aussieJJDude 
#1 ·
Howdy

I'm a returning aquariumist, so I feel like a noob again.

I have a 5 gal tank w/ 6 guppies. While they seem very active, feeding well, interested in their surroundings, a couple appear neurotic.
They swim up and down along the leading vertical edge of the tank in several laps until they tire, then start up again.

What is this a sign of, if any?

Ph is @ 7, temp is 75-76°

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Welcome back to the hobby.

Someone will surely tell you you're way overstocked and that's the problem. I don't know how big they are at the moment, so while it may not be true now, it will be so that's definitely a big thing you need to address sooner or later.

Another thing to consider are the sexes of the fish. All males?

And lastly, swimming up and down the glass is just something that some fish do sometimes, so that in and of itself isn't a problem. Or it could be the result of stress, which is a problem. Stress kills in many ways.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your quick reply!

One mature gravid female, the rest are much smaller/younger. 3 male, 4 female. They were sold as feeder fish from the local shop.
Since my tank is new, I used the gravel from a previous 3 gal tank to get the bacteria started. I ran it for a couple days before adding them.

Of course, I SHOULD of read about tank cycling before I did this, but now I know. I hope these guys don't suffer too much from my noob mistake.

Can you recommend an appropriate ammonia, Ph, & nitrate tester kit? (All I have right now are Ph test strips)

Cheers!
 
#4 ·
Moving the substrate from the old tank to the new is anything but a mistake, and anything but noob. You didn't have to wait those couple days before adding the fish, but it's not a big deal. One thing you can do to help easy the transition is to stop feeding them. It takes a really, really long time for fish to starve to death - a few days without food isn't anything to be concerned about in the least, and especially not when weighing it against the increased potential for ammonia poisoning. Fasting the fish will help the bacteria not to be overwhelmed.

There's a good chance your tank is already cycled though, because you've added the seeded gravel. Another thing you can do in this situation, is to dose with water conditioner for the next couple days. That will detoxify any excess ammonia produced.

The bacteria are among the slowest growing there is, taking approximately 24 hours to double in size. With that in mind, you can see how simply dosing water conditioner for a couple days may be enough to keep you covered. If it takes more than a couple days to balance, I'm afraid you've done something wrong.

I don't ever test so I wouldn't know where to steer you other than API or something.
 
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#5 ·
API master kit. What most people swear by here. :)

Other than that, its just a fish thing. Many fish species do it - kuhlis are another fish that do this a lot, same as cories and event cichlids - as long as you have hiding places, good water quaility and depending on the fish, good water circulation I'd just assume they are fine.
 
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