Fish Dying, Any Ideas Why?

ParadiseGuerrero · Sep 1, 2011

Since I've started my tank I've had a lot of fish die- first because i put too many in at once because i didn't research genral tank care enough but now my tank has all settled and cycled I'm still losing some. Its been four guppies and a platty- It's always the new fish. I have no QT tank so i flote, drip and release them into the tank- though i don't take too long as the fish shops are local and I don't like leaving them in the bags too long. I only pick the fish that have been at the pet shop for over a week. So once the fish are in they all hang around the bottom of the tank to begin with then they perk up a bit and go and meet the other guppies, except the the one thats going to die which just remains quiet, the following morning I wake up and it's dead. The time line is always pretty much the same give or take and hour or so. All the other fish in the tank are acting normally.
The ill fish looks normal it's just quiet- it's almost like it's the really shy kid on the playground.

So any idea what it is thats killing my fish and what i can do about it?

All my readings come back fine- Amonnia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10-20 (its somewhere in between most the time) and PH 7.6. MY tap water has hgh ammonia (0.5) so I'm not sure how helpful a water change would be for ill fish, because Of this i never put them in on the same day as a water change or just before one and I make sure my readings are all 0

The tank is 120L and contains 3 ghost shrimp, 2 platties and 8 Guppies.

soybean · Sep 1, 2011

Guppies are notoriously weak these days. I had some years ago and they just died one after another and I swore never to keep them again. But about 8 months ago I added some again, just to see how it went, and they've died off one by one ever since. The only ones I have now were born in the tank.

Do you always get them from the same place?

ParadiseGuerrero · Sep 1, 2011

soybean said:
Guppies are notoriously weak these days. I had some years ago and they just died one after another and I swore never to keep them again. But about 8 months ago I added some again, just to see how it went, and they've died off one by one ever since. The only ones I have now were born in the tank.

Do you always get them from the same place?

ouch, it's horrid when fish die especially a lot in one go

No I've had them from 3 differant places, First place all 4 of them died (But on was because it got stuck behind the filter while I was on holiday), Second place 2 out of 4 dies and the last place one of 7 died. I though the last place was pretty good as I never had problems with them before and they know what they're talking about some what but then one guppy and one of the platties died, both from there and I can't figure out why :angry:

soybean · Sep 1, 2011

If your tank is cycled and established it may just be down to weak stock and/or bad luck.

Maybe leave it a good month or so before adding anymore and see if you lose any in the meantime. Perhaps try to find a local breeder, stock might be a little more hardy.

DarrenEPB · Sep 1, 2011

Speaking from my own personal experience I have never had any problems with guppy's, I currently have 11 in my tank and over 30 young, ranging from 4 weeks to 2 days old.

What other fish do you have in your tank and did the dead guppy's have their tails bitten or torn? This can be an issue with other fish going after them due to their fancy tails. Also make sure you have more males than females.

I have a wide range of fish in my tank ranging from 2 Kribensis, platy's, 2 angle fish that were the size of a 10pence piece when added, sucking loach, clown loach, tetras, swordtails, molly's, cory's (12) pleco, gouramis ( small miniature reds, dwarfs) I also have plenty of live plants, bog wood and a sand substrate. The mood in my tank is really peaceful, occasionally my sucking loach will chase the Kribensis away from his little corner but that is it.

ParadiseGuerrero · Sep 1, 2011

okay thanks and i hope it is just bad stock- I've found somewhere else that does guppies and bought two of them- they settled in straight away with no issues- i'll probably buy them from here from now on

DarrenEPB said:
Speaking from my own personal experience I have never had any problems with guppy's, I currently have 11 in my tank and over 30 young, ranging from 4 weeks to 2 days old.

What other fish do you have in your tank and did the dead guppy's have their tails bitten or torn? This can be an issue with other fish going after them due to their fancy tails. Also make sure you have more males than females.

I have a wide range of fish in my tank ranging from 2 Kribensis, platy's, 2 angle fish that were the size of a 10pence piece when added, sucking loach, clown loach, tetras, swordtails, molly's, cory's (12) pleco, gouramis ( small miniature reds, dwarfs) I also have plenty of live plants, bog wood and a sand substrate. The mood in my tank is really peaceful, occasionally my sucking loach will chase the Kribensis away from his little corner but that is it.

I now have 10 guppies and two platties- no nipped fins so I'm thinking it may be what soybean sugested- bad stock and bad luck