New Guppy Suddenly Died - Stress Or Shock?

[rhian]

Hello

one of my pretty guppies died today, they were all swimming around happily this morning
then I just looked this afternoon, and he was on the floor of the tank dead! it could only have been an hour since I looked.

I only got them yesterday, I am quite new to fishkeeping. I have 3 platys, 4 lemon tetras & now 5 little guppies in my 90L planted tank. Are guppies quite sensitive like that and die suddenly? or should I be concerned about the other fish? my largest platy is a bit territorial I suppose something could have happened.

I hope the others will be ok! how sad

 

[orangefish]

It sounds as though the guppy had something wrong with it when you bought it. Did you acclimatise the new fish before you added them to the tank?

 

[rhian]

Thanks for your reply. I floated the bag for about 30mins, then let some water in gradually to acclimatise, it took about an hour. The tank lights were off. I think that is what I should do?

his tummy was a bit rounder than the others - all the fish are scavenging in the tank, I wondered if he had eaten something or maybe got bullied by the big platy

I'll wait for a bit to see how the others are doing before getting another

 

[justjon]

What are your water stats?

 

[ZoddyZod]

I've found guppys to be quite delicate. I had a 50% loss over 2 days when I introduced some into my tank.

What other fish have you got in there?

 

[Gilli]

If you are new to fishkeeping do you know about cycling a tank? Is yout tank cycled? Did you cycle it for the 6-8 weeks required for the beneficial bacteria to grow? If not all your fish will die - do a 50% water change right away and read up quickly on this article on cycling a tank with fish in

cycling a tank

If I had a £1 for every time ive posted this link i'd be a rich woman! It saddens me that so many fish have to suffer and die through ignorance.

 

[rhian]

hello, yes I cycled the tank must be over 9 weeks now, the plants have been in longer, it's heavily planted like the Walstad natural planted tanks (low tech) I add TPN+ for my plants, so I think I read that the ammonia/nitrate kit won't be accurate?

the other fish are:

3 platy
4 lemon tetra

and the 5 guppies

I feed them every other day

 

[markyeldham]

I'd feed them every day tbh. Also, you could take the guppy back (if you still have it) most aquatics will replace it.

 

[fish48]

If you are new to fishkeeping do you know about cycling a tank? Is yout tank cycled? Did you cycle it for the 6-8 weeks required for the beneficial bacteria to grow? If not all your fish will die - do a 50% water change right away and read up quickly on this article on cycling a tank with fish in

cycling a tank

If I had a £1 for every time ive posted this link i'd be a rich woman! It saddens me that so many fish have to suffer and die through ignorance.

thats a bit harsh you dont know the what conditions the guppy's were in when they rhian brought them. ther will always be fish that suffer and die through ignorance. think about when you started up fishkeeping i bet you made a few mistakes.

 

[Gilli]

FISH48 - No not harsh to those it applies to . And in answer to your question no I did everything right - I simply did what everyone should do before they take responsibilty for a living creature - I read up on how to care for them first!

Rihan - good for you if your tank was cycled, its nice to see a beginner that has done their research first. The thing with guppies is that they have been bred and interbred so much that it has made the species weak and prone to diseases etc. You may get lucky and keep them but ive never had a lot of luck - the longest ive had them for was a year despite my water stats being spot on.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Of all the people on this forum that have started their tanks either around the same time as me or since, we've all lost fish. and we all cycled properly with constant advice from very experienced people.

I think it's just something you should expect in the early days. Mine died of some sort of bacterial infection I think but to be honest I'm still not 100% and I take really good care of my tank. I just hope I don't lose any more.

I still honestly believe it's down to eliments we don't understand yet, things we don't know are important and don't have tests for. In 30 years time people will be saying on fourms "What are you gwogalobi levels?" and then telling newbies that they have to let them develop before they can add more fish lol.

For what it's worth, I think Guppies are one of the fish we should tell newbies not to get until they have a mature tank (like we do Neon Tetras). They obviously are very senstive.

Rhian, I'm sorry about your fish. If I were you I wouldn't stock any more Guppies just yet. Platys are hardy so you should be ok with them. In a few months time you could think about getting some more Guppies if you want

 

[rhian]

Thanks for the advice everyone - the other guppies seem to be ok...I will wait & see with them. The one that died was very small so maybe he was more sensitive, I buried him so I can't return him. They are beautiful, even if they are a bit delicate.

I think I will feed the fish a bit more as the big platy seems to get most of the food. Some losses are inevitable I guess, but not nice when it happens. I added the fish gradually over a number of weeks following the advice from the shop - they were all from the same place