I have a new tank and I cycled it and did everything that was necessary. I got the fish yesterday and I now have four guppies and a dwarf gourami swimming in there. My tank is 10 gallons. I put the fish in and acclimated them by floating and adding a little bit of my water into their bags every fifteen minutes. The Gourami is doing fine but the guppies are just hovering at the top and moving around. They are all just hovering in a group and not moving very far from the surface. What do you think is the problem? Are they afraid of the Gourami, or is the ammonia or ph to high. My ammonia is at 4.0ppm (I had a pretty big spike once I put the fish in.) My ph is sitting somewhere at around 7.0-7.2. My nitrites are at .25ppm-.50ppm. I was using the fish less cycling technique where you use prepared bacteria. Any help is appreciated.
Guppies Are Staying Near Top Of Tank And Refuse To Go Deeper
- Thread starter Typhlodew
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- guppies livebearers
Your tank is not properly cycled. You are now in a "fish-in cycle". Read this
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433769-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i/
and this
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433778-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il/
In an ideal world, you should return the fish and do a proper fishless cycle to prepare your tank for your fish load. But, you need to do a very large water change right now if you hope to save your fish. 75% at the minimum, and recheck parameters, then potentially change water again if ammonia and nitrite are still present. If you opt to keep the fish, you will need to test the water once to twice a day and do a water change to keep your ammonia and nitrite within adequate ranges.
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433769-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i/and this
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433778-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il/In an ideal world, you should return the fish and do a proper fishless cycle to prepare your tank for your fish load. But, you need to do a very large water change right now if you hope to save your fish. 75% at the minimum, and recheck parameters, then potentially change water again if ammonia and nitrite are still present. If you opt to keep the fish, you will need to test the water once to twice a day and do a water change to keep your ammonia and nitrite within adequate ranges.
Wow ... I'm surprised they're still alive with ammonia and nitrite at that level
You need to do a massive water change - just leave enough water for the fish to stay upright in. Remember to dechlorinate and temp match it as close as you can. Once done re-test the ammonia and nitrite to check it's zero. If not you'll need to change some more.
Once you've done that head over to the links jag posted for the best advice on rescuing this
You need to do a massive water change - just leave enough water for the fish to stay upright in. Remember to dechlorinate and temp match it as close as you can. Once done re-test the ammonia and nitrite to check it's zero. If not you'll need to change some more.
Once you've done that head over to the links jag posted for the best advice on rescuing this
Okay, I did the 75% water change and now my ammonia is a 1.0ppm and my nitrites are at 0ppm. I will probably end up doing another water change to eliminate the remaining ammonia(probably around 50% this time.) Jag, however, even after looking at the links you kindly provided me with, I am still unsure about what to do next. Should I keep the fish in and add somemore bacteria, or is this a bad idea?
NickAu said:
Follow Nick's instructions as well, but you are basically looking at a few weeks of daily water changes to keep your ammonia and nitrites down. In a fishless cycle, we keep ammonia at a certain level because it stimulates the bacteria, that will process it into nitrite, to replicate. Then the bacteria that process nitrites replicate, and produce nitrates. However, because you have a fish-in cycle, you can't let ammonia or nitrites get high, or it will kill your fish. So, you have to do continuous water changes to keep them down. The bacteria will still replicate and eventually be fully established, it just takes longer because you have to continuously remove their food supply so that your fish don't die.Typhlodew said:
Keep testing, and water changing. Watch your fish, they will also tell you what they need via flashing, gasping for air at surface, etc. Once you see nitrates, you will be close to done!
Good luck, and keep asking questions!
Oh, and it is also an option to return your fish at this point and do a fishless cycle, which is much less labor intensive...but you have a fishless tank for multiple weeks. Another option if you remove the fish is to plant the tank heavily, let the plants establish, then do a silent cycle. But, the fishless cycle is a better approach over all for a first timer.
jag51186 said:
Follow Nick's instructions as well, but you are basically looking at a few weeks of daily water changes to keep your ammonia and nitrites down. In a fishless cycle, we keep ammonia at a certain level because it stimulates the bacteria, that will process it into nitrite, to replicate. Then the bacteria that process nitrites replicate, and produce nitrates. However, because you have a fish-in cycle, you can't let ammonia or nitrites get high, or it will kill your fish. So, you have to do continuous water changes to keep them down. The bacteria will still replicate and eventually be fully established, it just takes longer because you have to continuously remove their food supply so that your fish don't die.Typhlodew said:
Keep testing, and water changing. Watch your fish, they will also tell you what they need via flashing, gasping for air at surface, etc. Once you see nitrates, you will be close to done!
Good luck, and keep asking questions!
Oh, and it is also an option to return your fish at this point and do a fishless cycle, which is much less labor intensive...but you have a fishless tank for multiple weeks. Another option if you remove the fish is to plant the tank heavily, let the plants establish, then do a silent cycle. But, the fishless cycle is a better approach over all for a first timer.
