New To Guppies. Help !

[Bettasforever!]

I just went to walmart and bought some fish and a tank. A Tetra brand 1.5 gallon cube and 3 fancy guppies ( I asked for two but the worker ended up giving me three ) the cube has a LED light and a whisper 3i Filter and filter cartridge. The water temperature is 76 farenheit. The first thing I wanted to know is if I have too much fish. And one of the fish keeps swimming around on the top where the water ends. It is active but after 7 mins I have only seen it swim for about 10 seconds underwater. Is this swim bladder disorder, what is this? These are my first guppies, I have only had two betta fish. The other two guppies seem fine.

 

[Bettasforever!]

I wanted to know if i can add more guppies or other fish. And here are the pics. This is the fish I just wrote about

 

[Bettasforever!]

I wanted to know if I can use betta flakes because I dont have guppy food right now. Can I add more guppies or one of any other species?

 

[Chad]

Well, there's a lot to talk about here. Since the new tank isn't cycled there's going to be quite a bit of ammonia so you will have to do quite frequent water changes to keep the fish alive in there. Also, that's a much much too small tank for guppys so that's going to make it quite hard to keep them alive. Sorry to say it, but it's true and I want you to be aware of the uphill battle you face here.

If it is possible for you to return the fish and get a larger tank, at least 10 gallons, 20 is even better, then you could cycle it and get the fish later and then you will be on the road to success with them.

There are plenty of links on here about guppys and cycling that would help you.

 

[sadguppy]

Another classic example of fish shops being awful; they should never have sold both the tank (if a 1.5gal can referred to as such!)and the fish at the same time. To put it bluntly, the fish will die in that tank. You are not the first newbie to fall into this trap hwever and you have come to thr right place so well done

If i were you, i would take both back. The tank is unsuitable for fish as it is far too small, and it is too early to add fish. They will quickly perish. If you prefer, keep the tank as a quarantine tank for future use (for max one fish at a time for short periods it may be ok) and get yourself a 10 gal tank or bigger if you can - when it comes to fishkeeping bigger is always easier to manage, odd as that may sound!

Then you need to look into cycling the tank before adding fish - this basically means letting the bacteria build up in the filter which convert ammonia (the fish wee and poo) to less harmful nitrate. It can take around six weeks with fish in the tank to do this however it requires a lot of commitment on your part - daily 90% water changes at a minimum, just to keep the fish alive. Better is to do what is known as a fishless cycle, with an empty tank - then you can let the levels rise as high as they want without worrying about the health of your fish. More info can be found in the sticky topics if your betta tank is still running, or you have a friend that has had a tank for a while, grab a sponge out of their filter to put into yours (the grosser the better!) any way it will fit, this will speed the process up loads.

Unfortunately this is not a hobby for those who lack patience but believe me, once you get into it there is nothing like it!

 

[techen]

Yarp tcamos is right. Small tank and uncycled filter is going to give you a world of issues. Not that some of us haven't done that before. Daily water changes and a bigger tank. I have a feeling the is at the top due to lackbof oxygen or suffering ammonia. Not sure how it would last like that.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

With such a small tank you are probably looking at multiple BIG (as in nearly all) water changes per day for weeks.

I hated hearing people say I should return fish when I had problems when I was new... but now what I've learned since tells me that IS the best idea for you 1) Your tank is about 9 gallons too small 2) Your tank isn't cycled and there is no way to keep your fish safe.

 

[sadguppy]

With such a small tank you are probably looking at multiple BIG (as in nearly all) water changes per day for weeks.

I hated hearing people say I should return fish when I had problems when I was new... but now what I've learned since tells me that IS the best idea for you 1) Your tank is about 9 gallons too small 2) Your tank isn't cycled and there is no way to keep your fish safe.

I know, I too refused to take mine back and it was a tough six weeks changing water twice a day.

In this case, the small size of the tank means that it will become very poisonous very quickly. Ammonia and nitrite (both poisonous to fish but unfortunately a natural part of the nitrogen cycle before the bacteria build up which turn it to less harmful nitrate) are measured in parts per million. In a bigger tank, three guppies may not produce enough waste to pose a serious risk after few days, but in a small tank, it will build up very very quickly and it is sadly inevitable that the guppies will perish or get very ill - they are not as hardy as many species.

 

[#1 Fish Fan]

Are they female guppies? If they are dont let them mix with males of ANY species otherwise your tank will become crowded with fry! Just to let you know, male guppies are proven to be very delicate but the females are quite hardy.

