Purple Eyes, Sudden Color Loss, And Bottom Swimming

[KingVanilla]

I have/had 3 guppies in my tank.  Two are blue/golden and one that died just a few weeks ago.  I received a 5.5 Gal Top Fin Starter Aquarium for my Birthday in January.  Since then, I have killed about 14 fish.  I am truly sorry for the fish and have since stopped buying them.  In the beginning, I bought a golden guppy (the one that just recently died).  And later after many fish passed, I bought these two blue guppies that I still have today.  This is my first aquarium, so I have made and fixed many flaws.  I think that in the past, all of my fish were dying because of the very, very poor the water was in the aquarium.  But I fixed this about 1 1/2 months ago.  Also where I live, we get our water from a natural spring in our town, so that water is very hard, but it is filtered.  Currently my town is undergoing a water filtration plant renewal.  For about 3 years now, our town has been replacing the 'out of date' town filtration plant system, and is in the process of replacing that with a reverse osmosis plant.  The project is a bit overdue, but is planned to be finished at the end of this month.  Anyways, I use a pH neutralizer every week when I change my water.  So recently, my golden guppy died out of the blue.  But, I did notice that morning he was swimming near the bottom, which is when I have noticed when the fish are nearing death.  But last night as I was feeding my fish, both blue guppies were basically motionless at the bottom of the tank.  They literally were pale, and they are normally a vibrant navy blue and gold.  This has happened before with the two blue guppies, but never to the golden one, which as I mentioned, passed.  Also, as I came home today, both of their color has returned, but one of the guppies eyes have turned purple around the outer edge.  Both of the color loss and purple eyes have happened before, but never back-to-back.  This has happened in the past on a few occasions, but I felt the need I had to do something this time.  
 
 
Any suggestions on how to save my poor fish?
 
I really do appreciate your time. Thank you,
 
KingVanilla

 

[fluttermoth]

to the forum, KingVanilla (great name, btw! I love vanilla!)
 
Your problems probably stem from the fact that, certainly at the beginning, your tank wasn't what we call 'cycled'; that just means it didn't have the good bacteria living in it that eat the fish's poisonous wastes for you.
 
Fish produce ammonia all the time. In a tank with a cycled filter, that ammonia gets eaten before it can do any harm, but in an uncycled tank it builds up until it makes the fish sick, or kills them.
 
If you change the filter 'media' (that's all the stuff inside your filter; sponge, ceramic rings), or wash it out under the tap, it may be that you still don't have those good bacteria yet.
 
Most fish 'diseases' are caused by poor water. You should do a large water change, as soon as you can. Drain the tank right down, leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright (don't forget to switch your heater and filter off first!) before refilling with temperature matched water. As you're using well water, you probably don't need a dechlorinator, but use it if you have it.
 
What you really, really need are some test kits so you can find out how much ammonia or nitrite (which is what the ammonia turns into after being eaten) is in your water.
 
Also, I would stop using the pH neutralizer. A stable pH is much better for fish than one that changes a lot, and guppies like hard, alkaline water anyway.
 
I hope I haven't confused you with that long post; please do ask if anything's not totally clear to you!

 

[KingVanilla]

Fluttermoth,
 
I know what you are saying about the water cycle, but I waited about a week before adding any fish.  Do you still think that ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are what are causing the problem.  I also change my filter once every 4 weeks, and I also rinse the sponge at the same time under cold tap water.  I also failed to mention that I think the golden guppy died because I did a ~70% water change about a week previous to that.  Do you still think that a big water change is what I should do?  Also, my pH is extremely high were I live.  What do you think I should do about that.
 
Thank you soooo much for your help!  Everyone is so kind and friendly here!
 
KingVanilla

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, I do think that's your problem.
 
Just letting the tank run for a week (or even a month!) won't cycle it; as there are nothing to produce ammonia, there's nothing for the good bacteria to feed on, so they don't grow.
 
You must stop changing the stuff in your filter; I know the manufacturers say that it must be replaced, but that's just because they want more money off you (I wish that wasn't true, but it is ) And, from now on, clean your sponge only in some of your old tank water. The way you've been doing things means you still won't have any of those good bacteria, I'm afraid.
 
I do still think you should do the big water change, yes. It's the only thing that might help; although it may be that the fish's gills are already irreparably damaged.
 
What exactly are the pH levels/hardness where you are? If you're not sure, let us know where you are (just the rough area/county; we don't want your address or anything!) and we should be able to work it out.
 
But guppies are very hardy fish, when it comes to water and do like it hard and alkaline; they'll even live happily and breed in fully marine conditions and I doubt your water is that hard!
 
If you ever wanted to keep soft water fish (discus, angels, tetras) you might have a problem, but not with guppies. Anyway, pH adjusters, when we're talking hard water, really don't change it much; the amount of minerals dissolved in the water push the pH back up, very rapidly in most cases and that's what causes swings in pH value, which fish really, really don't like at all.
 
It may well have been that that killed your guppy after the 70% water change; the new water would have been neutral (from the pH adjuster), bu the water in the tank would most probably have reverted to it's previous, normal level. The shock from that can certainly kill fish.