Guppy Deaths

[damanax]

Over the last couple of weeks I have lost 4 male guppies. It's a 65l tank and the water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20
Have hard water but not sure of the exact PH
Kept at around 26C
 
Initially I thought the dwarf gourami I had in that tank had been attacking them, as I found one of my 2 year old guppies missing his tail one morning and he died the next day. I removed the gourami but the next day one of my younger guppy's tail looked worn and  and his colour looked really washed out. He stayed close to the surface and died that night. I have lost a couple more of them this way and one of my last 2 is now looking like his colour is washed out but his tail doesn't look worn.  It only seems to be happening to one fish at a time, I haven't had more than one fish act/look like this until another dies and it develops these symptoms a few days later.
 
I increased aeration just incase but it didn't help obviously. Haven't added any salt/meds since I don't know what I'm supposed to be treating.
 
I haven't added any new fish/plants or decor in months, do 40% water changes every week (sometimes twice if I have time) and did 80% water changes whenever I lost a guppy. The guppies are the only fish in this tank now.
 
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[the_lock_man]

That's an odd one, for sure.
 
(1) Are you using a liquid test kit or paper strips? If liquid, do the tests have a "Use By" date? If so, are the tests still in date? I ask because there is a possibility that the test results are inaccurate.
 
(2) Did you do a fishless or fish-in cycle on the filter? If you did fish-in, where these guppies in the tank during that  time? Another possibility is that you are now seeing the long-term affects of ammonia poisoning.
 
(3) Can you get your pH and KH tested, and post the results of these? Another possibility is that the water isn't as hard as you say, and guppies don't do well in soft water.
 
That's really all I can think of as possibilities.

 

[dave840f1]

Do you have any female Guppies? I ask this because I kept Guppies and kept male and female in separate tanks and I found the males would chase each other sometimes chasing one individual till it was exhausted and if not removed would be killed by the others. I'm not saying everyone gets this experience but it was mine. The reason I kept them separate was I was breeding them to get a colour strain that I liked.

 

[damanax]

It's frustrating honestly

  The washed out colouring is extremely noticeable on the red guppy. He's got streaks of pale orange through is tail fins and body, he's not really red anymore. I can try get a picture if it would help? I'm currently on night shifts but if I get home and he's passed would a post-mortem photo help? Either way I'll try get one tomorrow. I also had an outbreak of black beard algae a few weeks ago and it's just been recently dealt with. Could that have affected the tank enough to effect the fish?
 
1. I use a liquid test kit and it hasn't expired yet. It was the first thing I looked at since I've redone the test whenever a guppy shows symptoms or dies and the results are always the same. I'll see about getting another test kit to be sure, I can't get down to the LFS until Wednesday, due to night shifts and the hours drive there and back. Hopefully I don't lose my last 2 guys in that time  

 The snails in the tank have als had a little population boom. Would that cause anything?
 
2. I did a fish in cycle before I realised what cycling was but that would have only affected the 2 year old guppy. The others I have had for around 8 months and they weren't added until it was properly cycled.
 
3. I'll see about picking up a PH/KH test in the next few days. I know that my area has very hard water but there could be a water softener/something else in the building somewhere that I'm not aware of.
 
Sorry for all the questions.  Really trying to figure out what I've missed

 

[damanax]

Do you have any female Guppies? I ask this because I kept Guppies and kept male and female in separate tanks and I found the males would chase each other sometimes chasing one individual till it was exhausted and if not removed would be killed by the others. I'm not saying everyone gets this experience but it was mine. The reason I kept them separate was I was breeding them to get a colour strain that I liked.

 
I've never kept female guppies, I've never really been bothered with having fry. Aggression could explain the lethargy and worn/torn tails. If it is aggression, why start now and not when they were first housed together? The meanest guppy is the red that's currently showing symptoms. The other male in the tank has been leaving him completely alone and isn't showing any symptoms at all.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

If it is aggression, why start now and not when they were first housed together?

They've finally matured? They're bored and have no-one to mate with?

Maybe consider more plants so they have more places to hide from each other?

 

[bluesword23516]

The males I used to have in a separate would chase each other, but never to the point of exhaustion let alone death. Do you have other species in the tank? 

 

[damanax]

OK, I borrowed a friend's kits and the results are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20
Gonna find a PH/KH kit tomorrow.
 
The guppies were all fully grown when I bought them and there hasn't been any other species in the tank since the first death. The red guppy that's showing symptoms is still eating and swimming around properly, if a little slowly. The other guppy hasn't shown any signs yet.

 

[bluesword23516]

I would take out the other red guppy if you can.  It could be something spread from fish to fish.

 

[dave840f1]

The males I used to have in a separate would chase each other, but never to the point of exhaustion let alone death. Do you have other species in the tank?

To reply to bw I was quoting MY experience with a tank of male Guppies not everyone's.

 

[mystichorseangel]

something I have had sweep through my tank before is dropsy, which makes my fish lethargic, pale, and their tails seem to be falling apart. Any cures for dropsy that I have heard of usually don't work, the only thing you can do is quarantine your healthy fish. Even if you don't know what the illness is, I still think if you can quarantine the fish, and perhaps do a full water change to clear out anything that might be contaminated.

 

[damanax]

Yeah, I've quarantined the sickly guppy. Did a couple of large water changes, cleaned out the filter and did a very thorough gravel vac of the main tank. Haven't managed to find a PH/KH kit yet.
 
The sickly guppy is still alive but his whole tail has gone white with bits of black. He's also staying near the top of the water today so I'm thinking he'll be gone in the next day or so. I don't see any pineconing but I'm not too familiar with signs of dropsy.
 
The last guppy in the main tank still isn't showing an signs of anything.

 

[bluesword23516]

If you have something like a water cleanser for your fish or salt put a little in the main tank if you haven't already with the water changes.  It will help the guppy stay well if it has been infected.

 

[damanax]

Ok so this morning the red guppy is alive but he's got what looks like a white pompom on his fin. What is that and how do I treat it?

 

[damanax]

Went to check on him and found that he had died sometime this afternoon. 

 Goldy Max. The other guppies didn't last as long as this little guy and he was the only one to develop the fuzzy white stuff. Some kind of fungus from the looks of it. I'm thinking Columnaris now.
 
I have disinfected the net and quarantine tank. Also did an 80% water change, the 2nd in 3 days, on the main tank.
 
My boyfriend decided to move some of my neons into that tank without asking first

 and now I'm concerned that both them and my last guppy will need to be medicated. I also have a whole bunch of pest snails in the tank but I don't want to kill them off incase it messes up the water quality. Is there anything I can use to treat the fungus with fish as sensitive as neons? Also, should I treat the tank without seeing other fish show symptoms? It's making me paranoid that there are signs that I'm missing 

 
I just want this saga to be over