Ever Test Your Lfs's Water?

[DyArianna]

I was just thinking about this today.  I've had some issues with a few female guppies not living more than 2 weeks after purchase.  No visible reasons... and it has been when purchasing two.. one lives.. the other doesn't.  My water stats are fine 0, 0, 40.  My Nitrates have always been this number.  Tank is established and up and running for 7 months now.  All my other guppies that I've had or raised from fry are fine.    So I got to wondering about if the ph or nitrate levels were soooo different at the LFS.  Introducing my fish has always been the standard float and then add water every 15 minutes.  So that is not it either.  I also know that it is so hit and miss these days with fish being more weak than what they used to be.  I will not be able to get to my LFS until next Sunday.. but I'm testing their water somehow.  lol  Could this be an issue when purchasing new fish?

 

[Lunar Jetman]

It's possible. How big is your tank? What else is in it? What is your ph?

 

[DyArianna]

It's only been an issue with guppies.. females to boot.  It's a 10 gallon with only guppies.  4 adults and some fry now in it.  PH is 6.8..  temp is 78 F.  I seem to have great luck with them if they survive the first two weeks or if I raise them myself from fry.  Just kind of odd. 

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Hmmm. How many males have to got? Generally Guppies are quite hardly little fish so unless there is something wrong with the water from your LFS or the fish there I'm surprised at repeated deaths without any obvious reasons. How many times has it happened? Have you tried a different LFS?

It could just be coincidence, it did happen to me a few months ago where I bought two fish and one died. I went back to the LFS and got a replacement and two more, all from the same tank. One of the two died again and I went back for another replacement which was ok.

It could be something like the water quality but if it was bad I'd expect there to be lots of complaints or lots of dead fish in their tanks which you'd notice. I suppose it could be differing PH levels that are shocking some fish and they're not able to cope.

 

[DyArianna]

Yeah.. quite baffled myself.  I'm down to 2 females and 2 males..  adults.    I had purchased 2 females and 1 died.  Purchased another 2 and 1 of those died.  The purchases were separated by a few weeks and so were not the same delivery batch even.  This is a small shop that has been around for nearly 30 years.  Been trying to get the female count up to 4 but having issues!  lol  I'm going to test their water when I go in next Sunday just to see.  The only other LFS is Petco and I will only buy there if I have to.  I've never bought fish over the internet.  Might have to give it a go and see if I have better luck.  I have some females in the fry that I have.  Just going to be a bit before they are big enough to be in the game so to speak. 

 

[MBOU]

Trouble with testing shop water is:
 
A/ you'll have to ask for a sample of their water as you wont get a good reading if fish have been in the bag...
 
B/ if the water is on a system, you'll get a high nitrate reading often as depending on place, lots of shops feed 2-3-4 times a day then change 1000s of liters by evening whih drops the nitrates right back down again.
 
Guppies are generally really quite weak these days... have they shown any symptoms, why they died in your tanks? It could well have been really poor luck... or something underlying..

 

[kad191]

I have tested but as MBOU stated its hard to get an accurate sample if there have been fish in the bag. Readings weren't too bad except ammonia was high, again probably due to fish in a bag. Lol.

 

[DyArianna]

All very good points by everyone.  No, there have been no other symptoms.  At this point I just cross my fingers and hope I get a drop of fry out of them as I seem to have better luck with them raising them from fry.  It was just a thought!!    Thanks for the input folks!