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Guppies and more!

4K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  fish_4_all 
#1 ·
Hi all im new to the whole fish thing, kinda...i have had goldfish for ages, and figured that since i havent killed any in over a year i would go get some diff kinds of fish, and i have been wanting a tank full of guppies. so when the ad in the paper said free guppies, i told my boyfriend it was time, and we went and got them. unfortunately i didnt have the tank set up, and they had to wait for me to set up a brand new one. i got them on the 31st of aug...they did fine for about a week...infact two days after i put them in the tank i had babies...i have them in a breeder net currently (there are only 9 of them)

so anyways i started testing my water weekly, but then my fish started dying...and i started doing 25% water changes and testing the water daily (both). i have had better results, but im still losing my fish, and i cant get the pH to go down...its been at 8.2 ever since i started...let me give u my stats for the last four days.

9-8 ph-8.2 amonia-.25 nitrites-.5 nitrates-5.0
9-10 ph-8.2 amonia-.50 nitrites-.5 nitrates-5.0
9-11 ph-8.2 amonia-0 nitrites-.25 nitrates 5.0
9-12 ph 8.2 amonia-0 nitrites-.125 nitrates-5.0


i know these are not great results, and i woke up with a cloudy tank this morning, but after the water change that went away...

i have a 20 gallon tank with a 30 gallon aquaclear biofilter on it, and a heater that is set to 80. i do not know how many fish i have, they wont stay still long enough for me to count them...and i have about 6 or seven ghost shrimp, and a rubber lip pleco, and a few tag along snails that came on my live plants. my frill plant is turning brown and dying...im at my wits end and dont know what to do ...i do add just a little bit of salt with every water change...as i have been told they like salt. i have duck weed which i was also told that will help clear the water up...

any suggestions would be great...i just had one female who aborted her entire drop..all 64 were dead, but then again that was before i knew the breeders were stressfull for them...i have one who is ready to drop and i dont want to lose her babies this time...i want her babies so i can get rid of some of these plain looking ones...
on average im losing two fish a day and i dont know what to do about it...i thought i was doing everything right, but i guess not. please help
 
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#2 ·
littlebabyfilly said:
so anyways i started testing my water weekly, but then my fish started dying...and i started doing 25% water changes and testing the water daily (both). i have had better results, but im still losing my fish, and i cant get the pH to go down...its been at 8.2 ever since i started...let me give u my stats for the last four days.

9-8 ph-8.2 amonia-.25 nitrites-.5 nitrates-5.0
9-10 ph-8.2 amonia-.50 nitrites-.5 nitrates-5.0
9-11 ph-8.2 amonia-0 nitrites-.25 nitrates 5.0
9-12 ph 8.2 amonia-0 nitrites-.125 nitrates-5.0
You have ammonia and nitrites in your tank, both of which are toxic to the fish. This may be the reason why your guppies died. Keep up with the water change routine.


i know these are not great results, and i woke up with a cloudy tank this morning, but after the water change that went away...

i have a 20 gallon tank with a 30 gallon aquaclear biofilter on it, and a heater that is set to 80. i do not know how many fish i have, they wont stay still long enough for me to count them...
I'd estimate the number of fish if at all possible. Knowing the guppies, something wrong is bound to happen when they are very prolific.

and i have about 6 or seven ghost shrimp, and a rubber lip pleco, and a few tag along snails that came on my live plants. my frill plant is turning brown and dying...im at my wits end and dont know what to do

...i do add just a little bit of salt with every water change...as i have been told they like salt.
Salt is not necessary. What salt did you use?

i have duck weed which i was also told that will help clear the water up.

any suggestions would be great...i just had one female who aborted her entire drop..all 64 were dead, but then again that was before i knew the breeders were stressfull for them...i have one who is ready to drop and i dont want to lose her babies this time...i want her babies so i can get rid of some of these plain looking ones...
I wouldn't worry about the fry for now. Guppies can produce several batches of fish. Worry about your tank space, water parameters and your fish's health. Unless you can accommodate the incoming batches of fry, there is no point saving them.

on average im losing two fish a day and i dont know what to do about it...i thought i was doing everything right, but i guess not. please help
Welcome to Fishforum.com.:wave:

My answers are in green font.:)
 
#3 ·
I agree, focus on the babies and get the population down a little bit. Try get the older ones out so they younger ones have a better chance. The ones that have been in there the longest will likely, I hate to say, die slowly because of the ammonia and nitrite poisoning, very little you can do for it right now. As for the plants, the salt will kill most plants.

Stay diligent with the water changes, 25% 3-4 times a week until your parameters for ammonia and nitrites goes to and stays at 0. Once it does, your guppies will start to thrive and the babies will survive much better. The pH should not be a worry as live bearers prefer a higher pH and I keep mine betyween 7-6 and 8. 9 is a little high but it could be from the bad conditions. Test your tap water after it has set out for 24 hours so you know what the pH is.
 
