Guppy Help, Overstocked?

[robjwood]

Hello, I have a 15 gallon tank with an EC filter (Eheim 2213). I started doing a fish-in cycle a couple of weeks before Christmas, just starting off by adding the odd plant then fish every now and then, and eventually ended up with bogwood etc being in about a month ago.

At the same time about a month ago i got my water tested at LFS and the liquid turned dark purple, so it was obviously still cycling (as the guy said). At this point i had a few neon tetra's, 2 rose harlequins, one bronze catfish, two penguin tetras and a mountain shrimp (to scavenge) along with two small algae eaters as the bog wood started growing fur (they sorted it overnight!). All the fish seemed fine, even though i thought the flow rate of the filter was possibly too high... but anyway.

A couple of days ago, i went and took another sample, and the liquid was clear/yellow tinted, and was told it had finished (i'm not sure what make of liquid test was used by the way), so this was roughly 8 weeks after i first turned the filter on and added the catfish. Anyway, i bought 3 phantom tetra's and 3 male guppies and added them to the tank. The phantom's seem fine, but i've lost 2 of the guppies in two days, (one seemed fine then found dead, the other was sat by the surface all the time in the corner then died).

After the first guppy died, i told the LFS and he gave me a bag with another male in and a couple of babies. I bought 3 females too. When i got back, i put the 3 females and male in the main tank, and put the two babies in my second tank where i will be moving the tetra's etc to make more room in the main tank, so this second tank should be a 'peaceful shoaling' tank (currently about a month into the cycle).

Now i've just woken up to the second guppy being dead. Is there anything i should be doing differently? The water parameters seem fine, and as i said the other fish are fine. The only thing i've noticed is that the penguin tetra's are a bit larger than the rest (excluding catfish and shrimp) and sometimes chase the other fish round.

Any advice would be great!


Thanks,

Rob

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hello, I have a 15 gallon tank with an EC filter (Eheim 2213). I started doing a fish-in cycle a couple of weeks before Christmas, just starting off by adding the odd plant then fish every now and then, and eventually ended up with bogwood etc being in about a month ago.

At the same time about a month ago i got my water tested at LFS and the liquid turned dark purple, so it was obviously still cycling (as the guy said). At this point i had a few neon tetra's, 2 rose harlequins, one bronze catfish, two penguin tetras and a mountain shrimp (to scavenge) along with two small algae eaters as the bog wood started growing fur (they sorted it overnight!). All the fish seemed fine, even though i thought the flow rate of the filter was possibly too high... but anyway.

A couple of days ago, i went and took another sample, and the liquid was clear/yellow tinted, and was told it had finished (i'm not sure what make of liquid test was used by the way), so this was roughly 8 weeks after i first turned the filter on and added the catfish. Anyway, i bought 3 phantom tetra's and 3 male guppies and added them to the tank. The phantom's seem fine, but i've lost 2 of the guppies in two days, (one seemed fine then found dead, the other was sat by the surface all the time in the corner then died).

After the first guppy died, i told the LFS and he gave me a bag with another male in and a couple of babies. I bought 3 females too. When i got back, i put the 3 females and male in the main tank, and put the two babies in my second tank where i will be moving the tetra's etc to make more room in the main tank, so this second tank should be a 'peaceful shoaling' tank (currently about a month into the cycle).

Now i've just woken up to the second guppy being dead. Is there anything i should be doing differently? The water parameters seem fine, and as i said the other fish are fine. The only thing i've noticed is that the penguin tetra's are a bit larger than the rest (excluding catfish and shrimp) and sometimes chase the other fish round.

Any advice would be great!


Thanks,

Rob

You'll probably find that if you haven't already got some sort of water testing kit yourself (A.P.I master-test kit seems to be the general preference on here) then you really should get one.

I am rather new to the hobby myself, so i am unable to construct any advice.... but one thing you really must do is post regular water test results, it will help you get the answers you are looking for..

Hope this helps,
Terry.

 

[fishkeeper35]

Hello, I have a 15 gallon tank with an EC filter (Eheim 2213). I started doing a fish-in cycle a couple of weeks before Christmas, just starting off by adding the odd plant then fish every now and then, and eventually ended up with bogwood etc being in about a month ago.

At the same time about a month ago i got my water tested at LFS and the liquid turned dark purple, so it was obviously still cycling (as the guy said). At this point i had a few neon tetra's, 2 rose harlequins, one bronze catfish, two penguin tetras and a mountain shrimp (to scavenge) along with two small algae eaters as the bog wood started growing fur (they sorted it overnight!). All the fish seemed fine, even though i thought the flow rate of the filter was possibly too high... but anyway.

A couple of days ago, i went and took another sample, and the liquid was clear/yellow tinted, and was told it had finished (i'm not sure what make of liquid test was used by the way), so this was roughly 8 weeks after i first turned the filter on and added the catfish. Anyway, i bought 3 phantom tetra's and 3 male guppies and added them to the tank. The phantom's seem fine, but i've lost 2 of the guppies in two days, (one seemed fine then found dead, the other was sat by the surface all the time in the corner then died).

After the first guppy died, i told the LFS and he gave me a bag with another male in and a couple of babies. I bought 3 females too. When i got back, i put the 3 females and male in the main tank, and put the two babies in my second tank where i will be moving the tetra's etc to make more room in the main tank, so this second tank should be a 'peaceful shoaling' tank (currently about a month into the cycle).

Now i've just woken up to the second guppy being dead. Is there anything i should be doing differently? The water parameters seem fine, and as i said the other fish are fine. The only thing i've noticed is that the penguin tetra's are a bit larger than the rest (excluding catfish and shrimp) and sometimes chase the other fish round.

Any advice would be great!


Thanks,

Rob

You'll probably find that if you haven't already got some sort of water testing kit yourself (A.P.I master-test kit seems to be the general preference on here) then you really should get one.

I am rather new to the hobby myself, so i am unable to construct any advice.... but one thing you really must do is post regular water test results, it will help you get the answers you are looking for..

Hope this helps,
Terry.

+1 get an API liquid master test kit...more reliable to test yourself then hve tohe store test for you

 

[Aqua Tom]

Get a testing kit. The best buy you can have in this hobby.

 

[moochy13]

your tank is probably not ready for 3 fish, let alone however many you've already ptu in !!! also, you should really be buying groups of at least 6 of each fish, any less and they 'sulk' and are more succeptible to disease. tetras, harlequins, catfish (called corys), guppies shoudl all be in groups.

you want a shoaling tank, they wont shoal if there arent decent numbers of them. fish will chase other fish because there arent enough of their own species to chase.

dont want to sound harsh, but basically your tank is not ready for how many fish you have, and you need to realise you need to be buying 5 or 6 at least of each type of fish to keep them happy, keep the tank happy.

and get a test kit.