Guppies Keep Dying With A Cycled Tank

[Emzmom]

New to fish and did the whole new tank, new fish all at once. Learned my lesson and then found this awesome forum! After a multitude of dead fish, decided to start from scratch. Did a fishless cycle for 3 weeks. Got predictable results as per this forum (cloudy water, then clear). Took water sample to pet store yesterday - PERFECT! Ready for fish, right? Apparently not. My daughter picked out 3 new guppies and less than 24 hours later they're all dead. This morning they were all wobbly and sipping air from the top of the tank. Went back to store and tested water again. Ammonia a little higher but everything else is good. Nitrites, Nitrates all normal and so are the Chlorine and Chlormine.

Started with a "starter kit": 10 gal tank, Aqueon filter, no live plants. Added a water heater with the new fish. Before they all died just now, went to the store and got a Tetra Whisper 10 and bubble wall thinking they might need O[sub]2[/sub]. I'm assuming I have a mature filter from the 3 week fishless cycle. What gives? I've invested so much $$$ now I'll be darned if I just give up now. Please help. Thanks!

 

[dh058977]

Hi and welcome, Im afraid to say that there is no real chance that your cycle completed in 3 weeks, most take months. How did you cycle the tank? Have you got a testing kit? Remember that any Ammonia is harmful to fish and you say that yours was 'a little higher' - what was the exact measurement?

It looks like you fell into a fish in cycle, without doing any water changes your fish will have died of Ammonia poisioning pretty quickly. Its also worth noting that most guppies in fish shops arent that hardy due to so much breeding due to demand.

You will not have a mature filter at 3 weeks.

 

[Earthgnome]

I had a lot of issues with my tank at first too and the poster is right it will take months. To try and make it go faster and not spend so much money on fish try putting a live bacteria in the tank I used stresszyme. Also add it when you add new fish. Now for the fish everyone I have talked to and every time I have tried guppies, mollies, swordtails and other colorful cheap fish have died in my tank and others I know. They don't seem to be as healthy as they were 15 years ago. http/www.liveaquaria.com is a great place to buy good quality fish with a guarantee and a discount on bulk buying. Or you could try starting with a few feeder fish. They are very dirty fish and will raise the ammonia but they can survive a little longer in it and they are about 15 cents each. Also most pet stores have a guarantee if they don't I would shop there. When you are looking to buy fish look at their stock are their lots of dead fish? When did their last shipment come in? do the quarantine their fish before selling them? A few dead fish in a store is pretty normal because of the stress of shipping and tank changes. I prefer PetSmart for fish if I store buy. Good luck to you and don't give up just yet. Remember 1 inch of fully grown fish per gallon of tank. So 10 guppies is beyond your max more like 5 and they breed fast and a lot. Just as a warning. Sometimes there are 1$ sales on fish try them out.

 

[Emzmom]

Thanks Earthgnome and dh058977! Poor quality guppies makes sense. I got them at PetSmart and they do have a guarantee, but I don't want to kill any more fish. My Ammonia went from 0 to .25 mg/L in about 18 hours. Nitrates and Nitrates stayed at 0. pH is in normal parameters. dh - I did not add ammonia to the empty tank to do a fishless cycle. I guess I should start small and maybe with hardier goldfish. It's just that I read on this forum that they're dirty fish and may bring undesirable stuff into the tank. Maybe that coupled with some donated bacteria base will do the trick. Thanks for getting back to me!

 

[Hmongol]

If your going to do A fish cycle, I'd a avoid goldfish and go with danios or tetras. most people avoid this method because it hurts the fish so when you do cycle them and finish make sure you reward them greatly

 

[dh058977]

You should avoid adding any fish at all and cycle your tank using household Ammonia. It may take months to cycle but when you can add your full stock afterwards its worth it!

I had a lot of issues with my tank at first too and the poster is right it will take months. To try and make it go faster and not spend so much money on fish try putting a live bacteria in the tank I used stresszyme. Also add it when you add new fish. Now for the fish everyone I have talked to and every time I have tried guppies, mollies, swordtails and other colorful cheap fish have died in my tank and others I know. They don't seem to be as healthy as they were 15 years ago. http/www.liveaquaria.com is a great place to buy good quality fish with a guarantee and a discount on bulk buying. Or you could try starting with a few feeder fish. They are very dirty fish and will raise the ammonia but they can survive a little longer in it and they are about 15 cents each. Also most pet stores have a guarantee if they don't I would shop there. When you are looking to buy fish look at their stock are their lots of dead fish? When did their last shipment come in? do the quarantine their fish before selling them? A few dead fish in a store is pretty normal because of the stress of shipping and tank changes. I prefer PetSmart for fish if I store buy. Good luck to you and don't give up just yet. Remember 1 inch of fully grown fish per gallon of tank. So 10 guppies is beyond your max more like 5 and they breed fast and a lot. Just as a warning. Sometimes there are 1$ sales on fish try them out.

Stresszyme or any bottled bacteria will not work, they have little or no effect what so ever.

 

[the_lock_man]

You said

Learned my lesson and then found this awesome forum! After a multitude of dead fish, decided to start from scratch. Did a fishless cycle for 3 weeks.

and then

I did not add ammonia to the empty tank to do a fishless cycle.

As others have said, 3 weeks running the filter with no ammonia isn't cycling. Cycling is growing 2 colonies of bacteria in your filter which will process the ammonia produced by your fish, and turn it into nitrate. This takes quite a while, and needs a source of ammonia to do it.

I suggest you have a good read of the Beginners Resource Centre, a link to which can be found at the top of the "Your New Tank" forum. In particular, read the article about Fishless Cycling - that's what I suggest you do now.

There is little difference between the situations your two batches of fish found themselves in - they all died of ammonia poisoning.

Another couple of little tips for you - when you get your water tested by the fish shop, ask for the actual numbers. Anything other than 0ppm for ammonia and nitrite is NOT "fine". Second tip - get your own test kit, so you can do the job yourself - liquid ones are far better than paper strips.

Keep asking the questions that you will undoubtedly have - the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked!

 

[Emzmom]

Thanks to you all! Will be starting another fishless cycle with ammonia per the great instructions in the Beginner section. I'm also getting my own testing kit. That ammonia is a fast killer - it took a few weeks before and less than 24 hours this time. This was supposed to be a pet trial for my daughter before we got a dog. Sheesh, dogs are 100% easier! We're in this now, I won't give up!