Mystery guppie deaths

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Oposum4e

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Hey guys,

I am in urgent need of any idea or insights as to what might be going on with my guppies. I will try to give as much information as possible.
The tank is a freshwater 15 gal with live plants and co2 injection, 7 hours of light per day. I have had the tank and the fish in it for a while i think almost an year now. 6 rasboras, 8 neon tetras, 4 guppies - 2 male 2 female. No deaths have occurred in this tank before.
I rescaped the tank 20 days ago because i wanted to add a substrate beneath the gravel. I used a fish safe soil from a reputable company (doesn't release ammonia and phosphates) for the substrate layer and capped it with black quartz. I put the substrate in gauze bags which I made myself to make sure it does not mix with the quartz when vacuming. The gauze does not have any additives, its just a cloth. I have been using the black quartz for months before without any issues, used the same just more. Everything was fine for the first week or so and then my black male guppie started swimming with its back slightly arched downward and its tail started to split. I looked arround the internet and didn't find much information on why this could be. Someone mentioned that some male guppies are bred to have really big tails, which he had and they were just heavy once grown up so I assumed that everything is fine because he was eating and was not lethargic. He was also sometimes hiding because the neon tetras were being aggresive towards him sometimes but nothing serious. I was monitoring him closely and he was eating every day. I started feeding them a little bit more because I noticed there was no aggression when they were well fed. I feed once a day not too much not too little. He was like this for a week and then one morning he was laying on the bottom. I moved him to my other tank (I know stupid of me) where I keep some baby guppies so he can have peace from the other fish. The water and temp is similar if not the same there. Next morning he was sadly dead. I didn't see any symptoms or anything such as white dots, fungus, etc and he was eating every day before the day he died.
A few days later one of the female guppies started swimming with its tail slightly arched downward and wobbling a little like it has some swim bladder issues, again eating every day. There was no bullying towards her at all. She was like this for 1-2 days and yesterday I found her laying on the bottom barely moving around. I isolated her in a net - still in the same aquarium just so other fish don't rub on her and don't start bullying her. She was getting worse and it was late in the evening so I decided to try something to help her out if possible at all because she didn't look good at all - barely moving laying on her side,etc. I gave her a 5 min bath in 3% salt solution. Sadly this morning she was also dead. There seems to be something affecting the guppies in this tank and I cannot figure out what is going on as there are no symptoms other than a slightly arched back and wobbly swimming in the female guppie which I am not even sure was present with the male.
I preserved the filter media when rescaping, kept it wet and I monitor closely for ammonia, etc which is not present. Water PH fluctuates slightly during the day because of the Co2 but its arround 7. Nitrates are almost non existent. Gh is 4-5 and Kh is 5-6. I keep the water temp at 75 and sometimes it goes up to 77-78 because its quite warm where I live.
Please if anyone has any clue what might be going on let me know as I am worried that whatever is going on might spread to the other fish as well.
 
Pictures and video of the fish and the aquarium?
If you use a phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally so the footage fills the entire screen. Upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.

What is the ammonia and nitrite level?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
Did you add anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started (besides the new substrate)?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Is the new water free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

Do you add plant fertiliser?
If yes, what brand, how often and how much?

Do you do a water change before adding more fertiliser?
If yes, what size water change do you do?

------------------
Guppies do best in water with a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. If the pH is dropping during the day because of the CO2, it could be having an effect on the guppies. Neons and rasboras come from acid water so a slight drop in pH is unlikely to affect them as much. Same deal with the GH, neons and rasboras like soft water, guppies don't.
 
Hey guys,

I am in urgent need of any idea or insights as to what might be going on with my guppies. I will try to give as much information as possible.
The tank is a freshwater 15 gal with live plants and co2 injection, 7 hours of light per day. I have had the tank and the fish in it for a while i think almost an year now. 6 rasboras, 8 neon tetras, 4 guppies - 2 male 2 female. No deaths have occurred in this tank before.
I rescaped the tank 20 days ago because i wanted to add a substrate beneath the gravel. I used a fish safe soil from a reputable company (doesn't release ammonia and phosphates) for the substrate layer and capped it with black quartz. I put the substrate in gauze bags which I made myself to make sure it does not mix with the quartz when vacuming. The gauze does not have any additives, its just a cloth. I have been using the black quartz for months before without any issues, used the same just more. Everything was fine for the first week or so and then my black male guppie started swimming with its back slightly arched downward and its tail started to split. I looked arround the internet and didn't find much information on why this could be. Someone mentioned that some male guppies are bred to have really big tails, which he had and they were just heavy once grown up so I assumed that everything is fine because he was eating and was not lethargic. He was also sometimes hiding because the neon tetras were being aggresive towards him sometimes but nothing serious. I was monitoring him closely and he was eating every day. I started feeding them a little bit more because I noticed there was no aggression when they were well fed. I feed once a day not too much not too little. He was like this for a week and then one morning he was laying on the bottom. I moved him to my other tank (I know stupid of me) where I keep some baby guppies so he can have peace from the other fish. The water and temp is similar if not the same there. Next morning he was sadly dead. I didn't see any symptoms or anything such as white dots, fungus, etc and he was eating every day before the day he died.
A few days later one of the female guppies started swimming with its tail slightly arched downward and wobbling a little like it has some swim bladder issues, again eating every day. There was no bullying towards her at all. She was like this for 1-2 days and yesterday I found her laying on the bottom barely moving around. I isolated her in a net - still in the same aquarium just so other fish don't rub on her and don't start bullying her. She was getting worse and it was late in the evening so I decided to try something to help her out if possible at all because she didn't look good at all - barely moving laying on her side,etc. I gave her a 5 min bath in 3% salt solution. Sadly this morning she was also dead. There seems to be something affecting the guppies in this tank and I cannot figure out what is going on as there are no symptoms other than a slightly arched back and wobbly swimming in the female guppie which I am not even sure was present with the male.
I preserved the filter media when rescaping, kept it wet and I monitor closely for ammonia, etc which is not present. Water PH fluctuates slightly during the day because of the Co2 but its arround 7. Nitrates are almost non existent. Gh is 4-5 and Kh is 5-6. I keep the water temp at 75 and sometimes it goes up to 77-78 because its quite warm where I live.
Please if anyone has any clue what might be going on let me know as I am worried that whatever is going on might spread to the other fish as well.
I think we need to know ammonia and nitrite level, changing the substrate could have had an impact on beneficial bacteria and hence caused these two
 
