Female Guppies Keep Dying

[cric2core]

i have 55 gal aquarium that is about 4 months old

Nitrite=0,Nitrates=10ppm,ph=7, alk=120,hardness=100
temp = 74

My females keep dying within a week of introducing them to the tank. Males are fine.
I have gone through at least 12 females.

I am trying to keep 1m/2f ratio but since females keep dying ratio is at 1m/1f

Other fish in the aquarium = 2 male guppies, 4 neon tetra, 3 platys, 4 black skirt tetras. 1 angel. Other fish are fine.

No obvious sign of disease. No fungus or fin rot etc.

Please help!

 

[fluffycabbage]

i have 55 gal aquarium that is about 4 months old

Nitrite=0,Nitrates=10ppm,ph=7, alk=120,hardness=100
temp = 74

My females keep dying within a week of introducing them to the tank. Males are fine.
I have gone through at least 12 females.

I am trying to keep 1m/2f ratio but since females keep dying ratio is at 1m/1f

Other fish in the aquarium = 2 male guppies, 4 neon tetra, 3 platys, 4 black skirt tetras. 1 angel. Other fish are fine.

No obvious sign of disease. No fungus or fin rot etc.

Please help!

Is there anything obviously wrong with them before they die? Is the tank cycled? How many females are you introducing at a time? Are there any hiding places in the tank? What is your ammonia reading? Are you buying them from the same shop?

 

[cric2core]

i have 55 gal aquarium that is about 4 months old

Nitrite=0,Nitrates=10ppm,ph=7, alk=120,hardness=100
temp = 74

My females keep dying within a week of introducing them to the tank. Males are fine.
I have gone through at least 12 females.

I am trying to keep 1m/2f ratio but since females keep dying ratio is at 1m/1f

Other fish in the aquarium = 2 male guppies, 4 neon tetra, 3 platys, 4 black skirt tetras. 1 angel. Other fish are fine.

No obvious sign of disease. No fungus or fin rot etc.

Please help!

Is there anything obviously wrong with them before they die? Is the tank cycled? How many females are you introducing at a time? Are there any hiding places in the tank? What is your ammonia reading? Are you buying them from the same shop?

Nothing wrong that I can tell.
Tank is cycled.
Introducing 2 at a time
Plenty of hiding places. Live plants. Drift wood
Buying from LFS from the same place.

Dont understand why only the females die within couple of days.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Buying from LFS from the same place.

Dont understand why only the females die within couple of days.

I'd start buying them from a different place if possible; it could just be that they have a weak stock.

 

[VaegaVic]

Buying from LFS from the same place.

Dont understand why only the females die within couple of days.

I'd start buying them from a different place if possible; it could just be that they have a weak stock.

Dear god yes.
Ask around on here, guppies are fantastic breeders and females are almost always unwanted due to their lack of colours.
Ebay might also be your friend here for some truly fantastic stock.

 

[Athena]

Are the male guppies chasing/harrassing the females when you add them? Sometimes the males can be so over-zealous to breed that they can actually cause a female to die from the exhaustion and stress (esp as they are often weak fish anyway).

If that's not the case, what about the Angel fish? Has that been chasing them at all?

Did they look fin-nipped at all?

I take it you don't have a test kit for ammonia? If not, that really is an important one to get because you can't tell if your tank is cycled properly without it. Liquid kits are best.

Any ammonia spikes can have adverse effects on the fish. Sometimes the older fish can tolerate the ammonia better than new fish, because it happens gradually so it's not an immediate shock to an old fish that's been there from the start, whereas new fish going into a system of even the slightest trace of ammonia will suffer immediately.

Not saying this is the case with yours - just explaining why it's an essential part of fishkeeping.

Regards, Athena

 

[WILDER]

How long do you climatise the new fish for?

Angels and black widow tetra are not a good mix with guppys. There fin nippers.

Have you seen any signs of fin nipping.

Do the females look skinny or bloated.
Sunken in bellys.
Bent spine.
Enlarged anus, red inflamed anus.
Long stringy white poo, or clear mucas poo.

Just any symtoms to go on.

 

[cric2core]

Are the male guppies chasing/harrassing the females when you add them? Sometimes the males can be so over-zealous to breed that they can actually cause a female to die from the exhaustion and stress (esp as they are often weak fish anyway).

If that's not the case, what about the Angel fish? Has that been chasing them at all?

Did they look fin-nipped at all?

I take it you don't have a test kit for ammonia? If not, that really is an important one to get because you can't tell if your tank is cycled properly without it. Liquid kits are best.

Any ammonia spikes can have adverse effects on the fish. Sometimes the older fish can tolerate the ammonia better than new fish, because it happens gradually so it's not an immediate shock to an old fish that's been there from the start, whereas new fish going into a system of even the slightest trace of ammonia will suffer immediately.

Not saying this is the case with yours - just explaining why it's an essential part of fishkeeping.

Regards, Athena

No, I have not noticed male guppies chasing the females.
Angel also has not chased other fish. He is not aggressive.

Fin don't look nipped.

Amonia is 0. Have checked it a few times now over last 4 weeks.

Also doing a weekly 10% water change.

Thanks for all the help and spending time answering the question.

 

[Littlemonkey]

Out of interest where are you based. You may find some-one near you who will have healthy females available. Or change to another LFS as some-one has already suggested.

 

[mrs biffster]

It sounds like the lfs is using RO water. The water chemistry is different in your tank and it's like a shock to your fish even though you climitize them to the tank water and temperature. I would buy stock from other places because not every lfs uses RO water.

 

[cric2core]

How long do you climatise the new fish for?

Angels and black widow tetra are not a good mix with guppys. There fin nippers.

Have you seen any signs of fin nipping.

Do the females look skinny or bloated.
Sunken in bellys.
Bent spine.
Enlarged anus, red inflamed anus.
Long stringy white poo, or clear mucas poo.

Just any symtoms to go on.

Climatise, about 40 mins, with 10 mins b/w water additions

Angel/Black skirt + guppies mix -- thanks for the suggestion, i had not thought of it.

Females look skinny, even within 12 hours
no bent spine or bleeding or red gills
Noticed open mouth/puckered lips on one guppy within 12 hours.
Once or twice noticed, long stringy white/clear poo on the platys but not the guppies. Platys are still fine.

funny thing is they are fine in the bag. I climatise and add to the tank. And they die with 12-24 hours.

thanks for the help.

 

[cric2core]

Out of interest where are you based. You may find some-one near you who will have healthy females available. Or change to another LFS as some-one has already suggested.

I am in San Ramon, CA -- any suggestions of a good fish shop within 50 miles would be appreciated.

 

[cric2core]

It sounds like the lfs is using RO water. The water chemistry is different in your tank and it's like a shock to your fish even though you climitize them to the tank water and temperature. I would buy stock from other places because not every lfs uses RO water.

Sorry what is RO water? I am not familiar with the abbreviation.

After reading some of the replies here I am thinking water chemistry difference is whats killing them.

I go to a LFS in San Ramon/Dublin CA. Any suggestions of a good fish source local or bay area would be appreciated. Willing to try ebay but but most fish I saw on ebay were expensiveeee.

Thanks

 

[mrs biffster]

The term RO mean reverse osmosis. Some lfs use RO water, it's some sort of filtration system that takes out a majority of the chemicals in the water so the fish practically live in sterile water. Whem you but your fish in your tank the fish get stressed and die.

 

[fluffycabbage]

Certainly sounds a bit like that tbh. I'd buy from somewhere else, as every possible problem has pretty much been ruled out! Just ask what water they use first