#4 ·
Thank you very much for your input. this is all very difficult. im on another forum too...and everyone has conflicting information.. how do i know which ones to use? but anyways...id say i have about 35 of them in there...with 8 of them being week old fry, and about 10 or so of them month old (if that) juvies. i had a couple that didn't look the greatest and two deformed ones, so i put them in the gold fish tank...they the goldfish like them every once in a while...if they get hungry...so i culled bout 7 of them this mornin...and now i think i have about 35. tank is clear this morning, though i wont test it till later...i have a bit of other stuff to do, but im vigilant with the daily changes, and wont stop that till my tank stabilizes. oh and its aquarium salt...so should i not use it at all? i have been told they need a little bit of it...it is just a tank of guppies (well with one pleco, and few shrimp) but if its gonna hurt my plants i dont want to do that...im looking at getting some java moss, but no one around here carries it. and i have a jug of water in the fridge, does it matter if its been cold to test the pH?
 
#5 ·
The water in the fridge needs to warm to room temperature, I think. I have never actually heard of testing cold water for pH.

As for the salt, they do not need it. I have kept guppies, mollies, swordtails and platties with and without salt without any problems but when I got live plants the salt killed them all before I knew better. It could be other factors hurting the plants though so list what plants you have and your light levels.

As for conflicting advice, what is it that is conflicting? It is good to know if there is informati that may not agree with everything we say if it makes sense and can work.
 
#6 ·
Well the salt thing for one is conflicting...i have been told on the other forum to make sure i use just a little bit at all times, at the moment thats the only one i can think of, i have such a poor memory. i honestly know nothing about the plants...i have a frill plant, and then one that seems to be doing just fine...its grown 18 inches in a week...though it is turning a little brown...like i said i want some java moss, but cant find it in the area, and i have a bit of duckweed floating...i dont know about light levels...i just have a flourecent hood that came with the tank...how much light and how much darkness do they need? do i need to leave the light on all the time? or should i shut it off for longer? i like it on at night so i shut if off during the day for a little bit... oh i lost a fry today...first one to die...they have been doing so well till now...

on the subject of fry...i got one, accidentally from the LFS...and it is about the same age as mine (9 days or so) or at least i think so, its a little tiny bit bigger, and it is yellow in color...any ideas what it could be? there used to be two of them, but the one disappeared...there were mollies and guppies in the same tank...so im wondering if maybe its a molly? are they born with color? the WHOLE body is yellow...
 
#7 ·
The plant could be suffering form a lack of nitrates since it was growing so well and is now turning brown. The lighitng should be aboue 25 watts if I remember the standard hoods. That will grow most low light plants. Stick with the ones you have since they are growing but remember to add some micro nutrients, any iron liquid fert will do.

The little ones are liely pond snails and will go nuts and out of control if you over feed too much so keep an eye on them.
 
#8 ·
littlebabyfilly said:
on the subject of fry...i got one, accidentally from the LFS...and it is about the same age as mine (9 days or so) or at least i think so, its a little tiny bit bigger, and it is yellow in color...any ideas what it could be? there used to be two of them, but the one disappeared...there were mollies and guppies in the same tank...so im wondering if maybe its a molly? are they born with color? the WHOLE body is yellow...
I used to breed guppies and a small percentage are gold/yellow in color. Nothing wrong with that.

As for the salt, I don't find it necessary but it may help to lessen nitrite intoxication. It can, however, damage some plants temporarily.
 
#9 ·
ok...my tank is fluxuating between 78 and 80...my water tests are all testing normal...they have been for a week now...i have moved the babies to their own tank...but im still loosing fish...they sit on the rocks for a few days like they are gasping and then dart around and die...someone is nipping fins too..and i think it is the big female...my hlaf black purple has a huge chunk taken out of his beautiful tail....and i have seen her chase almost every other fish...why are they dying? what am i doing wrong? i was talking to the lady at petsmart and she looked at me like i was crazy. flat out told me that because i was doing the daily water changes of 25% i was putting them in shock...i make sure my temp is the same before i add water...and i tried telling her that i was trying to stableize my tanks...but nothin i told her made her happy i was doing everything wrong and shouldnt have fish...she actually told me i shouldnt have them!...

out of the original 30ish guppies i had im down to like 6 or ten, not counting the babies...they are thriving in another tank...what am i doing wrong? am i not testing something that i should be testing>? and when do i use the melafix...how do i know to use it? i dont want to hurt them anymore than they are already...
 
#10 ·
I think it is time to quit doing so many water changes to start with. Now that the tank is settled in the readings for ammonia and nitrites are 0 you only need to do water changes once a week at 25-50%. This will cut down on the amount of stress from changing water. Make sure to add your dechlorinator after each water change.

Also, make sure that the tanks have plenty of airation. Gasping says they are lacking oxygen. The GH may also be low as this can cause shakes and the irratic behavior of darting all around before dying. IF you can find one, get something called a shimy block, it has minerals that will help raise the GH. Put one in each tank and this should help.

Do you know your GH for the tank?
 
#11 ·
ok...so i havent been doing water changes every day for about three days or so now...i keep loosing a fish a day, some of them stay still up in the one corner, fins clamped to their body...some of them lay on the floor, gassping...i dont know what to do...good news is the babies now have a 10 gal tank that i was given for free...its cracked on the top half but holds about 7 gals of water...so they are in there for now, makeshift light, and using an undergravel filter for a diff tank, till i can get one on friday that is appropriate for the tank...
 
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