Aquarium Conditions - Guppies

[CMartino]

Hey all thanks for your time,

I have a 25 gallon tank with appropriately 15 Guppies, 4 Mollies, 2 baby Plecos, 8 Guppies (1 month old) and 5 (3 day old) fry in a breading tank.

I used to do regular water tests at my pet store but stopped after they were returning as perfect each time, now I haven't had a test for two weeks but popped down to the store tonight in massive shock here were the results;

Ammonia: 2.0
Nitrite: 2.0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.4

So obviously in shock I hurried home and immediately did a 50% water change complete with a gravel clean with the gravel pump.

I'm hoping this has dramatically dropped the levels but to be sure I added 2/3 of a cap full of Am Guard to remove any traces of Ammonia and also added a full cup full of Interpet BioActive TAPSAFE to remove any chlorides and add some good bacteria.

I'm presuming this is why one of my Guppies has contracted some form of milky coloured illness on her left side, I was also advised by the pet shop (Pets at Home) to treat her with Interpet Anti Slime and Velvet so I have put her into quarantine and added the correct dosage of treatment.

I would like to hear the communities recommendations, advice, suggestions and any other information you can provide so give me your knowledge because as a newbie to the world of fish keeping I'm at a loss!

 

[BerryAttack]

i would say that you have too many fish in that tank. and the plecos are VERY dirty fish and will grow to around 7" if you have the common pleco. so with that size of an adult pleco they would over crowd your tank very fast.

this is my view on it. i would say rehome the pleco's and then if your worried about algae then get an otocinclus, they do a great job, are not dirty and are fun to watch so bonus.
then for the mollies they will most likely breed like crazy just as the guppies will and then they should be all males or 1 male to every 3 female to reduce stress.
male mollies have a long fin by their anal fin and a female has triangle fins.

before adding fish in you should have cycled your tank with a fishless cycle or something... when doing this then the fish you add will not be shocked and randomly die because of this.


and there should be around a 25% water change eat week to keep the water clean and the fish healthy.

 

[Paradise3]

i would say that you have too many fish in that tank.

Nope.

Pleco's will grow to around 7" if you have the common pleco. so with that size of an adult pleco they would over crowd your tank very fast.

Common Pleco's get to about 2ft long. Bristlenose pleco's get to about 8-10" max so 2 of those would be OK. If they are Commons... You need to re-home them. All in all, pleco's are pretty messy but with a good filtration system they are OK

get an otocinclus, they do a great job, are not dirty and are fun to watch so bonus.

Very bad advice for someone who is having trouble with their water parameters... Oto's don't do very good in new tanks and should always be in groups of at least 3 as they like to group together. Plus they can be tricky to keep alive once they have eaten all the algae as not all algae pellets/wafers have the correct nutrients in them.

The guppies will breed, ALOT! Same with the mollies. Unless you have all male livebearers which I'm guessing you don't due to having fry then you will soon become overstocked by the guppies and mollies alone...
You've added all these chemicals to your tank and the thing is, none of them actually work... It's a way of scamming money out of you. Your best option would be to buy yourself a liquid test kit like the API Master Test Kit which means you can test your water daily whilst at home and keep everything in check with large waterchanges whenever there is a single sign of Ammonia or Nitrite as these are dangerous. Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? This is an improtant step as this gives your filter chance to build up bacteria that eats the Ammonia and Nitrite.

 

[BerryAttack]

to each their own. i go by 1 inch of fish per gallon, unless you have a very good filtration system.

so if you have adult fish that will only grow to 1 inch then you can have 25.

with the otos i have never had a problem with them, just thought that his tank was already cycled and the issues have just happened.

 

[Paradise3]

to each their own. i go by 1 inch of fish per gallon, unless you have a very good filtration system.

so if you have adult fish that will only grow to 1 inch then you can have 25.

with the otos i have never had a problem with them, just thought that his tank was already cycled and the issues have just happened.

