Guppy not swimming!

FlareBettaGuy

Fish Crazy
Joined
Oct 15, 2003
Messages
260
Reaction score
0
Location
Somewhere over the rainbow...
I got three fancy guppies. I got a two gallon tank, and a small hang on filter. It was uncycled. And I just learned about cycling back then. So I was told to do daily water changes. I did. And i've had them for a week now, still alive. Today, I stirred the gravel around, and I saw a lot of poop, so I stirred it a lot, and the poop all came out. Then, I put my filter near it, and it all got sucked up. I changed the filter sponge, too cause it was dirty. I saw transparent stuff clinging to the gravel while I cleaned it. Could it have been the beneficial bacteria? It was very visible. I went to the LFS and got some matured gravel from a different tank. I put a some of the matured gravel into the tank. Two of the guppies seem fine, but one of them is not swimming. It just stays on the top of the water, wiggling , but not swimming. And he keeps staying there. I'm not sure if the other two are so good, but at least they are swimming! Anyone know what's wrong? Should putting the matured gravel in cycle the tank? Should I do water changes? Thanks! I have plants, too.
 
when you are cycling... try not to stir the gravel... cuz it is the dirtest time. like i said before... there are insufficent bacteria to do the break down.... it would be wise just to let the crap sit at the bottom.... and use a gravel vacuumer to get rid of the crap....... it will suck all the dirty water at the bottom. but try not to distrube the gravel too much yet

btw ^.^ if you have time let's show us your tank~
 
So you're saying that I should just leave the gravel alone while the bacteria colonizes? Okay, fine. And I don't see any "gravel vacumns" at my LFS. Should I do water changes often?
 
Oh, fine. I'll post a picture tomorow, I guess. But you need to answer me first! Will this method of putting matured gravel in the tank for it to cycle work? How long will it take for the tank to be classified as "cycled"? Should I do water changes often? What is wrong with that guppy that just stays at the top and doesn't move? stress? Thanks.
 
Now, the guppy has been not swimming is swimming, but only at the top of the tank. RIGHT at the top of the tank, like he is touching the surface of the water. Never goes down. His mouth is open, and his gills are opened a little too. But they are not rapidly moving. He's also not eating. Another guppy is also swimming on the surface, but does go onto the bottom from time to time and swims around. The last one usually stays on the bottom. His belly touches the gravel, like he is laying on it, but he is not lopsided. He is straight. And he swims around from time to time, around in the water, but seems to be sinking. He swims up, but then sinks. He is able to swim, but he sinks a lot. Now i'm getting worried. They were fine until I put that LFS gravel into my tank. Maybe I ruined it! :sick: IT'S ALL MY FAULT! And I have a feeling that they're all going to die soon. :-( If they do die, what then? I really don't think it will be safe for any other fish since it has done this to my guppies...and I don't know what to do now. I don't even know if the LFS gravel even HAD any beneficial bacteria! I just didn't know. Should I let the empty tank sit and wait for the bacteria that might be exsisting to grow? Or should I completely wash the tank with hot water and start all over again and do the fishless cycling? Or should I just clean out the whole tank and let my betta live in it? What do I do?
 
you mean your tank is messed up now? well have you check water quality other than ph? how are your readings?

if you don't know what is a gravel vaccumer it is a very long tubing but one end has a biger radius then the other end.....

IF your fish canot make it still let your tank for couple of days donot use hot water to ckean it unless you want another cycle or put it away.

from your words i think it is going through all kinds of spike (nitro)

your guppies is not too active that means your water is bad... they are trying to adjust...... personally i am not sure your gravle conatins good bateria of not... i have no idea.... but did you smell your tank water is kind of stink?

the cycle will be about 3 weeks for your tank..... in the mean time you can change your water and put less fish in it. also try to get yourself a vaccumer......


if you have a vaccumer,try to suck the stuff at the bottom, where all the poison gas saturated. the thing is do not stir the gravle... just stick the vaccumer in your tank gravle at one spot, let it do it's job about 4 sec..... then choose a next spot.

Note.. even the insturction form the vaccumer told you slide across the gravel for best result, but don't just select drop points, dun stir the gravel.
 
Woah. Three weeks? I thought that putting matured gravel in would make it faster...well anyway, two of the guppies seem absolutely FINE now, but one is not so good. The smallest one is not eating, and his mouth is always wide open. Plus, his gills are open too. He swam around the top for a while, then darted around the tank REALLY fast. It was like a blur. He zipped around the whole half of the tank in a split second, then suddenly stopped, and stayed there, wiggling, but not swimming. He is staying there as I speak. Death will come to this one soon, i'm sure of it. And I think he is suffering. But how come the other two are fine? Is it because the other two are older? The other two are also eating well. And swimming. The sinking went away one the other guppy, too. Is there a way to end a guppy's life humanely?

No, the water doesn't stink.
 
most tropical fish have a life span of 2 year..... tetra group. (guppies is one of them)

well it's hard to say which is stronger which is weaker i have no idea to tell. the one with the gill open.... try to keep an eye on it... cuz it's not normal.

cycle in 3 weeks is fastest you can get...... there is no speed way. if you see one is not eating that means ir is under hell lot ofr stress....

do you have a test kit at home and do some measurements?
 
There's PLENTY of air. Once, I did a big water change, but still the same thing. The filter also dissolves air, too. Plus, the others are fine. I think that this one has some gill problems...
 
hi FlareBettaGuy
If I read correctly, this is a 2 gallon tank? If so, the regular gravel vacuum will not fit, I use a long piece of airline tubing to clean the gravel. Just place the tubing in the aquarium, starting with one end so that water displaces the air. Next, just take one end of the tubing with your finger over it to contain the water and place that end into the bucket or bowl for your discarded water. You get pretty good suction using a small diameter tubing, just brush it through the gravel and try to get some of the bigger stuff. Always clean your filter material in water that you've removed from the tank, so you don't destroy the beneficial bacteria.


Have you checked that lone guppy for a stone in his mouth? If he's not closing his mouth, he could have a bit of gravel stuck in there. I hope your fish makes it.
 
pondfreak4365 i think yuo can get some vaccum for 2 to 3 gal tank... but it depends how high is your tank. i mean i seen one 16L tank that barly support the vaccum due to it's shallow height.(poor design) My gf bought a vaccum whic is about 25cm long and fits in her 3 gal tank. it really depends on the height of your tank.
 
Well, he passed away BEFORE I could humanely kill him. When I woke up this morning, I found him dead. And I don't even know why he got like this. And when I found him dead, he was sticking to the filter intake tube, mouth wide open, a frozen facial expression of horror. :crazy: You should have seen it...it looked just horrible. I used a chopstick to get him off of the filter, chills going through me. Luckily, he wasn't rotting yet. So he must have died just an hour or so before I woke up. :rip: If he would have rotted, that would have been a HUGE problem.
 

Most reactions

trending

Members online

Back
Top