Dosile Fish!?

hello
i bought two male guppies from bridgemere and a day later one died, but as it was dying what it did was it would sink to the bottom like a stone and then ly there and then it would swim up to the suface again and repeat what i just said until it simply just stayed on the bottom, the second guppy is healthy and well and the tank has been running for around four weeks, i put a few neons, rummy nose terras and another type of tetra in after the tank had cylced for 1 week and they are all still here but they are very dosey and dont move much.
i have tested the water with a test kit and everything turned out as it should, i have a good filter and a air stone with good water clarity and have been doing a 20 percent water change every week since i got the tank and removing all left overs from the sand but dont understand why my fish are so dosile??
hope you can point me in some sort of direction

the only reason i havnt asked my local pet shop is because i have been at school and i need to get an answer before its too late really.

Hi there, welcome to the forum
 
Can I ask what you're using to test the water and what were the actual numbers from your tests? How big is your tank and exactly what fish are in it?
 
I wouldn't ask your pet shop anything anyway; most of the advice they give out is based on wanting to sell you something

my test kit is and 'aqua' pondlab 200 and it is for testing koi ponds but as far as i know the readings should be the same as any other test kit :?
i dont have the reading written down but of the top of my head the ph was 7.5
ammonia was 0, nitrate no2-n was 0, nitrate no3-n was 0-1? that is what i remebe them as.

i have a 52 litre tank with :

1 spotted cory
1 bronze cory
2 neon tetras
2 rummy nose tetras
2 tetras that look like a harlequin rasbora but a lot smaller, i cant find it on the internet though you may know what i mean?

How did you cycle the tank? Did you add any ammonia? It is not usually possible to cycle fully within a week unless possibly using mature media and something like Dr Tim's One & Only.
 
I'm not familiar with that test kit Is it a liquid or strip? I'd think the fish are dying due to the tank not being cycled but seems your readings are fine?
 
Could you be referring to lambchop rasbora btw?
 
Some issues with your stocking which may explain certain behavior..the cories, tetras, and rasboras are all schooling fish and should be kept in groups of 6+ of their own kind.
Your tank is unfortunately not big enough to keep that many. Actually most would prefer to see the cories & rummynoses in a 20g+ tank.
 
Sorry you're having issues with the guppies and that I'm not of any help..just trying to get a little more info so perhaps more experienced members can figure it out.
 
to TFF btw.

I am not familiar with that sort of test kit so can't comment on that.
 
As for the fish, what you have are schooling fish; but you don't have enough of any one variety for them to feel safe and comfortable.  I have a 68 liter tank, it has 6 danios and 8 red eye tetras.  Because they are in large groups, they school and shoal over the entire tank.  I'd suggest you pick 2 varieties, add more of those and return the others.  Even the cories are happier in groups of 6 or more.

no i didnt use ant ammonia to cycle the tank it was just left for a week ad that was what my pet shop told me (obviously unreliable)
the test is a liquid test
my unkown fish is not a lambchop rasbora unfortunatly
the unkown fish is pretty much a rummy nose tetra but without the coloured tail but it has the distinct red line that the harlequin tasbora holds

if this is to do with lack of cycling the tank then will my fish be ok and how long should it take for it to finish its cylce??

thanks for the welcomes to the forum
ok then so i will get some more neons, rummy noses and my other unkown species which i will find the name for and hope fully a few more corys and the remaining male guppy cant live on its own or not???

Ah okay, well unfortunately just letting it sit doesn't do anything except ensure the equipment is working
Don't feel bad as this is how most of us got started. Just remember now to check here for info rather than your LFS.
 
Liquid tests are more reliable than the strips is why I asked about that. So right now levels sound good.
 
Can you possibly get a picture of the fish? That way we can ID it for you
You can go to 'More Reply Options' at the bottom and then upload attachment, or if that doesn't work you can go to a photo sharing website such as photo bucket and then link pic here.
 
Fish-in cycling, which is what you're doing now, is really not good for the fish and not recommended at all.
 
I know you won't like it but if you can return all of the fish and then cycle the tank fishless following THIS article, it will be so much easier and better for your fishies. We can help you on stocking the tank too.
If you decide to do this then you can find ammonia sources HERE.

rite here is the unkown fish pic not brill but camera is rubbish (dont be fooled by water colour on pic it is just my camera )

thank you for the info on what to about the cycling situation but how long will it take??

if i take my fish back to the pet atore (ripples) will they put them back with the other fish, or kill them as that is what has happened before when i took fish back but not ripples it was a local store

The cycling should take something like 4-6 weeks. Read the article fully, and possibly a few times It can take a bit to click but it is honestly not as complicated as it sounds. People here can help with any questions you may have during it.
 
I'm sorry I'm not sure what that fish is but someone else hopefully will know & chime in!
 
I'm not sure if the store will kill them or not You may want to ask them. I'm unfamiliar with the stores there as I'm in US.
 
If you don't want to return them to the store you can find other people with fish that may want to take them. Do you have any friends with fish tanks btw?

ok thanks for that i will have to ask around i really dont want to lose them ive only had them s week or so but im attached to them so going back the shop is a no for me
but i will have a read through and get my head around this

Normally LFS won't deliberately kill any fish, usually they will keep them and sell them on.
 
As for cycling your tank, fishless cycling is by far the easiest and quickest method of cycling your tank, from scratch usually takes about 4 to 8 weeks, depending on ph, water quality etc 
 
I'd suggest following this cycling article from this forum,
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
As Ninjouzata has already pointed this out and also with a link for possible ammonia sources, that will be needed for fishless cycle process.
 
Fish in cycle is more stressful of both you AND fish, also takes much longer and lots of water changes and testing needing to be done during the process, generally takes about 3 or 4 months to complete if done right, could just as easily take 6 months and losses to stocking. 
 
I'd really recommend rehoming or taking fish back to lfs and starting to do a fishless cycle, will really be worth doing. 
, 
BTW, that fish id is Trigonostigma hengeli - hengeli's rasbora

Here is the info for the Hengeli raspora - they need to be in a school of 10 or more.
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trigonostigma-hengeli/

thankyou for all this i will have a word with my dad tommorow and we will decide on what to do