Help My Guppies Are Dying

[gregswimm]

You can do water changes, just not every day

 

[Tolak]

If your ammonia is jacked I'd change it every day to bring it down. Your nitrifying bacteria won't starve, any slight changes in water parameters would be much less detrimental to the fish than ammonia. As long as your water supply is consistent in regards to hardness, and you match the temperature within reason there won't be an issue with large daily water changes.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Couple of points here, and if you really want to question what I say, read the signature and see the amount of perfectly cycled tanks I have.

If the ammonia is above 0.25ppm, it is toxic levels. Do a water change to bring it down. There will still be trace amounts to feed the bacteria. Riding it out so the filter can catch up will kill your fish.

Same with nitrites. If it is above 0.25ppm, it is toxic. Do a water change to bring it down. THERE WILL STILL BE TRACES TO FEED THE BACTERIA. Riding it out will kill your fish.

Do water changes with TEMP matched water to not stress your fish.

KEEPING THE AMMONIA LEVELS HIGH WILL STRESS YOUR FISH AND KILL THEM. And if the ammonia doesnt kill them, disease probably will from stress.

 

[Fishy friend2]

also. gregswimm. some for some people onely changing the water twice a year wont be very good, as for me i have lost 1 fish for every 2 water changes that i have missed in a row

 

[gregswimm]

In no way am I saying that riding out your ammonia spike won't kill your fish, it very well could. Riding it out just gets your cycle up faster. Also, if your ammonia is jumping very high between changes, you should re-think your stocking.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Or, you could just do water changes to save the stock you have. Everyone makes mistakes at first. Im not going to tell this person to take his fish back to the store. What I am going to do is tell him how to take care of what he has. Cycling faster doesn't mean its better. It means that you are willing to risk stock for the sake on impatience and laziness. What happens when all the stock dies? Now that a fish-in cycle is in play, might as well teach the right way, not the quick way.

 

[gregswimm]

Its a real catch 22.
But if he is loosing fish doing what he is currently doing then it must not be working....

 

[Rummynose]

Its a real catch 22.
But if he is loosing fish doing what he is currently doing then it must not be working....

The OP is losing fish because the tank that has been cycled and running for 6 months has lost its cycle. That's how the fish were dying, because the ammonia was too high! That's what the OP was trying to figure out! There was no question about whether what they were doing is working!!!

Maybe the cycle was lost because the dechlorinator wasn't added at one point, who knows! Now that the OP knows the fish were dying because of the high readings of ammonia countersteps can be taken to safe the other fish. That seems to be what the OP wanted to accomplish, not kill more to get the cycle done faster!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Its a real catch 22.
But if he is loosing fish doing what he is currently doing then it must not be working....

Every tank I have went through fish-in cycle with water changes daily to keep up with the rising ammonia. Mind you, I have large fish. Big cichlids, Oscars, Jack Dempseys, Green terrors....all of which provided MASSIVE ammounts of ammonia. So if you really want to sit here and tell me, that daily water changes affected my fish and cycle, when my fish are happy and breeding, then by all means. Tell me what stock you have and what they do that is impressive. In the meantime, the rest of us will strive to help the OP figure out his tank and save his fish. And we will tell him the way we had success. I guess that is how, as a FISHKEEPER, that I differ from the common grade "fish havers"

 

[gregswimm]

Big cichlids, Oscars, Jack Dempseys, Green terrors....all of which provided MASSIVE ammounts of ammonia.

And now we are talking about little fish

 

[phocoena]

Little fish produce and excrete the same toxic substance as big fish just in smaller quantities.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Little fish that produce a lot less ammonia than what I have, which means that the fish in cycle will be a lot less than what i went through. But hey, guess what? By doing everything that you are advising against, my fish are still alive. I know we are talking about small fish, but I did fish-in cycles with fish that produced upwards of 4ppm a day. And all of those fish are alive and well in fully cycled tanks just because i had a little bit of patience and willing to put in some work. They are alive because I did everything I could the keep the water clean.

What I want to know now is, what is the difference between big fish and little fish when it comes to a fish in cycle? I don't see a difference at all.

 

[gregswimm]

Little fish that produce a lot less ammonia than what I have, which means that the fish in cycle will be a lot less than what i went through. But hey, guess what? By doing everything that you are advising against, my fish are still alive. I know we are talking about small fish, but I did fish-in cycles with fish that produced upwards of 4ppm a day. And all of those fish are alive and well in fully cycled tanks just because i had a little bit of patience and willing to put in some work. They are alive because I did everything I could the keep the water clean.

What I want to know now is, what is the difference between big fish and little fish when it comes to a fish in cycle? I don't see a difference at all.

We all have our methods, i'm just giving my 2 cents.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

At 2-4ppm, your 2 cents will cause the OP to lose all of his fish. He has small fish that will succumb easily to levels that high. I'm sorry your willing to sacrifice fish lives as if it were nothing to "let the tank normalize," but that is not the advice we generally give. Fish aren't just fish. They are a pet, just like a cat or dog. Would you crate your dog and leave him in his own filth? Cause that is exactly what you are telling the OP to do to his fish.

 

[veeja111]

very confused here, ok This is a 45 gallon about a yr established all female guppies and platties, 1 bristlenose pleco. platties keep dropping so after last bag to lfs there is probably 75 fish 2 yrs and younger in tank. I have been over feeding to accomodate babies, have lost about 6 guppies in last week, amonia is 4.0, I have been changing 1/3 of water weekly. I have a top fin 60 older filter, with two chambers. I change the charcoal filer on one side each week and leave one side. I am going to fs tomorrow to purchase what fishy friend suggested. I really want to save these fish. I have stopped overfeeding. please tell me simply what to do. I have not been on here long enough to know who to listen too.help please