Lonely Guppy, I'm In A Quandry...

[Neon_Momma]

HI all,

I've had my water checked, and its all exactly as it should be, my other fish are doing great etc...

But, I seem to be having difficulty keeping Guppys alive.

I've asked at numerous LFS and they're all stumped as to why, but I've bought 3 guppys (1 male 2 female) and they seemed fine, then within half hour two were dead.

So I bought two more, to keep the one alive company, and then that one and one of the new ones died.

Just to add, they came from a totally different source as well.

So now I have one lonely guppy, who is doing fine!

They had all tended to spend their time at the surface of the water, now this one has started spending more time in the middle of the water, is eating and seems very relaxed.

I'm worried that he might be lonely though, but I don't want to keep having to scoop out dead guppys.

What to do?

 

[WILDER]

What was the ph of the store to your tank, if water quality was good and ph and you climatised them properly, stress due to the move, or already ill. sorry.

 

[Neon_Momma]

Yes we've already considered all those options, but with the guppys coming from different stores, it rules out most, apart from stress maybe, but I did spend a good hour acclimatising them gradually, light off etc.

Just bad luck maybe, but three lots of fish from different sources dynig on me made me think it was something wrong with my water, but my waters fine

 

[tttnjfttt]

out of curiousity, waht are your water stats, specifically interested in nitrates. If your tank is planted, then what is the GH or KH and how does it compare to the tap?

 

[Neon_Momma]

HI,

I don't my stats personally, as I haven't purchased a kit myself as yet, I've taken my water to the LFS yesterday, and he said they were exactly how they should be.

I don't have a planted tank

And my other fish are doing great (in fact I think my Molly might be pregnant!)

I'm going to get myself a testing kit as soon as I get over this stinking cold

 

[tttnjfttt]

the reason i trying to rule out "old tank syndrome" where everything seems to be fine until you add new fish, which end up dying. Do you often top off your tank with extra water after some has evaporated?

 

[beux]

I found when i went to my lfs to get my water tested that they only tested ammonia but nothing else - and with the ammonia being fine they said my water was fine, although, quite obviously, there could be a lot wrong elsewhere. So I bought a test kit that day. I don't trust the lfs much anymore.

 

[Neon_Momma]

Yes I want to get a good test kit too, it's just knowing which one really, as I go a bit dizzy when looking at all the options, theres so many!

And it's not cheap either, so I don't want to make a mistake.

Old tank syndrome, I have added the molly's since the guppy incidents, and theyre doing fine.

I have been gradually changing the water every other day, about 15-20% of dechlorinated (left to stand overnight) water with water-safe in it.

I couldn't tell you what the two tests were they did, but one went navy blue, and the other went orange..don't know if that helps?

 

[dwarfgourami]

The API Freshwater Master kit sells at about 17.99 at PEts@home. May sound expensive, but you get a lot more out of it than the strips, so works out economical in the end. And it is reliable.

 

[Neon_Momma]

HI,

thanks for that. It's not that I don't want to spend the money, that would be daft after all the money i've spent on everything else I just didn't want to spend it on the wrong kit, there are so many on the shelves.

I will definately look out for that one, thanks again.

 

[karlp]

The minimum to be testing is Ammonia and Nitrite.

Any (e.g, the cheapest) of the kits that test for these (although the strips aren't great) should do.

If the guppies are spending a lot of time at the surface, it would indicate water quality issues unless the guppies are diseased in some way.

Is it possible that anything is contaminating the water ? Noxious air sprays ? Bleech or soap products been used in cleaning the tank or filter ? Has the bucket you used for the water change only been used for fish and never been used for household cleaning ? etc...

It's not just ammonia and nitrite that can harm the fish.

It also occasionally happens that there are water quality issues in the water supply. I had one water change once where immediately after a water change the fish were all gasping at the top. I left the tap running for 15 minutes and then did another bigger water change and they were fine again. Never did get to the bottom of it, could have been household plumbing problems or the local supply (water was dechlorinated).

 

[Neon_Momma]

Hi,

I have just bought the API master test kit, once I've read all the instructions I will doa test and get back to you all with the results...

I'm quite excited!

and need to get out more