Baby guppies staying at top of tank

[SlenderSilver]

Hi all, in my 54 litre tank I currently have 6 zebra danios, 3 amano shrimps and 4 guppies (three of which are babies - around 3 months old) and the tank has been cycled for around 10 months now. The readings from the tank are: 0.25 ammonia (can never get it below this), 0 nitrite and around 30ppm of nitrate. Ph is 7.2 and temp is 24 degrees celsius. The JBL O2 test kit shows that the oxygen levels are fantastic.

My problem is that the baby guppies are always at the surface of the water (their fins are moving rapidly but they aren't moving anywhere) and when they aren't at the surface they are at the bottom of the tank. They don't gasp for air at all and they don't eat when they're at either the top or the bottom of the tank.

I did previously have a problem with ich which affected the male guppy I once had (he developed a huge amount of white spots) but unfortunately he had to be removed. I raised the temperature of the tank to around 30 degrees celsius for a week which seemed to stop the ich from infecting the other fish and none of the others displayed symptoms.

If anyone could assist me with this then I'd be very grateful.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Are they new borns? It is normal for new born live bearers staying near the surface until they are comfortable enough to start exploring their new tank. How old are they?
For zebra danios, I would say that your tank is too small for them, they might be little, but they are very active fish and they need a 20 gallon (70ltrs) ideally a 20 gallon long would be perfect for them.
As for your water parameters, your tank is uncycled. .25ppm ammonia is not potentially harmful to your fish, but it would be better if on 0ppm.
I would suggest you to do a 50% water change and put in 50% of fresh and dechlorinated water back in the tank and do the same every 2-3 days, testing your water every day until your ammonia and nitrite levels will be at 0ppm for 7 continuous days.

 

[SlenderSilver]

Are they new borns? It is normal for new born live bearers staying near the surface until they are comfortable enough to start exploring their new tank. How old are they?
For zebra danios, I would say that your tank is too small for them, they might be little, but they are very active fish and they need a 20 gallon (70ltrs) ideally a 20 gallon long would be perfect for them.
As for your water parameters, your tank is uncycled. .25ppm ammonia is not potentially harmful to your fish, but it would be better if on 0ppm.
I would suggest you to do a 50% water change and put in 50% of fresh and dechlorinated water back in the tank and do the same every 2-3 days, testing your water every day until your ammonia and nitrite levels will be at 0ppm for 7 continuous days.

Thanks for the quick reply. The 3 baby guppies are around 3 months old (1 male and 2 female).

 

[JuiceBox52]

Thanks for the quick reply. The 3 baby guppies are around 3 months old (1 male and 2 female).

Guppies tend to stay towards the top. They are surface feeders so it should be fine as long as they arent gasping or breathing hard

 

[AbbeysDad]

Livebearer fry often stay at the surface, especially if there is cover.

 

[Retired Viking]

When I had my 1st guppy tank running I noticed that the fry would stay in the floating anacharis and hornwort but as they had more fry I also notice many on or near the bottom of the tank. I did use sinking pellets and wafers for the shrimp so they may have been waiting for food down there.

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of a picture and short 30 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

 

[SlenderSilver]

Any chance of a picture and short 30 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

See YouTube links below and attached images:

 

[Salty&Onion]

They all are fine, doing really great. It's a normal behaviour for them

 

[Colin_T]

You need a picture on the back of the tank to make the fish feel more secure.
Some floating plants would help too.

Apart from that the fish look fine although they might be stressed from the danios zipping around.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Apart from that the fish look fine although they might be stressed from the danios zipping around.

Oh yeah! I didn't think about that. That also could be the culprit.

 

[SlenderSilver]

You need a picture on the back of the tank to make the fish feel more secure.
So floating plants would help too.

Apart from that the fish look fine although they might be stressed from the danios zipping around.

Thanks for the suggestion! I will get a picture for the tank and let you know how the guppies get on.

 

[Tez_20]

@SlenderSilver i've had guppies since i first started and it's normal behaviour they like going with the flow, your nitrate needs coming down though from 30 below 20ppm.

I'll give you just a suggestion those danios are middle swimmers and while those are in their they won't help your guppies sorry to say from venturing else where.

 

[Tez_20]

@SlenderSilver i found this video where i added 6 danios in my old tank and took 4 out and took them to an aquarium and kept just 2 hoping things would settle down and it was a no go..watch this video and just watch how my guppies besides my other fish keep out the way to the sides top and bottom.

 

[SlenderSilver]

@SlenderSilver i found this video where i added 6 danios in my old tank and took 4 out and took them to an aquarium and kept just 2 hoping things would settle down and it was a no go..watch this video and just watch how my guppies besides my other fish keep out the way to the sides top and bottom.

Thanks for sharing the video, I see what you mean