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S.G.D - Sudden Guppy Death :(

40K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  jimscott 
#1 ·
Hi People, have always loved little guppies, and finally have got a nice little 45 litre tank full of them. Cycled the tank a week before tested the water, put plants in there and let everything settle.

Got my first batch of guppies, 4. - Churchill, Gandhi, Tut, and Napoleon.
Then waited a week for them to get settled, water to stabilise. Then added my next batch - Oscar Wilde, Richard Lion Heart, Dickens and Columbus.
Again waited a week, everything settled, and got some Endlers - Leonidas, Darwin, Aristotle, and Van Gogh.

I was planning on getting my last 4 guppies later this week, when today, coming home from lesson I find poor Gandhi dead, at the bottom of the tank behind a plant. I actually couldn't find him at first, I thought he might of somehow gotten out of the tank or even sucked up into the filter. He ate this morning with the others. I'm not sure what happened, the water is fine, none of the other fish seem to be sick, they're all swimming and active. no fighting, no tail nipping. (Even Tut who has a bent tail, isn't bully)

The only thing I can think of is he was a target for bullies, (especially Churchill and Richard) he would become very stressed, his tail would turn white, then back to yellow when he had calmed down. he would get chased every now and then. when I turned on the light to feed them he would turn white. Can stress kill a guppy ? That's the only thing I can think of. I will watch my other fish to make sure everything is okay. Can anything think of anything ? was he maybe just a 'dud' ?

any help or advice would be great. -
Pamela

R.I.P Gandhi the Guppy.
 
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#2 ·
Oh I'm sorry you lost little Gandhi! Yes, yes fish can die from stress. IMO, it is very high on the list of causes.... but comes in different forms. Poor water conditions, bullying, no hiding spaces, hiding and not eating, over crowding and too small a container/home.
But there are so many other factors that you just don't know... what is the age of the fish?... how long was he at the store? was everyone else at the store healthy? Did you bring something home with him. (hope fully not!!)

I want to ask tho... "cycled the tank a week" and "added some plants". Could you clarify this? Cycling can take up to 6-8 weeks to get thru the 3 stages of cycling a tank. LOTS of plants will help protect your fish but it depends on how many. 1-2 won't do it and you have been increasing the bio load each week. All of what you are doing is making sense... all slow and steady!! But I caution you before you go ahead with batch 4... to pick up a liquid testing kit and find out exactly where you are in the cycle.
Make sure you have a thermometer too for water changes and dechlor such as Prime. Prime can be used at 5x the strength in an emergency... even a small bottle in your supply box is essential. (JMO).

Good luck. Keep us posted and hopefully that is the only loss and that it was an isolated incident.
(ps... I visited Portsmith this past October! The Mary Rose exhibit was breath taking to me!!)
 
#3 ·
I want to ask tho... "cycled the tank a week" and "added some plants". Could you clarify this? Cycling can take up to 6-8 weeks to get thru the 3 stages of cycling a tank. LOTS of plants will help protect your fish but it depends on how many. 1-2 won't do it and you have been increasing the bio load each week. All of what you are doing is making sense... all slow and steady!! But I caution you before you go ahead with batch 4... to pick up a liquid testing kit and find out exactly where you are in the cycle.

Hi thank for the reply.

Let me clarify. I let the tank run for a week with just water, added bacteria etc. as instruction said. then I added stuff like the gravel/sand and plants and waited another week. I have five plants in the tank at the moment, and added them all at the same time, along with a piece of wood, that was treated beforehand. there seems to be enough hiding spots, I would assume. I was quote surprised with the tank too, when I tested the water the NO2 and NO3 were fine, where as my separate betta tank (7 litre) took almost 3-4 weeks to cycle. It might have been the tank was partly cycled when I got it, because my guppy tank was pre-owned.

I do have test kits for the water, that test the CI2, pH, KH, GH, NO2 and NO3. I test the water every week, usually before and after a 25% water change, and so far there hasn't been anything outside the 'green'. Also the pet shop let me have some of their filter water to sort of help the cycle along.

At this moment in time, I have 12 (well now 11) guppies in the 45 litre tank. I know a 30-35 litre tank is just about 10 gallons, and that usually can have about 12-15 guppies. so I don't know if it's over crowding. all I have is male guppies in the tank, and that's how I want to keep it, maybe add and loach or something for algae if I have the space.