Some guppies would love my 300GALLON tank, paradise, but the tank is too good for guppies in my opinion!

 

[Bettasforever!]

If I buy a 10 gallon tank from petco, how long will it take to cycle? How much time do the guppies have? How do I return the guppies, and if I do, do I have to cycle the 1.5 gal. Tank to put one of my bettas in it ? I have my betta in a unfiltered tank that is one gallon and i change it every 3 days so can i move my betta to the guppy tank and move the guppies to a 10 gal tank?

Is there anything I can add to the tank to keep ph and ammonia levels down?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

A properly cycled tank takes weeks... whether with fish or without. Unfortunate, but true. The only shortcut to success is using some mature media stolen from a mature filter. This carries the necessary bacteria needed to deal with the ammonia/nitrite.


Returning the guppies works like this:
First, start your car and let it start warming up.

Next, get a 1 gallon ziptop bag. Fill it 1/3 - 1/2 full of the water from the tank. Put the guppies in there. If you have Prime or Stress Coat, put a drop or two of that in the bag as well. Zip the top ALMOST closed. Insert a straw through the small opening remaining and inflate like a balloon. Then finish zipping it up, trapping as much air in the bag as possible. Place the bag in a small cooler to help maintain the temperature while you drive it back to the store.

Finally, take the cooler and fish into the prewarmed car and drive back to the store. If you have the receipt, good. If not, do it anyway. Tell them that the tank you bought is not sufficient for these fish and you don't want to kill them. (I'd consider mentioning that you were given more than you asked for, which in this case was NOT good.)


You could move the betta to the larger tank. He'd appreciate it. Bettas are very different from guppies in that they can breathe air, and therefore don't require the same elements and filtration as most other fish - although I believe they would appreciate a cycled filter.

I'd wait to put guppies into the 10 gallon tank until it was cycled. But, if you aren't comfortable with returning them, then it would be MUCH better to have the guppies in the 10 gallon tank as the extra volume will help keep the concentration of ammonia much lower. You will still have WEEKS of water changes ahead of you, but the danger will be GREATLY diminished.

You can use Prime or Stress Coat to temporarily detoxify the ammonia. But, this is a short-term solution. Also, products like Ammo-lock, etc. are a waste of money. They will save you the need for the water changes, but you will need to continually add it and it won't help you develop what you TRULY need, which is a healthy and thriving BIOFILTER!

Do you know anyone with a mature tank? If so, beg, plead or steal a small sample from their filter. Even if all you can get is a chance to smear your own filter media on theirs and get the nasty brown stuff on your filter material. That will carry some of the necessary bacteria and jumpstart the whole thing... cutting what could last 6-10 weeks down to a mere week or so, less if you can get a sufficiently large chunk of material!

 

[Chad]

...if you aren't comfortable with returning them, then it would be MUCH better to have the guppies in the 10 gallon tank as the extra volume will help keep the concentration of ammonia much lower...

I agree with this. While most of us on the forum feel that a fishless cycle is best we do know that a fish-in cycle can be successful too and if that's your best option in the 10 gallon tank then I know we can help you make that work out the best it can.

 

[Bettasforever!]

I guess I will just return them, I definitely dont plan on buying any fish from walmart ever again. The sad thing is that People came and went with fish and tanks, not told to cycle the tank. I will buy a 10 gal. tank from petco and do alot of research on taking care of neon tetras and fishless cycling, since neon tetras are the fish I really wanted to get. Thank you so much everyone for your help.

 

[sadguppy]

Your betta will be happier in the filtered 1.5gal. Still change the water, 70% daily if you can, for six weeks to let the filter 'mature'. If you can get an aquarium test kit, which tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, you will know exactly when you can switch to weekly changes.

Good on you not going back to Walmart. I can't promise that other shops will be better but you have come to exactly thr right place for help. Here!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

It is horrible, time and again in pet shops and fish shops all over people are told the wrong information over and over again. Generally, very few workers seem to care about the well being of fish. It is sad.

When I started out with goldfish, I made a point of asking the guy in charge of the fish all the questions I had... and it never occurred to me either that these people would not give me proper information. I was told to dechlorinate and run the tank for 2 days, then come back and get two gold fish (that were entirely too big for the tank they told me was appropriate to buy.... I keep shrimp in that tank now, that is really all that would fit!)

Visit the beginner's section of this website and read up on fishless cycling. Ask all the questions that you need to in that section. A 10 gallon tank is a great idea.... but fishless cycle it first, will save you so many heart aches and will make fish you get in the future happy.