Hypoxia, osmotic shock and dying fish

[Fishgirl818]

I bought 5 male guppies and 5 neon tetras 4 days ago and already 4 guppies and 1 tetra have died. My dead fish had all the symptoms of hypoxia and osmotic shock but I put an air stone to oxygenate the water and they still kept dying. I have one guppy left and it is showing some early symptoms which the other fish showed. This is my first time keeping fish so professional advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also i am due to do a water change in my 21 litre tank and am wondering if i should do it or not. Will it affect my lonely guppy who is now not swimming without being close to my tetras.

Sorry for the long post. Please help.☺

 

[cboatman]

Did you cycle the tank before hand? If not, what are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels, if you have a test kit?


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[Fishgirl818]

I am new to keeping fish, i dont know what you mean by cycling the tank, but i did have the tank for 2 months until the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph levels were good. I had it running, fed it, water changed it, put bio starter and water conditioner and watched it. i went to get my water tested by the people at my local pet shop and they said all the levels are really low and good. Also, my last guppy's tail is fraying. This happened to one of my previous guppies that died. Thank for the help☺

 

[thrujenseyes]

Sounds like you tried to Cycle it based on what your fish store told you.
Unfortunately they're not always the best source of information.
Please read the article here on cycling!
It's how I cycled my little tank when I was a newbie about 2 years ago.
They got me thru it wonderfully (and I had a million and one questions).
You may want to rehome your fishies until it's cycled as it's not fair for them and will most likely kill them.

Also you have a combination of fish that prefer quite different water parameters. Settle on one or the other...both will not work as one will wind up in conditions they're not happy with.

 

[flchamp89]

At less than 6g thats alot of fish with different gh/kh needs in an uncycled tank. Osmotic shock and o2 may have been a factor as well as 10 fish is ALOT.

Post your params with gh/kh

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[Fishgirl818]

I agree that it was alot of fish. One person @ my local pet shop said i should get 6 but then, later another person said that 10 is good because otherwise, the fish wont feel comfortable in small groups. They said that the only difference would be that i would have to clean it more often. Also, thrujenseyes, what article do you want me to read? I tried looking for a link but found nothing
Thanks for all your help☺

 

[flchamp89]

6 is too many imo as well. She was referring to the nitrogen cycle.

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[Fishgirl818]

Do you mean i have to start all over again!

 

[Fishgirl818]

Also my last guppy's tail is getting worse. Any ideas on what to do?
☺

 

[flchamp89]

Dont have to start over. Odds are your not cycled now. Get params on tap and tank and post. To include gh/kh.

Damaged tail in guppy....Odds are fin rot or nipping. Fin rot is probable cause of stocking. Post picture of fish. If fin rot......best treatment is pristine water quality. Daily wc

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[thrujenseyes]

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
This is the article about properly cycling.
Flchamp89 means you're not "starting over" you're starting because you were never properly cycled to begin with.
So, yes...start from the beginning. Maybe someone will take the fish you have left?

 

[Fishgirl818]

Thank so much for the advice, very greatly appreciated!☺☺☺❤❤❤

 

[Fishgirl818]

I dont have anyone to take my fish. Where could i keep them while i cycle my tank?

 

[flchamp89]

Do fish in or set up a QT

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Edit..mean do you have a QT

 

[thrujenseyes]

If you do a "fish in cycle" I believe there is another article for that. It's hard on the fish but if you have nowhere to keep them then it's you're only option.
QT means quarantine tank.

Fish keeping is 5% fish keeping and 95% science. You're finding out the hard way like sooooo many do.
Once you get it ...it's so worth it but usually it takes a lot of failing.