rescued guppy babies...what now?

[CandJ]

Ok, I rescued 20 baby guppies from our petsmart store, they cant sell them so they leave them in the tank as fish food, and i asked if i could have them, so i bring them home very unprepared, but i had to rescue the little things, theyre so cute! i have them in a fish bowl with some rocks at the bottom, im feeding them tropical fish flakes ground up as small as i can. ive had them for 3 days now, 2 have died, what am i doing wrong?
please please help.

 

[CandJ]

i really need some help...please? anyone?

 

[CandJ]

update...i just found another dead one...
3 so far now are dead...i tried to save them and instead theyre dying.
i cant find help from anyone....

 

[William]

Hi okay, guppies are tropical so you need to keep them somewhere warm or buy them a heater!! Do you have tests for ammonia or nitrItes?? It is most likely since you say you have had them for a few days that they are dying of poisoning from ammonia . Dechlorinate some water and do a 50% water change of their tank - make sure the water is the same temperature when you mix them as babies are very susceptible to change. Feed them 3X a day with a pinch of very VERY finely ground up tropical fish flakes. Only feed as much as they can eat any left over remove as this will only build up ammonia!! Do you hvae a filter in there?? How big is the tank?? If it is small and you have no filter as I maybe got the impression then do water changes of about 20% a day and buy a bigger tank with filter ASAP. Do you have a cycled tank availabe??

Sorrry took so long to reply i am learning for exams at the moment.

 

[Elisabeth]

Hi CandJ

Firstly have you kept fish before? If not then you may not know about cycling. This is a process that a tank needs to go through for the water to be habitable for the fish to live in.
Here is some links that may help:


Getting Started

Getting started 2
Secondly, did you put straightforward tap water in the bowl? Tap water contains chlorine and that could be what's killing the fish. You need to remove the chlorine from the water first before putting the fish in it by using a dechlorinator solution which you can get from any pet shop which sells fish.
Are you going to be able to get a tank? Fish shouldn't be kept in a bowl. Guppys can be kept without a heater but they won't have enough space and they will be being poisoned by their own waste.

Immediately change upto 50% of the water. Then as soon as you can go to your local fish shop and get some declorinator and ( and a tank if you can afford one). Also get some liquifry - a special food for young fry as the flake may still be a little bit too big for them. You'll also need some 'safe water'or other brand solution that will neutralise the fish waste.

Hope this helps.

Good luck

Let us know how you get on.


Sorry- know I haven't explained things too well and I'm sure some of the otheres here will be able to fill in everything I've missed out.. Been out at the pub most of the day well it is a bank holiday

 

[CandJ]

thanks so much for all your help, im sorry i didnt give a little more info, i have a lot of fish...3 tanks full, but i cant put the babies in with other fish, so i put them in a bowl, im going to the pet store soon to see what i can get for them, my mom just bought me a bigger tank but it isnt like a 10 gallon like the rest of mine, but it should give them more space to swim around in, so when i get money im for sure gonna get them a real tank and everything. thanks for all your help. both of you. and ill keep you posted.

 

[CandJ]

oh and i have a lamp overtop of the bowl, to keep it warm...is that okay? i dont have a heater right now.
so i thought that was the best i could do.

 

[bigfish]

a lamp might make them overheat too much cand. where abouts are you from?

 

[CandJ]

hey, its keeping their water nice, im from MN, and my house is really cold. its working though, i think. i havent lost anymore though, only 3 and i replaced the 3 i lost with 3 more i found in with the big guppies at the pet store, so i have about 20, i bought some special baby fish food, i think theyre okay though. any pther suggestions to make sure i dont lose anymore?

 

[bigfish]

Just keep doing partial water changes every other day to keep the water clean, these little babies need to be fed 3 times a day as well and just basically keep an eye on them.

So when you see baby fish in the petshop they left their for food? that is cruel & not much of a life for the little ones is it?

So what other fish do you keep then? what does MN stand in relation to a country?

I'm from South Wales in the Uk

 

[bigfish]

Oh were they free to you or did you have to pay for them?

 

[CandJ]

they were free from the pet store, cause they arent FDA approved, so they couldnt sell them, so i go in every week and see if anymore need to be rescued, its so sad that they just leave them there.
i have 2 mollies, 3 goldfish, 2 dwarf frogs, the babies,and my fiance has 2 tiger oscars, but he keeps them at my house. so i have my own aquariums in my room. and besides the fish, i have a cat and a mouse! I love animals. Noone likes to go anywhere with me, cause if i see something hurt i have to bring it home, and that can be a pain, i guess. thank you all for helping though, my babies are much happier!

 

[Pondlady]

See if you can find one of those net breeders that hang inside the tank. Then you won't need another tank. Throw in a plant so they have a place to hide and feel secure from the other fish that will be watching them all the time. Any food that the babies don't eat will be sucked through the bottom of the net by the other fish. I've always had great success with the net.

 

[CandJ]

thanks, ill try that!

 

[Malawi Hawk]

hello CandJ
it seems to me your are being to kind you cant keep putting these babys in small bowl with no heat or filteration as that is not kind to the fish remember the babys grow up. i hope you can get a larger tank
soon. you are very kindhearted hope you dont lose
enymore