Sick Guppy?

[Guppyramid]

Hello, my guppy has been acting strange lately. We have recently moved him to a new tank that was, as far as I’m concerned, cycled or almost cycled as it was used and there was good bacteria in the filter media, gravel, decor, surface, etc. and we also used a bacteria starter for a couple days. Nitrates are being produced. He has been acting weird in the morning and he’s only been hanging around by this one plant lately. At some point he was just moving his fins but staying in one spot by the plant. Also, this morning I found one fish dead and one (that had given birth around 2 days ago) having a seizure. The rest look fine. I moved them to the tank in groups. 5 on Friday, approx. 10 Yesterday. The tank is 35-40 gallons and houses guppies and 2 dwarf gouramis. There are some live plants in the aquarium as well. Have not tested for Ammonia yet but everything else seems fine except high hardness. There is a picture attached below. Any idea what’s happening?

 

[Retired Viking]

Really need to do a water test and give us the results.

 

[Guppyramid]

Update: Now he’s just going under things and hardly moving..

 

[Guppyramid]

Really need to do a water test and give us the results.

Just for ammonia or everything? I don’t have a kit that tests ammonia.

 

[Retired Viking]

Have you done a water change lately? I would do a 50%-70% water change to start with and pick up a test kit.

 

[Guppyramid]

Nitrates: 40
Nitrites: 0 - .5
Hardness: 250
Alkalinity: 280 (Did NOT know that)
Ph: 7.2

 

[Retired Viking]

do the water change, make sure you use water conditioner

 

[Retired Viking]

are any other fish acting strange?

 

[Guppyramid]

do the water change, make sure you use water conditioner

I’m in the process of doing it now. No other fish are acting strange except for one that keeps isolating themselves from time to time and one that’s swimming particularly slower.

 

[seangee]

Do a big water change every day for a week and let us know how they get on. Its always my first response when fish are unwell and more often than not no other treatment is needed, so its worth doing anyway.

 

[Guppyramid]

Do a big water change every day for a week and let us know how they get on. Its always my first response when fish are unwell and more often than not no other treatment is needed, so its worth doing anyway.

I’ll try, thanks! I already did one and they all seem fine. Except for the one that was sick in the first place. He disappeared.. I’m thinking he’s maybe dead somewhere but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Any ideas?

 

[Retired Viking]

I have a guppy/shrimp tank (30 gallon) and yeaterday I noticed one of my old female guppy just laying on the bottom, water was good and today she was doing it again and then she started swimming around just fine. I have a planted tank which really helps keep the water quality good. It also gives my guppy fry places to hide.

 

[Essjay]

I don’t have a kit that tests ammonia.

You do need to get an ammonia tester because when things go wrong ammonia is the first thing to show up.

 

[Guppyramid]

Thanks for the replies. I’m going to take my water to a local Petsmart to get it tested for Ammonia as I do not have an Ammonia tester myself. Also, after a couple days I tested the water again. I’m using test strips and it says to compare the colours to the chart at 30 seconds. The Alkalinity at 30 seconds was where it’s supposed to be but then after about 10 seconds it became high. Is this a concern? Also, the fish died and so did 2 other ones Not sure what’s happening..

 

[Irksome]

I’ll try, thanks! I already did one and they all seem fine. Except for the one that was sick in the first place. He disappeared.. I’m thinking he’s maybe dead somewhere but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Any ideas?

The couple I’ve lost hid behind the filters to escape being harassed and nipped as the died, one got his tail trapped in the inlet and wasn’t strong enough to pull free. They lose all colour and blend in with gravel too. Just keep looking.