Pictures and video of the fish and the aquarium?
If you use a phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally so the footage fills the entire screen. Upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.

What is the ammonia and nitrite level?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
Did you add anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started (besides the new substrate)?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Is the new water free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

Do you add plant fertiliser?
If yes, what brand, how often and how much?

Do you do a water change before adding more fertiliser?
If yes, what size water change do you do?

------------------
Guppies do best in water with a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. If the pH is dropping during the day because of the CO2, it could be having an effect on the guppies. Neons and rasboras come from acid water so a slight drop in pH is unlikely to affect them as much. Same deal with the GH, neons and rasboras like soft water, guppies don't.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - there is none, I add a little bit of seachem nitrogen to keep the plants happy. The equivalent of 5-10ppm
Tank was set up for a year, rescaped 20 days ago when the problems started- i kept the filter media wet in a bucket of aquarium water during the rescaping to avoid bacteria die off.
Have had the fish in this aquarium for months if not an year already.
The filter on the tank is an intank bluwave 03 filter which came with the aquarium - have been using this aquarium and filter for about 10 years without issues.
I clean the filter once every about 2 months by washing the sponges in a bucket of aquarium water. There are 3 sponges i wash only one per weekly water change.
I change about 25-30% of the water weekly. I add seachem prime to dechlorinate it in the bucket before putting in the aquarium.
I add the fertilizer after doing a water change. I use seachem nitrogen because my nitrates stay at 0 (tested with strips and liquid tests to make sure) the equivalent of 5-10ppm weekly.
I also add a little bit of seachem phosphorus to keep phosphates at about 0.5 ppm, again because phosphates stay at 0 and plants dont like it. I also use a all in one fertiliser called profito from easylife. I add about 20% of the weekly recommended dose which would be 1ml and then after 3 days 1ml more. The weekly recommended dose is 6ml per 15 gal.
The ph drops slightly below 7, maybe to 6.8 at worst. As for the hardness, I have kept it this way for months before and the guppies were doing very well, they were even breeding so I don't think its from that. The only new thing added to the tank after the rescape if the substrate and a few new plants from a reputable shop.
Ever since I added the new substrate I have been having quite an algae problem. I guess it is releasing nutrients in the water which should stop after a few months. Here is a video of the aquarium.
 
Any chance of some pictures of the guppies?

I would say something is leaching out of the substrate and killing the guppies, especially if there's an algae problem now.
 
Any chance of some pictures of the guppies?

I would say something is leaching out of the substrate and killing the guppies, especially if there's an algae problem now.
Pictures of the guppies currently in the tank or of the dead ones?
 
I'm sorry I can't help with the guppy problem - new substrate does seem to be likely culprit though. Just wanted to say that after seeing the vid, you don't have neon tetra, those are cardinal tetra. But their care requirements are basically the same, so doesn't greatly matter! :)
 
both if you can
Here are pictures of the two guppies currently in the tank and of the dead female. I only have pics of it belly as I saw a weird looking spot there which is hardly visible on the pics sadly. There was nothing wrong with its tail or body otherwise.
fish 4.jpeg
fish 3.jpeg
fish 1.jpeg
fish 2.jpeg
 
Can't tell anything form the dead fish but the live ones appear to have a bit of excess mucous over their body and fins, which would suggest something in the water is irritating them.

Maybe do a huge water change and stop adding fertiliser for a couple of weeks and see how they go.
 
Can't tell anything form the dead fish but the live ones appear to have a bit of excess mucous over their body and fins, which would suggest something in the water is irritating them.

Maybe do a huge water change and stop adding fertiliser for a couple of weeks and see how they go.
Thank you for your time. I will try this and see if it helps. Might try a big water change every 2-3 days as well.
 

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