I never go by that rule because if you go by that rule you are basically saying it's OK to put a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank

Even if the tank is cycled, never add more fish while the problems are going on. It seems they aren't going to get back to us anyway but if you are having problems with your tank you deal with it with what you have, never add more fish while there's a problem going on...

I do realize I sounded harsh there and I didn't mean it to

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I'd also get rid of the plecos and probably half the number of adult guppies. I have the same size tank and my female guppies grow to just shy of 4 inches in length so I consider this when figuring out if I have room for more fish or not.

I wouldn't get otos either. I felt I got great advice from my LFS not long ago when I considered getting them... they told me otos are really sensitive and unless you were going to go above and beyond with special filtered water it is VERY hit and miss whether tap water that is dechlorinated will be good enough.

 

[Paradise3]

Do you have any pictures of the "4 inch" guppies? Personally the largest I've ever seen and that has been recorded is 3 Inches at max and that's pushing it. I have three 2 inch females and they are practically fully grown... I've seen some big males before but that's a rare sight to see them over 1.5 inch. I have never seen a female guppy that is over 3 inch. The pleco's will be fine as the tank is definitely big enough for them, especially if they are bristlenose. If they are commons then there will be a problem. The tank is bigger than my 3ft tank was and that had a comfortable stocking of;
1 Angelfish
3 Shadow Catfish
2 Kribs
4 Bumblebee Gobies
7 Cherry Barbs
2 Corys
3 Female Betta's

I was also going to get a group of Peckoltia Vittata but had to sell the tank before I could. Now if my tank, which was less than 20 gallons, can hold them comfortably then a 25 gallon can easily hold the fish they have.

Also, Oto's don't need RO Water(Special Filtered Water) they can do well in just simple Tap water but they are sensitive to Water Parameters.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I do have pictures, but they are rarely swimming next to thing that would show off their size... they look otherwise normal in pictures.

Here is my oldest guppy who is about 2/8th of an inch shy of 4 inches in length. She is next to a guppy that was your typical size you buy at the LFS... and by the way, that second guppy is nearly the same size as the blue tailed one now.

 

[Paradise3]

The duckweed in that picture tells me she is exactly the same size, maybe a little bigger, as my three 2 inch females

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Well, I can try and take a picture of them next to a ruler, no guarentee they won't hide though! LOL

Nope, not working... they all went to the back of the tank... perhaps I shall tape it to the tank and wait a day or so and see if I can catch them near it.

She is longer than my index finger and my index finger is 3 1/8th of an inch long. LOL

 

[Paradise3]

Well, I can try and take a picture of them next to a ruler, no guarentee they won't hide though! LOL

Nope, not working... they all went to the back of the tank... perhaps I shall tape it to the tank and wait a day or so and see if I can catch them near it.

She is longer than my index finger and my index finger is 3 1/8th of an inch long. LOL

If you can get one then go ahead but the duckweed in the picture is a good size reference... I can try get pictures of my females with a ruler but they won't stop moving

 

[fish48]

[font="Calibri""]Catch fish and measure it well it is still in net, take pic of fish with ruler next to fish[/font]

 

[Paradise3]

[font=Calibri"]Catch fish and measure it well it is still in net, take pic of fish with ruler next to fish[/font]

Great Idea Fish48 Thanks for that I have pics of mine next to a ruler now to put up

 

[fish48]

Catch fish and measure it well it is still in net, take pic of fish with ruler next to fish

Great Idea Fish48

Thanks for that

I have pics of mine next to a ruler now to put up

i'd like to see a 4" guppy i think someone on this fourm say they have 5" guppys

 

[Paradise3]

Catch fish and measure it well it is still in net, take pic of fish with ruler next to fish

Great Idea Fish48

Thanks for that

I have pics of mine next to a ruler now to put up

i'd like to see a 4" guppy i think someone on this fourm say they have 5" guppys

So would I... I've seen big males(2") but only rarely... I've never seen a female over 3" long as the max size for them is supposed to be 2.5"