How to acclimate delicate guppies

[Sgooosh]

Hello!
In the fish store I go to, they sell guppies that are mass produced and have very weak immune systems, but are very cheap and have desirable traits.
What is the best way to ensure their survival and help build their immune system?

 

[GaryE]

I'll be the radical and say there is no way. Treat them well as you would any fish, with appropriate water and regular changes, and then hope your luck is good. I keep hearing store people talk of virus problems in cheap guppies, and there's nothing you can do if that's the case. You also have to deal with the after effects of growth speeding antibiotic use. The farms get them to market, and what happens after that is your problem.

Quarantine. It isn't an option with farm guppies. If you don't do it, you pay. I've had several fish store people tell me they want guppies to sell fast, so they can disinfect the tank and get the next lot in. Their magic number is three weeks. They expect any guppy not sold in that time to succumb to what it is probably carrying. I've had fish catchers I know say that if they could, they wouldn't sell the guppies they get, but those are now all they can get.

It doesn't mean they are all sick. But the odds are kind of high. I can recall when guppies and neons were really tough fish, ideal for beginners. Properly raised, even the inbred fancies are tougher than the cheap ones.

It's worth finding a local aquarium club, or doing what I did here when there wasn't one - starting a club. If you want good guppies, find a breeder and pay more for quality stock. By the time you count up the costs of all the dead ones, and the tank cleanouts, etc, you will probably be ahead.

 

[Sgooosh]

I'll be the radical and say there is no way. Treat them well as you would any fish, with appropriate water and regular changes, and then hope your luck is good. I keep hearing store people talk of virus problems in cheap guppies, and there's nothing you can do if that's the case. You also have to deal with the after effects of growth speeding antibiotic use. The farms get them to market, and what happens after that is your problem.

Quarantine. It isn't an option with farm guppies. If you don't do it, you pay. I've had several fish store people tell me they want guppies to sell fast, so they can disinfect the tank and get the next lot in. Their magic number is three weeks. They expect any guppy not sold in that time to succumb to what it is probably carrying. I've had fish catchers I know say that if they could, they wouldn't sell the guppies they get, but those are now all they can get.

It doesn't mean they are all sick. But the odds are kind of high. I can recall when guppies and neons were really tough fish, ideal for beginners. Properly raised, even the inbred fancies are tougher than the cheap ones.

It's worth finding a local aquarium club, or doing what I did here when there wasn't one - starting a club. If you want good guppies, find a breeder and pay more for quality stock. By the time you count up the costs of all the dead ones, and the tank cleanouts, etc, you will probably be ahead.

thanks. i'll set up a quarantine tank, and maybe do a med bath in there.
I'll search around for aquarium clubs

 

[GaryE]

A med bath is a bad idea if the rumours from the stores are correct. If it's viral, the meds are a stress and no help. And if it is tied to the overuse of antibiotics in raising them, meds are the problem. It really is one of those deals where you buy, qt, and if you are lucky, the guppies aren't delicate. When I buy farmed fish, I buy 12 to get 8. Sometimes I'm lucky. Sometimes not. I recently lost a whole bunch of Corys in QT. Days 7 and 8 - wipeout. I had them on store credit from selling fish, so it could have been worse. But they keeled over in an established tank, with no symptoms.
Singapore no more. I am going back to my old purchasing patterns. Wilds only from now on.

I know how to acclimate and worked with fish direct from the rivers and lakes of SA and Africa. That's easy. Farmed fish are really plague-ridden.

 

[GaryE]

Btw - I think this problem with sickly fish, especially popular ones like guppies and neons, is killing our hobby. It's really short term thinking from the stores. They want the cheapest stock they can get, but the losses are discouraging and must drive people out of the hobby.

Before the purchasing power of the centralized chains drove farm prices (and practices) down, the fish were healthier. If they died after we got them, it WAS usually our own fault. Now new hobbyists test their water to try to understand their mistakes, but they may not have made any. As a hobby, we've gotten good at blaming ourselves for an industry problem.

 

[Sgooosh]

A med bath is a bad idea if the rumours from the stores are correct. If it's viral, the meds are a stress and no help. And if it is tied to the overuse of antibiotics in raising them, meds are the problem. It really is one of those deals where you buy, qt, and if you are lucky, the guppies aren't delicate. When I buy farmed fish, I buy 12 to get 8. Sometimes I'm lucky. Sometimes not. I recently lost a whole bunch of Corys in QT. Days 7 and 8 - wipeout. I had them on store credit from selling fish, so it could have been worse. But they keeled over in an established tank, with no symptoms.
Singapore no more. I am going back to my old purchasing patterns. Wilds only from now on.

I know how to acclimate and worked with fish direct from the rivers and lakes of SA and Africa. That's easy. Farmed fish are really plague-ridden.

I see, I will not use meds then.

Btw - I think this problem with sickly fish, especially popular ones like guppies and neons, is killing our hobby. It's really short term thinking from the stores. They want the cheapest stock they can get, but the losses are discouraging and must drive people out of the hobby.

Before the purchasing power of the centralized chains drove farm prices (and practices) down, the fish were healthier. If they died after we got them, it WAS usually our own fault. Now new hobbyists test their water to try to understand their mistakes, but they may not have made any. As a hobby, we've gotten good at blaming ourselves for an industry problem.

yeah, i found that the ones from petsmart and petco are a lot more healthy, probably because their returns policy is a lot longer.
I really don't blame the lfs

maybe i'll just buy the mutts from the lfs that other people in the same region donated/sold.