guppys swimming at the top

[suzannegirl]

i havea 48 litre fish pod nicely planted with a good filter the water was tested that was good ,yesterday we got some guppys and they are all swimming at the top ,the tank has been running over a week any ideas please

 

[Essjay]

Did you cycle the tank by adding ammonia before you got the fish? If you didn't the tank is not cycled and there is ammonia building up in the water. This makes fish gasp at the water surface.
When you had the water tested, all they were testing was tap water as there was nothing in the tank yet to make it 'not good'.

As you had your water tested, it sounds as though you don't have your own test kit. Can I suggest you buy one asap - you need to be able to test for ammonia and nitrite at the minimum. Until you have a test kit, change 75% of the water every day. This is not a problem as long as the new water is dechlorinated and at roughly the same temperature as the tank water.
Once you have the test kit, test every day, and whenever you have a reading for ammonia and/or nitrite above zero, do a water change to get them down to zero. Once they remain at zero for several days, you can start doing weekly 50% water changes.


The other thing I need to warn you about is hardness. The majority of Scotland has soft water but guppies need hard water. You can either add something like coral or limestone to the tank, which will slowly dissolve releasing the hard water minerals; or you can buy Rift Lake salts to add to the water which will make it harder. If you choose this option, we can tell you how to increase hardness safely.

 

[suzannegirl]

Did you cycle the tank by adding ammonia before you got the fish? If you didn't the tank is not cycled and there is ammonia building up in the water. This makes fish gasp at the water surface.
When you had the water tested, all they were testing was tap water as there was nothing in the tank yet to make it 'not good'.

As you had your water tested, it sounds as though you don't have your own test kit. Can I suggest you buy one asap - you need to be able to test for ammonia and nitrite at the minimum. Until you have a test kit, change 75% of the water every day. This is not a problem as long as the new water is dechlorinated and at roughly the same temperature as the tank water.
Once you have the test kit, test every day, and whenever you have a reading for ammonia and/or nitrite above zero, do a water change to get them down to zero. Once they remain at zero for several days, you can start doing weekly 50% water changes.


The other thing I need to warn you about is hardness. The majority of Scotland has soft water but guppies need hard water. You can either add something like coral or limestone to the tank, which will slowly dissolve releasing the hard water minerals; or you can buy Rift Lake salts to add to the water which will make it harder. If you choose this option, we can tell you how to increase hardness safely.

Thank you for your reply i have a freshwater master test kit ammonia was 0 nitrate was0 my other fish are fine but i will get some coral or limestone because our water is vey soft thank you again

 

[Essjay]

If you have your own test kit, check the levels every day until you are sure both ammonia and nitrite are staying at zero.