Guppies Dying, New Tank Syndrome/bloat?

[carebear373]

I have had two guppies die so far.  My tank is a little over a month old.  I waited 2 weeks to add my guppies.  The first guppy died for unknown reasons, he was a very small fish and I thought at the time he was not getting enough food.  My second guppy died I believe from swim bladder disease, he had a bloated belly and would fall to the bottom and have a hard time swimming.  I raised the tank temp to 80 and starved him for 2 days, on the third day I was going to give him peas, (I saw online to do this?) and he did not make it to the third day.  Now, I have two guppies left and one guppy is bloated and is swimming ok, however I am scared he will die like the other.  What should I do???
 
Tank Info: 20 gallon high tank with tetra 40i filter
 
*Water parameters are perfect- I use PH test kit (PH about 7.2), easy strips (everything is perfect- nitrite, nitrate, chlorine, hardness, etc), and ammonia test kit (no ammonia- perfect reading)
 
*tank is a little over a month old (I believe 4 weeks)
*waited 2 weeks to add fish (not long enough? )
*have 1 molly and 2 guppies that are alive (2 guppies died), and one mystery snail
*driftwood, large rock, 3 real plants and a few fake plants
*gravel bottom
*I clean the gravel 
* I use safeway Refreshe water
*I feed crumbled fake food 
 
I can attach a picture of the bloat if necessary, but it looks like typical fish bloat.
 

 

[squidsagirl420]

I don't think i can help much, other than i don't think a tank can cycle in two or four weeks. unless you added bacteria from another tank. hope you get some info! They will probably want more info. And you may need a better test kit than the strips. I use the API freshwater master kit. its probably about $25 at local fish store. very helpful! i totally recommend.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hi carebear, and welcome!
 
There's a lot going on here, but it really all stems from this:

I have had two guppies die so far.  My tank is a little over a month old.  I waited 2 weeks to add my guppies.  

 
Waiting to add fish does nothing for them.  The reason that you'll be told by some to wait to add fish is if you are conducting a fishless cycle.  (These are the directions for that recommended by our site: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first)
 
Waiting two weeks won't do anything for your tank bacteria wise, unless you are providing some food for the bacteria to multiply (in this case, you'd need to add ammonia).  A typical fishless cycle takes anywhere from 3 weeks - 9 weeks, averaging about 6 most of the time.  
 
The issue is almost assuredly ammonia poisoning.  You mentioned that your test strips are coming back with 'perfect' stats.  The truth is that if that were the case, your fish wouldn't be dying so quickly on you.  There is most definitely ammonia building up in the tank, because there just hasn't been sufficient time for the bacteria to multiply enough to deal with the ammonia that's there. 
 
After the ammonia bacteria start to grow and handle it, they produce nitrite, which is actually more poisonous to the fish than the ammonia.  This requires more time for another group of bacteria to grow to handle that to produce nitrate.  The nitrate gets removed during weekly water changes, though it won't go to zero.
 
I'd suggest getting a better test kit, and I'd suggest water changes - lots and lots of them to reduce the ammonia.

 

[carebear373]

Thank you for your advice. I have the API PH kit and API ammonia kit, in addition to the easy strips. The ammonia kit shows there no ammonia. I will still do more water changes to see if that makes a difference. So you think it is related to the new tank and not to bloat from flake foods?  I am just unsure what to change. I will change as much as I can. During my fishless cycle I put food in the tank.  Not sure if I did it correctly. I followed online directions but they were conflicting so I am sure something was wrong.  I have done frequent water changes as well as "vacuuming" (not sure the name) the gravel with a tool from the pet store.  This also takes out a lot of water.  I have not used bacteria from another fish tank

did not have access to one. Let me know if there is any other info you need! I am new to the hobby, only had a betta in 5 gallon tank and my betta lived 2 years but died of dropsy, so I am not an expert on freshwater community tanks, but have I have been researching.
 
Besides the frequent water changes, should I buy varied foods for the guppies and also peas to feed them?  Or is this not necessary?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

A lot of secondary issues come about when dealing with ammonia.  You failed to mention that you used fish food during the two weeks... that likely helped your situation, but I doubt it would be enough by itself.  Your stocking level is low, and that also helps.  
 
 
The ammonia test should be read under natural light, just as a FYI.  This might change the reading slightly.
 
Guppies are also not the hardiest fish anymore, due to improper breeding techniques over the years.  They are gluttons so feeding small amounts also helps... their stomach is roughly the size of their eye.  
 
 
Water changes, literally means removing water to be replaced.  Doing a gravel vac during the water change is traditionally the best method.

 

[the_lock_man]

Can I suggest taking a sample of water to your fish shop, and asking them to test it for you. Get them to tell you the actual level that they read, not just "that's fine", we want an actual number in Parts Per ml, or mg/l (which is the same thing).
 
I agree completely with Eagles, it's ammonia poisoning, but I want to know why your API test kit isn't reading it. 

 

[NickAu]

 
but I want to know why your API test kit isn't reading it.

Are you following the instructions on how to test for ammonia?
 
Please watch this video on how to use the test kit.
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUw0Rlusz5Y
 
 

 
* I use safeway Refreshe water

That's bottled water? Bottled water is not safe for fish, You do not know what is or is not in it. Unless you know the exact chemical composition of the water it should not be used, Tap water is the safest option.
 
Also.
 
You do not mention if you use water treatment like seachem prime.