Please Help Me :(

[Bubble Bunny]

I had 6 guppys in a 60l tank. In the last month one by one are getting bloated and then after a week or so are dying. I now have 3 left, the most recent one I found dead in the tank this morning. 2 of the others are starting to look bigger than before, although the 3rd seems exactly how I bought him. I am new to fishkeeping so dont know if I have done anything wrong. I waited for the water levels to settle before adding fish and have not changed anything I do since starting. The neon tetras added at the same time as the guppies are absolutely fine and schooling about.

PLEASE help me, I feel cruel as they keep dying and I dont want the others to go the same way.

Tank size: 60l
pH: 6.4
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
kH: unknown from memory, can update tonight
gH: unknown from memory, can update tonight
tank temp: 26.5 C

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Bloated stomachs, no change in eating behavior or colour. The latest fish to die was on the bottom a lot, although the earlier two stayed nearer the top where they all like to be

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 25% every 2 days

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Nutrifin Cycle (5ml) and Nitrifin water conditioner with each water change

Tank inhabitants: 3 guppies, 8 neon tetras

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): None, all decorations added when tank started and fisd added after approx 1 month in a group.

Exposure to chemicals: None that are not part of maintenance.

I also hoover the gravel when changing the water and maintain my filter as recommended in the instruction booklet for it.

 

[OldMan47]

Quit throwing away your biological filter with the filter cleanings. I have yet to see a filter maker that encouraged you to keep the media but that is where your bacteria live. When you throw away part of the filter media you take a mini-cycle on the tank. By the time you get suspicious and measure the chemistry, it may be over if you didn't throw away too much. The bloating is something that I have not seen so have no idea what is happening to the fish that you have lost. Your present stock level is about a full stocking so whatever you lost may have been an overload for your tank. Guppies and neons do best in very diferent water so if the neons always look good and the guppies don't, I would have a hard look at the water parameters, especially that low pH and probably low mineral content. What kind of water are you using for the water changes? If your tap water has that low pH and is fairly soft, I would stop trying to keep guppies in it. I do keep a few guppies but my water is moderately hard at about 12 degrees and I have a pH from my tap at 7.8.

 

[Bubble Bunny]

Quit throwing away your biological filter with the filter cleanings. I have yet to see a filter maker that encouraged you to keep the media but that is where your bacteria live. When you throw away part of the filter media you take a mini-cycle on the tank. By the time you get suspicious and measure the chemistry, it may be over if you didn't throw away too much. The bloating is something that I have not seen so have no idea what is happening to the fish that you have lost. Your present stock level is about a full stocking so whatever you lost may have been an overload for your tank. Guppies and neons do best in very diferent water so if the neons always look good and the guppies don't, I would have a hard look at the water parameters, especially that low pH and probably low mineral content. What kind of water are you using for the water changes? If your tap water has that low pH and is fairly soft, I would stop trying to keep guppies in it. I do keep a few guppies but my water is moderately hard at about 12 degrees and I have a pH from my tap at 7.8.

So far I have not thrown any media away, just rinsed it in the water that I take out from the tank when I do water changes. Is this OK?

I will not be restocking - I had no idea it was so fully stocked (nice to know) - so fingers crossed they will be ok now.

What is best for guppies? I will do my best to keep them OK, I didn't know there was different water parameters for fish! I just assumed that water was water and they'd normally be OK.. I've learnt a lot of new things. What does it mean when you say it has low mineral content - is there any way of testing this to check?

The other 3 guppies are looking OK so I hope they survive and I will keep an eye on them.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[graceofbass]

I will not be restocking - I had no idea it was so fully stocked (nice to know) - so fingers crossed they will be ok now.

Looking at your tank stats, a 60L tank is equal to a 20 gallon tank (sorry, I'm American), and having 12 fish should not have upset your tank cycle unless you got them all at the same time. With a healthy tank environment, you can technically have 1 inch of fish per gallon, although I preferred to keep it under that so as not to overwhelm the filtration system.

 

[OldMan47]

I counted it as a 15 gallon and saw 2 inches for each guppy and an inch for each neon. That gave me at least 20 inches of fish, full tank for a new tank.

 

[Bubble Bunny]

I will not be restocking - I had no idea it was so fully stocked (nice to know) - so fingers crossed they will be ok now.

Looking at your tank stats, a 60L tank is equal to a 20 gallon tank (sorry, I'm American), and having 12 fish should not have upset your tank cycle unless you got them all at the same time. With a healthy tank environment, you can technically have 1 inch of fish per gallon, although I preferred to keep it under that so as not to overwhelm the filtration system.

Ok I've lost another 2 guppies.. I only have one left.. I've been feeding the peas and brine shrimp and a bit of dried food but getting it damp before its in the tank as I think this helps it to not expand and cause problems after the fish eat it?

Anyway.. it hasn't worked.. The neons look healthy and shine beautifully and are feeding well. There are no problems with them. The last guppy is looking a bit bloated but it has gone down steadily and I hope he'll be OK. I'm worried about him being alone though as he stays at the top and the neons at the bottom. Will he be alright? I'm reluctant to add more fish.

Can anyone explain why they're all dying as I changed their diet and it just hasnt helped. I'm beginning to lose hope on keeping fish afterall..

 

[Bubble Bunny]

The last guppy has died, it was dead when I got home from work as I guessed it probably would be. Thanks for everyone who tried to help though! I learnt a lot even though it was bad news in the end.

Feeling incredibly disheartened I will now try to keep the neons OK and will never get another guppy.

 

[hensonc4098]

It can sometimes be that when you buy them they already have something that they've picked up from many tanks sharing the same water at the LFS. The other thing is that guppies are often in-bred with brothers/sisters/parents as people buy "a pair" from their LFS and breed them when they are actually brother and sister from the same batch of fry. Then when the people give the babies to the pet shop, it happens again, because guppies are so easy to breed. This inbreeding causes a weakness in their immune system so they are more suceptable to disease.
Sorry for your loss anyway I hate it when something like that happens and wipes out your tank

 

[lilfishie]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your guppies, maybe it was just a dodgy batch? i personally have kept guppies and neons together for years, both have been fully healthy and bred regularly. Shop brought guppies are usually weaker due to inbreeding, home bred ones however are much more hardy.

Please dont let this experience put you off keeping guppies

 

[Bubble Bunny]

Thanks guys.. Its a shame and the last thing I wanted when I got them was for this to happen. It just seems odd that it suddenly happened after having them for 2 months. They were fine to start with and I changed nothing I did. Poor little guys. There should be more control over selling inbred guppies. Dont know how but it'd solve this issue!