Guppy Dead Within Hours Of Purchase

[Lizzie71]

Tank is as below in my sig, but minus one guppy

Today I purchased 2 guppies and 3 amano shrimp. The two guppies came from different tanks, as one child wanted a blue one and one wanted an orange one. Brought them home, acclimatised them as normal, and then noticed that whilst the orange one swam around happily, the blue one was gasping near the top. Sure enough, within 4 hours he was dead

I guess it's probably my fault as there was one guppy in the lfs tank which had lost its tail and looked decidedly ropey. Really shouldn't have bought one from that tank I guess.

I took the dead one out as soon as I saw it - it couldn't have been dead above half an hour as we've been watching the new fish on and off all afternoon. But is there a risk to the other fish, especially the guppy who travelled in the same bag back to the shop with the one who died? And is there anything I can do to help?

I will probably get another guppy tomorrow as my daughter is really upset about losing her fish, but is that a bad idea?

 

[jourdy288]

Sorry about your fish, you may want to buy from a different store. Did you test your water?

 

[Lizzie71]

Yes, I tested this morning before buying the new fish, and I did a 50% water change then too.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
PH 7.5

Temp about 26 degrees

I went to Maidenhead Aquatics at Dartford as I knew they had the shrimp in stock. If I get another, I'll probably go to Polhill which is much closer.

 

[jourdy288]

Did you get a warranty on the fish?

 

[omega59]

get your nitrate down to 0, and return the dead fish for either a discount or refund.

 

[Lizzie71]

I didn't think nitrate should be nil? Thought there should be some?

Can't return the dead fish - it's too late for that if you know what I mean. It's only £2.50 though.

 

[Lizzie71]

UPDATE - the other guppy and one of the previously healthy platys are gasping at the surface - what could it be? Can I do anything?

 

[Lizzie71]

Well, this morning the remaining fish are all fine. Even the new guppy ate a hearty breakfast, and my platys seem OK too.

So I think this afternoon I'll take my daughter to get a replacement guppy, and hope we have better luck this time.

 

[Spooky76]

Hi Lizzie,

If fish are gasping, add an airstone or increase water movement with filter...

lol - Ammonia and Nitrite should be 0. Nitrate is a funny one, it shouldnt be sky high, but it depends on how often you do water changes, plants and other factors really.

Mine is always around 10 for some reason but I have a heavily planted tank.

Well done for getting through your little crisis.

Might be worth noting...how do you add new fish ?
I float the bag for 20 mins in my tank, then start adding MY WATER to the bag, about 75-100ml at a time (15 mins intervals) until I know more than 50% of the water in the bag is mine. Then I net the fish out into my tank, leave lights off and dont feed until next day.

NEVER EVER put someone elses water in your tank..