Guppy Babies Dying From Tiny Air Bubbles After Wash

[Azaeil]

I thought I might bring this up to see if other guppy fry raisers have encountered this...

This has gotten me confused now - two batches of fry I've lost to this situation within an hour after washing their tank and replacing their spent water. I've got two remaining and they're swimming with the clamped fins I see from those who had tiny bubbles literally covering their bodies.

I'm thinking part of the cause of death is that the air bubbles are blocking their gills and making it difficult for them to swim while drying out their skin where the bubble touches. I've tried to gently brush bubbles off of my last few surviving fry with the smooth round end of tweezers I use to feed them with (they're at the size where I've begun introducing larger foods like flakes and brine shrimp to them) to see if that helped, and I've lost three of them still despite the effort. My final two may not be far off from death as it is with their behavior :C I keep checking on them frequently.

I've seen the bubble situation happen after a tank clean with bettas - but the larger adult fish never had bubbles cling to them like they did to the little fry.

To describe their tank situation - the fry were all divided up into glass gallon drum tanks, with about 2-3 fry a tank that would have been moved to a larger community tank when they got to a size that the adults wouldn't snap them up, and they grew well and survived with the 10% water changes. It was only when I did a full wash to eliminate the detris down on the bottom of the tanks that this condition happens.

I'm aware that it's not the best tank setup to have guppy fries in - but I do not have a 20gal tank to dedicate to fry that pop out the day after I get the momma -___- Nor do I have the funds to support/get such a tank. Snips or comments regarding that would be greatly appreciated if unspoken. They are probably my last guppies I intend to ever have, and they were intended as feeder fish 'treats' for my bichir considering the low survival rates I'm hearing from inbred shop guppies these days.

So focusing back on the bubble situation - has anyone else encountered this and is there a possible way to reduce this from happening with each full tank cleaning? I'm pondering if letting the tank sit for a day with the fry in a temporary holding container would help, but I'm not sure - I've seen the tiny bubbles linger on the decorations for at least two days.

 

[keimak]

Try don't do a full tank cleaning, just leave them there. Do 25% water change and see if that works.
Never seen this type of stuff before happening on fishes O:

 

[Azaeil]

I'll keep that in mind next time I ever decide to attempt fry raising again. Often when I do a full tank clean with them I gently pour them into my plugged sink (making sure there's no contaminant in the sink - aka thoroughly rinsed prior - same stuff I do with my two bettas before they were upgraded to 10 gal tanks) and gently cup them with my hands into the cleaned tank. Odd thing is the bubbles appear about 5 min /after/ the cleaning so the tank looks bare of the annoying things when it's just finished so I can't predict if air got trapped in the gravel bottom or not (the babies seem to enjoy discovering little caves they can swim into when they were still alive).

 

[OldMan47]

You do not need a tank to raise guppy fry. The plastic storage boxes they make to store winter clothing for the summer or similar containers will work as a tank and hold a lot more than a gallon of water. To clean the detritus, simply siphon it out of your container with a piece of air line hose. Frequent 10% to 25% water changes will keep the poisons to a minimum while the fry grow larger, if you don't have a mature filter to use for them.

 

[Azaeil]

@Oldman - Now that's something I've not considered Though my folks might quirk a brow at the fact there is a tub full of water in the bathroom.

I do have a spare 10 gal tank I was intending to get rid of for a long time that I could have put them in, but it really needs a good scrubbing before I can trust it to hold something delicate like baby fish >_>

 

[This Old Spouse]

Guppy fry are a lot more resilient than you're giving them credit. And I've never done more than a 25% water change with them in the water. They couldn't be producing so much poo as to warrant that big a w/c, imo. Are you dechlorinating the new water?

 

[Azaeil]

Yes I am dechlorinating. My first post says the cause that's killing them is not water quality - but the bubbles that happen after the clean clinging onto the babies to the point they look like moving bubble clumps. My last baby that's survived is not doing well - his tail fin is clamped into a point and he's not swimming well - he was one of the worst covered ones too and he was swimming with his tail in normal flared state before the bubbles appeared.

The food I'm feeding them was an egg mix suggested by some guys who raised fry before and it's very very messy stuff. XP

 

[hanny93]

I have a feeling its because youre doing 100% w/c.

Whenever i do waterchanges of more than 25% on my tank I always get bubbles appearing on the side of the glass.

I'm sure aswell that you can get tiny gravel vacs that you could use to clean the bottom instead of tipping everything out.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I used to use the egg for feeding fry, but as mentioned it's really messy, so I just switched to ground flakes. But honestly, I think your water changes are too large.

 

[Azaeil]

XP None of the vacs at the petstore are small enough nor can I find flexible tube that's got a small enough tip that it won't suck in the babies. The 100% is not a frequent thing either, I've only done it when the 10-20% changes still leave scum on the surface of the tanks, and they pick up the bubbles from the plant they brush up against the most - even though I make sure the plant's wet and least likely to get bubbles on it >_< I really think the whole harping about the 100% changes has far overstayed it's import after it's been said once before.

I am fully aware now that it's the bubbles caused since before I posted this topic - I really wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this before and if they've found a way to reduce the chance if a 100% clean is needed.

 

[This Old Spouse]

You won't find a vac small enough to not suck up the babies. Put a piece of what you in the UK call ladies tights (we call them pantyhose) or cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. It will suck up debris without the babies.

And to reduce the bubbles next time, try to let the water set out for 24 hours before reintroducing to the tank.

 

[hanny93]

To be honest I was just trying to help and offering my advice, which is what i thought you were asking for.

Also pretty sure that the 'harping' about 100% waterchanges hasn't overstayed its importance as its probably whats causing your fish to die, along with the lack of filter. YOu very rarely need to do full tank changes so I don't see why you do.

Sorry if I bored you with my harping.

 

[Azaeil]

You won't find a vac small enough to not suck up the babies. Put a piece of what you in the UK call ladies tights (we call them pantyhose) or cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. It will suck up debris without the babies.

And to reduce the bubbles next time, try to let the water set out for 24 hours before reintroducing to the tank.

Hmm, the thought did occur to do that, provided I ever get around to making one last attempt >_<. I was speaking with some folks at my LFS and they suggested trying a different method of pouring the water in, cup by cup if a small tank, and a steady pour from a gallon jug if a larger tank (what I normally do with my three 10 gals), I've been using my bathtub faucet (with the dechlorinator) to quickly fill and that might be a big part of the issue there with how hard and fast the water is being poured in. Thinking back, I do remember one full clean I had done differently and lost no baby fish because I was pouring water in using the betta cups they keep them in at the petstores... Hmm, some experimenting with empty gallon tanks will have to be in order..

 

[This Old Spouse]

I pour my fresh dechlorinated water into the filter and I've never had a problem.

 

[OldMan47]

Buy some of the tubing they sell for an air stone. Even that can possibly suck up fry but you can easily guide it away from any fry and use it to clean your container bottom. It also makes a slow flowing siphon for a small container.