Issues With Guppies

[Axleuk]

Well, i purchased 12 guppies to complete my tank, 4 female and 8 males yesterday. They all appeared to be heathy fish and i did not noticed any issues with them when putting them in the tank.

I woke up this morning and found one stuck to the filter. It looked fine other than being dead so i thought that maybe it just got stuck, apparently this happens.

A few hours later i noticed 2 more Guppies having problems swimming. it seems whenever they got anywhere near the current of the filter they would be slung from one end of the tank to the other without making any effort to stop themselves. They had no control and seemed to roll around a lot. They finally met their maker and i noticed that their fins were rotten and they had discolouration on the last 1 cm on their tails.

I proceeded to the lfs and they advised me it could possibly be a fungal infection/ Finrot and gave me some medication.

I have mixed the dosage up and disolved it as per the instructions and distributed it throughout the tank.

A few hours later and i am now down to my last 3 Guppies (incidently i have also lost a Cherry Barb, however it showed no symptoms at all)

Whatever is killing them, is killing them fast.

I test my water twice a day and my levels have always been

PH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

I have done a 20% water change today and all my fish have perked up a bit, but this appears to be normal with water changes.

All my other fish,

2 Honey Gouramis
2 Dwarf Gouramis
5 Cherry Bark
1 Plec seem to be fine with no signs of any damage to fins or whitespot or any other common disease.

Does anyone know or can anyone hazard a guess as to why my Guppies all lost their tails and died on me?

 

[minxfishy]

Sounds like some sickly guppies you got hold of tbh, if your levels are all ok. How did you acclimatise them?

 

[Axleuk]

I added a little water from my tank and floated them in the bag for approx 60 mins.

When i bought them, the guy told me if i see signs of discolouration in the tail area to treat them as soon as possible, but alas there was no time.

I have just spoken to the lfs and they said their Guppies were fine this morning but if i bring in my receipt and a sample of the water they will see what they can do.

 

[emmag21]

I added a little water from my tank and floated them in the bag for approx 60 mins.

When i bought them, the guy told me if i see signs of discolouration in the tail area to treat them as soon as possible, but alas there was no time.

I have just spoken to the lfs and they said their Guppies were fine this morning but if i bring in my receipt and a sample of the water they will see what they can do.

Sounds as though they knew something may be wrong before you even purchased them! x

 

[Axleuk]

I added a little water from my tank and floated them in the bag for approx 60 mins.

When i bought them, the guy told me if i see signs of discolouration in the tail area to treat them as soon as possible, but alas there was no time.

I have just spoken to the lfs and they said their Guppies were fine this morning but if i bring in my receipt and a sample of the water they will see what they can do.

Sounds as though they knew something may be wrong before you even purchased them! x

I would like to think they were just being friendly as i have built up a good relationship with them. I will have a chat tomorrow when i see them and see what they can do. I dont think i will get Guppies for a while and maybe opt for something else.

 

[vinylman]

You really need the ratio of Guppies the other way round; 2 (preferably 3) females to every male. It makes life much easier for the females. If they're outnumbered by males, they can be literally worn out by the constant attention and breeding; it's this that has weakened Guppies so much, compared to several years ago.

 

[fish are friends....]

The only thing i can see that is wrong is the male to female ratio. You should really have 8 female to 4 males.
Apart from that, i think it was just a bad batch of guppies.
Keep an eye on your other fish to make sure they don't cotract any illness that may have spread. Regular water change will reduce this risk

 

[Axleuk]

The only thing i can see that is wrong is the male to female ratio. You should really have 8 female to 4 males.
Apart from that, i think it was just a bad batch of guppies.
Keep an eye on your other fish to make sure they don't cotract any illness that may have spread. Regular water change will reduce this risk

Right, i may have got the ratio wrong in my original post, i am sure it is 8 females and 4 males, but that besides the point now. I think i may have found out what the problem is.

My heater is set to 26 degrees.

Now i know my little bedroom is warm all the time but i never realised just how warm. I just tested the tempreture of the tank and even though the heater is set at 26 degrees the tempreture was 30.3 degrees.

Do you think this is what killed the Guppies? How can i cool the tank down?

At the moment i have opened the lid and turn one of the lights off. Hopefully that is all that is need to make the fish feel more comfortable.

 

[minxfishy]

Unless the temperature was a sudden rise, then I doubt it was the cause. In order to get the temp down, you can either do a water change, or many people use bottles of frozen water, place water in a bottle, place in freezer, then take out and place in the tank - obviously leaving the lid on so the water doesnt get into the tank!!

 

[Wrams]

Hi Axleuk, To be honest whenever i buy Guppys they seem to drop quicker than anyother fish i purchase, i honestly think that Guppys suffer from suvere stress when being moved and transfered into new tanks more than other fish. I have lost loads of Guppys with-in 24 hours of adding them to my tank and like you my levels are also good with no signs of finrot or anything else.

As for the guy in the shop suggesting that you keep an eye on them i can't understand that, its there job to promote there fish and make there customers beleive that there fish are 100% perfect so for s guy to say that makes me wonder.

Hope all is ok and works out fine with the rest.

 

[Axleuk]

Hi Axleuk, To be honest whenever i buy Guppys they seem to drop quicker than anyother fish i purchase, i honestly think that Guppys suffer from suvere stress when being moved and transfered into new tanks more than other fish. I have lost loads of Guppys with-in 24 hours of adding them to my tank and like you my levels are also good with no signs of finrot or anything else.

As for the guy in the shop suggesting that you keep an eye on them i can't understand that, its there job to promote there fish and make there customers beleive that there fish are 100% perfect so for s guy to say that makes me wonder.

Hope all is ok and works out fine with the rest.

I just spoke to them again and he confirmed that their company policy states that if any fish you purchase from them die within 24hrs they will replace after check my water sample.

I think it might be stress to be fair if the temperature didnt poach them.

 

[discuslover]

i agree with wrams. I think sometimes some batchs of guppies just cant cope with the stress of moving and the changes of water. How long had the guy owning the fish shop had them and had he quarantined them before selling them?? if they did have fin rot you just bought em, u shouldnt have to treat them it should of already been seen to before sale. But if the fish shop owner did everything right id put it down to the fact that some batchs of guppies are not hardy at all these days. i love the little guys tho, its such a shame.

Hope it hasn't infected your other fish . hope all goes well mate

 

[scooterchick]

Just an extra thought..........how powerful is your filter?