Nick, I have API ammo-lock, will that accomplish the same thing? Jag, so I am looking at 50% water changes every 1-2 days? I was thinking of doing it about 6 days a week anyways. But if you think that I need to, I will do it every day. I will keep posting my water parameters here. My current levels are 2.0ppm ammonia, and .25ppm nitrite. Do you think I should get more bacteria? Or is that a bad idea? Thanks, this has really helped me.
Oh! I've also noticed a slight amount of gasping from my gourami, he is not going up to surface yet though, so I am kind of on the fence about whether or not he has ammo poisoning yet. Is this normal behavior or is it out of the ordinary. Thanks again!
The bacteria that you buy is not really the same bacteria as we want in our filters, so there's not much point adding it.
Any level of ammonia or nitrite above 0.25ppm can cause health issues or death in fish; so you must do enough water changes to keep them as near to zero as possible. That might mean daily, or even twice daily water changes; whatever it takes to keep those levels down.
Any level of ammonia or nitrite above 0.25ppm can cause health issues or death in fish; so you must do enough water changes to keep them as near to zero as possible. That might mean daily, or even twice daily water changes; whatever it takes to keep those levels down.
Okay, thanks fluttermoth. I am also probably going to add some API Ph down after every water installation. Is this a good idea? The bacteria I had originally added was Dr. Tim's One and Only. I had bought it off of Amazon and it was cold when I received it, however it was room temperature when I put it in the tank. Do you think that my tank might need the boost, or is it completely unnecessary? Although all of my guppies are staying near the top of the tank two of them have begun to gasp. It is very subtle but it is there. I am only a beginner and on a budget, so I do not have a quarantine tank in case of ammonia poisoning. Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!fluttermoth said:
Do not add pH down; it's a bad idea to try and mess with pH, unless you know what you're doing, and your guppies prefer hard, alkaline water anyway (although your dwarf gourami would like softer; they're not really a good mix for this reason).
Dr Tim's is one of the bacterial supplements that does work, but you have to follow the instructions. The threads that jag posted ('fish in cycle gone wild') will help you the most, as I'm not familiar with these products.
Dr Tim's is one of the bacterial supplements that does work, but you have to follow the instructions. The threads that jag posted ('fish in cycle gone wild') will help you the most, as I'm not familiar with these products.
The guppies gasping was a false alarm, they are also starting to dive down an inch or so and immediately dart back up, so I think I might be taking the right % of water out when I do my water changes (50%). Hopefully everything will go well. Thanks
I have never used this product so have no advice here.
You need to get these numbers as close to zero as you can, If that means 50% or more daily water changes then so be it.
In my opinion it is not a false alarm.
In my opinion it is not a false alarm.
No, it was just a beginner overreacting at first glance. A closer look at them now, and there is no gasping at all. They are also starting to move down from the surface of the water and swim around, which is a relief. I also added some Fluval Cycle.
having read this I feel someone needs to be blunt so I'll be bad cop here.
Allowing fish to sit in water that contains any nitrite or ammonia is the equivilent of me forcing you to sit in a bath of acid. That's how serious this is. The fish going to the surface is their way of telling you "hey! let me out of this water it's burning me". Ammonia and nitrite will cause serious perminant damage to your fishes skin and internal organs. You took responsibility for these animals when you bought them and to allow them to sit in poor conditions is animal cruelty.
You need to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero and if this means changing water 3 times a day then that is the responsibility you took on. Adding this and that won't make much difference. There is no bacteria in your filter system to use up the ammonia and nitrite the fish are creating let alone what is coming from food etc. Bacteria doesn't magic itself out of thin air, nor does it come in a bottle from the pet store. Bacteria is formed in the filter, that is the filters purpose, and this takes time ... not just a few days. It can take weeks.
You really do need to read the information that has been linked for you. It is useful and helpful information.
Allowing fish to sit in water that contains any nitrite or ammonia is the equivilent of me forcing you to sit in a bath of acid. That's how serious this is. The fish going to the surface is their way of telling you "hey! let me out of this water it's burning me". Ammonia and nitrite will cause serious perminant damage to your fishes skin and internal organs. You took responsibility for these animals when you bought them and to allow them to sit in poor conditions is animal cruelty.
You need to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero and if this means changing water 3 times a day then that is the responsibility you took on. Adding this and that won't make much difference. There is no bacteria in your filter system to use up the ammonia and nitrite the fish are creating let alone what is coming from food etc. Bacteria doesn't magic itself out of thin air, nor does it come in a bottle from the pet store. Bacteria is formed in the filter, that is the filters purpose, and this takes time ... not just a few days. It can take weeks.
You really do need to read the information that has been linked for you. It is useful and helpful information.
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