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guppy kingdom turned guppy hell....

14K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  C2D2 
#1 ·
i posted another thread about this a few weeks back....but the problem still continues.....i converted my 55 gallon mnuba tank over to a guppy tank about 3 weeks ago. Prior to that i had them housed in a 20 high but wanted LOTS of guppies so i transfered about 8 over to the 55. since then i have added 10 guppies over the course of this 3 week period. i had about 5 males and the rest were all female. EVERYDAY i find yet another guppy dead:evil:...one day last week i had 6:shock: i am now down to 5 guppies and about 10 fry.

I have some fake plants and i am slowly converting over to live. The only thing i add to my water is prime when i do water changes which is about 25% weekly, latlely its been about 15% every other day because im not sure what is killing my fish. My water params are good Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, nitrate 10, ph 7.8 and my temp is currently around 82....normally i have it set at 78 but i noticed some flashing 4 days ago so i turned up the heat.

I know guppies dont have as long a life span as some other fish but even my 5 month old, the one i have had the longest (about 4 & 1/2 months), died with the 6 last week. all my fish are QT before going into the display. All the fish are eating normally. the only other fish in the tank is a 2 inch long BN pleco that stays mostly on his driftwood or veggi that i put in for him. they eat tetramin tropical flakes...


WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!?!?!?!
 
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#2 ·
How are the gupps in the first tank doing?
If they're okay then that narrows the problem down to either stress from the move, or something in the new tank.

I imagine it's got to be stress... Or some kind of mineral in the water from when it was a Mbuna tank.
What's the PH and hardness?

Do some major water changes, and see if it improves.
 
#3 ·
the ph is 7.8, gh 20, kh 11. i did not add anything to the tank when it was a mnuba tank to alter the ph or anything. i dont think it is stress from the move as just last night a guppy that has been in the tank for 3 weeks died. the weird thing is they all LOOK and act fine then i find one dead...
 
#4 ·
something must be atacking them.....i dont supose 1 of the femaning guppys is 1 that you have had from the begining....if so then this 1 could be atcking the smaller younger fish......it has been known for guppys to attack and kill :)
 
#5 ·
Since the PH seems normal, I don't suppose that if you possibly had sand from when it was a mnuba tank or some type of rocks that make the water unfit for guppies but good for mnuba or w/es?

Can't think of anything else, sorry. :(
 
#6 ·
i have a regular ol' river rock bottom, i took all the slate rock out when i took out the cichlids and added a bunch of fake plants for hiding...all these plants were moved with them from the 20 high....they were also dying when in the 20 gallon on a daily basis.....they were housed with neons, and corydoras and since removing the guppies i have added baby tiger barbs.....no other fish has died in that tank other than guppies....maybe im just not meant to have guppies...the weird thing is, ALL the fry have been fine...no fry deaths from ones in the breeders net or the ones free swimming in the tank....my boyfriend keeps bugging me to add a broad spectrum medication (no specific one just one thats broad spectrum) but im not one to treat something unless i know what it is im treating...
 
#7 ·
ok, so tonight i noticed yet ANOTHER guppy actually acting/looking strange, this is also one i have had for about 2 weeks in the display tank. her back is kinda arched, her head and tail are higher up then her back, she didnt look like this this morning when i checked to see who died lastnight. Her mouth seems stuck open inan O shape and it looks like there is something growing on her head/mouth. i tried to get a pic of her with no luck of a clear shot but i will post what i have...
 

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#10 ·
if there's something in her head like worms, i hate to say this, but the next one that dies, cut it open and look. do wear gloves if possible.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrim anti parasitic.
then do a treatment of anti biotics. then watch for the same symptoms.
flashing can be a sign of a bunch of things, but parasites will kill everything, (in my exp.) so i'd treat. (TREAT THE WHOILE TANK THO) even if some fish seem perfectly fine they may be infected or be carriers.

We are currently treating our 90g cichlid tank because a rock apparently came with some free anchor worms, lovely.

Good luck wiht it.
THe treatment we are using is from API, and the antibacterial is also from API.
it may disrupt the "bio-filter" bacteria for a bit, but i'd rather have a misaligned fish cycle than all dead fish and an empty tank. at least the cycle can be put back on track.

I hope this helps.
 
#11 ·
thank you for that, that female unfortunatley that female in the pics above died the next day....i will go look today for some meds....at this point i agree, i dont care if the bio gets messed up as long as i dont loose anymore fish to some health issue, i can get the tank through a mini cycle no problem
 
#12 ·
sorry to here that i once lost a pregnant female guppy....i was guttered :(:(:(
 
#13 ·
I can see an arch in the back and i have had guppies like that i think you need to get a seporater for this guppy so i think it may be a disformation i just had a guppy die to day fro something like that
 
#15 ·
maybe mouth rot or fin rot... I'd go with the parasite
 
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