All I can think of maybe it was stress which killed Gandhi. even from day one when I got him to 3 weeks later his colouring would still fade and go back to normal, he would get chased and bullied. I suppose he was the 'runt' of the tank :( when there was only four in the tank Churchill and Napoleon were the more aggressive ones, until I added other guppies a week later. but I suppose the damage was done, yesterday I did see Richard Lion Heart chasing him quite a lot. (Richard is quite a large guppy)

I suppose it cant it be helped, survival of the fittest, nature taking it's course. will just have to keep a close eye on the rest of my boys. will keep you posted.
 
#6 ·
You didn't mention your test kit testing for ammonia, which would be my primary concern... The nitrite and nitrate might be "fine" since the bacteria hasn't even developed to convert ammonia into it yet! You could have high ammonia. That's a lot of fish to add quickly and I don't know how effective the bacteria you added really is.
 
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#7 ·
Hi guys, just an update on my guppy empire,

so far there hasn't be any more sudden guppy deaths. everyone is still accounted for, with no strange or disheartening behaviour. I believe I can only put Gandhi' death down to stress.

I have added even more plants to the thank, (3 to replace the dying plant) since then I have added another group of guppies, and there have been no problems. My tank is now full to comfortable capacity. I have even started a little log on their behaviour, because they're so amusing ! :D even my mom is considering getting a tank of her own :3 fish madness !!
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi guys, just an update on my guppy empire,

so far there hasn't be any more sudden guppy deaths. everyone is still accounted for, with no strange or disheartening behaviour. I believe I can only put Gandhi' death down to stress.

I have added even more plants to the thank, (3 to replace the dying plant) since then I have added another group of guppies, and there have been no problems. My tank is now full to comfortable capacity. I have even started a little log on their behaviour, because they're so amusing ! :D even my mom is considering getting a tank of her own :3 fish madness !!

Sounds like you're doing just fine.

As bad and heartless as it seems, one truth to this hobby is that fish do not last forever.

But you sure seem to be doing fine.


my .02
 
#9 ·
Sadly another guppy has died, rather suddenly again. Hi name was Napoleon. Not sure what happened, he had a very ragged tail, and had begun to start healing beautiful.

I have been worried about one other guppy, Oscar Wilde, who has been battling fin rot. I came to feed my guppies today and noticed Napoleon was gone :( checked the tank and found his sad remains. Looked like his tail was eaten, his body colours were pale (where as when I found Ghandi he still had his colours), but I don't know if this was just the work of the Otocinclus and shrimp in the tank.

I am quite shocked by his sudden death :( I honestly don't know what's wrong, I have the water tested and everything got a green light. I have a heater and filter. I don't think I am overstocked. maybe he was just old ? sick when I got him ? I have had him for over a month now, but I noticed from day one he used to swim on his own, hover near the bottom of the tank :/ I heard this is early signs of guppy illness or preparing to die.


 
#11 ·
When I was a teen, I had a 10 gallon tank devoted to 'fancy guppies'. Since I wanted one of everything, I kept adding more fish (beyond that old rule of thumb about 1 - 1" fish per gallon of water) and then the tank was almost wiped out from bacterial infection (fin and tail rot). I can't say that this is what's going on with your tank, but MY tank was just enough over-crowded that it allowed the infection to take hold and spread. Just a thought...
 
#12 ·
Another "problem" with fancy guppies and most especially with the really really pretty ones, is that they can be rather in bred and therefore more suseptable to illnesses.

Whereas the "older more common" types are heathier.

my .02
 
#16 ·
The same could be said for the various strains of goldfish and angelfish. As a matter of fact, a couple decades ago there was a massive wipeout of angelfish and all that was available, commercially, were those that were kept by local breeders / hobbyists.
 
#15 ·
Hmm taking into account what has been said I think all points might be valid.

The place I got my guppies...well, they aren't the most 'modern' of shops, a lot of their tanks are over stocked etc with not the best cleaning or filtration. but they have a lot of variety of fish. I can see some guppies in the tanks with tails already ragged and split. I usually try and avoid getting them, but some of so cute and pretty I get them and think I can heal them :/

I do try and pick the prettiest and nicest males, so maybe it is breeding issue and poor immunity :/

my tank is quite full, I admit, but I have been careful not to overstock, and I am have a strict cleaning and water change routine.

One thing I have noticed is the guppies with the bigger tails seem to suffer either quicker, or more than my smaller tailed guppies. at this time I have put the worse off guppies in an isolation net, and am treating the water with medicine. I have isolated them at the moment mostly because my endlers are getting quite cheeky, I don't want them having a good at my guppies while they're still abit weak.
 
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