Female Guppy Sitting Around On Gravel.

[Ny82]

Hi my female guppy who was fine until I trimmed the plants and added the rest of my moss - is suddenly acting weird. She is sitting around on the gravel. She shook the gravel a little bit to make a divot then sits in it.
I have pics.
This is her normally swimming about

This is her in the last half hour or so

She then gets up and goes about her business then goes back there to "sit" what could be the issue?
Thanks

 

[Ny82]

Now the other ones at it. She seems to be doing the moonwalk along the gravel

Anyone know what's going on? The other female is whizzing around chasing the boys.

 

[LucyB]

I don't know what is wrong with them but If I were you, I would do a water change immediatley

 

[joselaz5780]

My female platies do this when they are about to give birth but these two don't look pregnant so i would do a 25% water change or so just to see if the problem still continues then do a little bigger water change. Hope it all works out!

 

[Ny82]

Thanks for the replies. I've been observing them and they seem to sit there then go and swim around then go back. I turned the light off and they started swimming around.
I will put my little one to bed then do a water change.

 

[hughessomefish]

My question is , is your tank cycled? This can be a sigh of ammonia poisoning. Also I would check your pH, and yes do a precautionary water change.

 

[Ny82]

My question is , is your tank cycled? This can be a sigh of ammonia poisoning. Also I would check your pH, and yes do a precautionary water change.

After all that hassle I had last week I check it everytime I add something to the tank!
My ammonia level is yellow my PH level is a light greeny blue so about 6.8 that's why I was going to ask if I needed to do a water change as this is the same before and after I did the change.
The water change is done now anyway and they seem to be swimming about then going to the bottom and swimming backwards
So even if everything is spot on-still do a water change???
EDIT the tubes turned blue I must not have left it long enough. Either that or i'm colour blind

 

[snazy]

The guppies don't seem that sick on the pictures, but it's strange they rest on the gravel like that. I have a 2 month old guppy that sleeps every night in between the gravel on the same spot, looks the same, but she doesn't do it when the light are on.
I just read your other thread, with the issue with ammonia, and stripping your tank every sunday when tank was not cycled: . The fish just needs time to recover after being exposed to ammonia for so long. Monitor your parameters, including the Ph. Makes sure Ph is not changing and stays stable. Also, what is the temperature of the water?

 

[the_lock_man]

Initial thoughts are either imminent birthing, but agree they don't look that close, or ammonia poisoning. Even if your stats are fine now, it could be delayed effects (ammonia poisoning is similar to smoking in humans, the effects can take some time to show themselves)

How many males do you have? Another thought might just be that it's stress from too many males in the tank.

 

[Rummynose]

Could you have had any products on your hands (i.e. lotion...) when you did the pruning and added the moss?

 

[Ny82]

The guppies don't seem that sick on the pictures, but it's strange they rest on the gravel like that. I have a 2 month old guppy that sleeps every night in between the gravel on the same spot, looks the same, but she doesn't do it when the light are on.
I just read your other thread, with the issue with ammonia, and stripping your tank every sunday when tank was not cycled: . The fish just needs time to recover after being exposed to ammonia for so long. Monitor your parameters, including the Ph. Makes sure Ph is not changing and stays stable. Also, what is the temperature of the water?

Aww how cute! They like to go behind the plants at night. Those 2 females haven't been on the gravel since.
Yesterday I tested the water before the change and the ammonia was yellow, now when I changed the water I tested it again and the ammonia was yellow-then it turned very pale green - about 0.25 I took some more water out this morning and changed it again - the ph is blue, the ammonia is yellow again and the temp is 24.

Initial thoughts are either imminent birthing, but agree they don't look that close, or ammonia poisoning. Even if your stats are fine now, it could be delayed effects (ammonia poisoning is similar to smoking in humans, the effects can take some time to show themselves)

How many males do you have? Another thought might just be that it's stress from too many males in the tank.

Are they pregnant? I thought that black spot on guppies wasn't a good indicator. They had it when they came to me. I have 3 males and 3 females. The males go about their business like normal but one of the females-the one in the pics with the blue tail and spots seems to like chasing a particular male about. She chases right behind him then he sort of stops right in front of her puts his fins up and goes away
They are so awesome to watch. The females love the plants and eat them and dig about the gravel the males swim about the middle of the tank with their beautiful tails.

Could you have had any products on your hands (i.e. lotion...) when you did the pruning and added the moss?

Nail varnish-would that be an issue?
Thanks for all your replies.

 

[snazy]

I took some more water out this morning and changed it again - the ph is blue, the ammonia is yellow again and the temp is 24.

Thanks. I just wanted to check you are not making a guppy soup with the world crisis and all . It's the ammonia that causes the bit of stress. Keep on top of it and make sure it stays as close to 0 as you can manage until the tank is cycled. That means test everyday and water changes when anything above 0 detected.
Once the tank cycles properly, then you'll have super active guppies begging for food everytime you pass by the fish tank.

 

[Ny82]

I took some more water out this morning and changed it again - the ph is blue, the ammonia is yellow again and the temp is 24.

Thanks. I just wanted to check you are not making a guppy soup with the world crisis and all . It's the ammonia that causes the bit of stress. Keep on top of it and make sure it stays as close to 0 as you can manage until the tank is cycled. That means test everyday and water changes when anything above 0 detected.
Once the tank cycles properly, then you'll have super active guppies begging for food everytime you pass by the fish tank.

Why does the ammonia go up when I put fresh water in it if it's 0 from the tap? It was 0 before I changed the water in the first place!!!
Don't get me wrong-they are really active at the moment-they always have been. The males and their brilliant colours and tail and the females zooming about amongst the plants.
Just that odd moment yesterday

 

[snazy]

Why does the ammonia go up when I put fresh water in it if it's 0 from the tap?

If you tap water is treated with chloramine, then when you add a dechlorinator to it, it breaks it down non-toxic chlorine and ammonia, which eventually is filtered out. If a higher concentration of chloramines is used to treat the tap water in your area, then this is possible. The test kits normally test for both toxic and non-toxic ammonia, so it will show up on the kit.

To test whether the issue is chloramines in the tap water, put some tap water with dechlorinator and test it without putting in the aquarium. If you test ammonia, then that's the problem.

If not that, then you may have messed up one of the tests maybe. Keep testing for a while to make sure. Your fish may have been a bit stressed from cycling the tank as it takes time to recover, but they will come out of it once all is stable.

 

[Ny82]

Why does the ammonia go up when I put fresh water in it if it's 0 from the tap?

If you tap water is treated with chloramine, then when you add a dechlorinator to it, it breaks it down non-toxic chlorine and ammonia, which eventually is filtered out. If a higher concentration of chloramines is used to treat the tap water in your area, then this is possible. The test kits normally test for both toxic and non-toxic ammonia, so it will show up on the kit.

To test whether the issue is chloramines in the tap water, put some tap water with dechlorinator and test it without putting in the aquarium. If you test ammonia, then that's the problem.

If not that, then you may have messed up one of the tests maybe. Keep testing for a while to make sure. Your fish may have been a bit stressed from cycling the tank as it takes time to recover, but they will come out of it once all is stable.

I tested it straight out the tap and it was proper pale yellow so 0. I will keep an eye on it, hopefully stays at 0 now.