Guppy In Major Distress After 15 Min In Tank

[Queen Bee]

I'm not sure what is going on in the tank. Been suffering lots of dead fish for the last 2 1/2 weeks. (Not just one at a time, but total tank loss) Newest is a guppy.

He has been in a plastic storage box since Sunday. It has no lid, no heater, and an undergravel pump which is too small for the container. Not ideal conditions. I moved him last night to a 29 G which has no other fish in it. There are no live plants. It has a filter, air sponge filter, heater and decorations. I put him in a baggy for 1 hour 20 minutes. Once in the new tank, he swam all over and displayed usual guppy behaviour. After 15 minutes, he would swim quickly to the top of tank. Every time he would venture to the bottom he would freak out and dive to the top. He even tried to leap out of the water.

I immediately moved him back to his original tank, and he was panting heavily for the next couple of hours. He changed colour and became a dark green or black colour. Now 16 hours later, he is lying at the bottom of the tank. Not really moving and I don't think he is eatting. All tests for the water appear the same as what he is in. Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia all read 0. Ph is at 6

Question is what could cause this kind of reaction in a fish so quickly? All other fish died while I was asleep so I never observed this happening.

 

[WILDER]

How long did you climatise him.
What was the ph of the tank to his container water.

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!

 

[Queen Bee]

OMG Now I really feel bad. I was so concerned about the other water tests, I forgot to test the PH. Just did it. Big tank is at 6 and his original tank is between 7.4 and 7.6.

I left him in the baggie for 1 hour and 20 minutes to climatise. I did let some water from the tank into the bag for about the last 1/2 hour. I was more concerned about going from unheated tank to heated tank too quickly.

Thanks for reminding me how important all tests are for the water.

 

[WILDER]

How is the fish has he died bless him.

 

[Queen Bee]

No, he is a fighter. He is still lying at the bottom, does try to swim a bit and looked up at me when I was talking to him. Man, I feel so horrible right now.

 

[Jim Curtis]

So, I have a question about this. Would she have been better off leaving him in the big tank? Was switching it back to the 6.0ph water straight away a bad reaction? Is that like inflicting PH shock twice?

 

[WILDER]

According to the article is best to return them back to the regional ph.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!

 

[Queen Bee]

Guppy has died. Just got home from work and found him at the bottom of the tank. Thanks so much for the info. I did a lot of research, and I think a bad combination of things gone wrong turned the tanks into death traps. It helped me out a lot, since I've lost over 20 fish since the Labour Day weekend.

A combination of heater, low circulation, ph dropped to very low levels, low oxygen being returned to the water, high carbon dioxide in the tank, bacteria filter dying off. I was only ever concerned with ammonia. I'm tearing down the tanks tomorrow, and buying some additional filters and air stones.

It wasn't until I read your reply and it described exactly what has been happening that things started to be clear and I re-read my log of the tank stats. You've helped a great deal!

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless him once ph shock gets a hold of them they never seem to recover.
Good luck.
R.I.P.

 

[Queen Bee]

Sorry bless him once ph shock gets a hold of them they never seem to recover.
Good luck.
R.I.P.

Thank you Wilder.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck.
Never had any luck with guppys myself, beautiful little things.