New Guppy Help

[Dionnish]

Hi all,

I set up my new aquarium 3 weeks ago, and had it cycling for 2 weeks before introducing some Orange Sakura Neocaridina shrimp last week (21/07/20), and Guppies today (29/07/20). I have been carefully monitoring the aquarium and doing weekly water changes every Sunday. The Neocaridina have been fed every other day and so far I have only suffered an ammonia spike of 1.0ppm on 26/07/20 so i did a 50% water change. I have been adding half a teaspoon of aqaurium salt in my filter every water change.

I noticed that when my guppies arrived 2 were suffering with Fin Rot, but all the rest seemed fine. I used the drip acclimation method- 2-4 drops per second for 1.5 hours, removed 50% of the water then continued to drip acclimate for 2 hours before adding the fish to the aquarium.

However, I had noticed that 1 of the guppies suffering with Fin Rot was mainly staying at the top of the tank whilst the others were exploring happily. About 3 hours later, when i came to put my light on a low setting I noticed the same guppy laying on its side in the bottom corner of the aqaurium, but proceeded to get up and swim upon noticing my presence. Can anyone help with this please?

I have ordered fin rot/anti-fungal and bacterial medication that will be arriving tomorrow.

Current water parameters are:
Ph - 7.4
Gh - 8d
Kh - 8d
Cl2 - 0
Ammonia - 0.50ppm
No2 - 0.50ppm
No3 - 5.0ppm
Temp - 25.2 degrees Celsius
Aquarium size - 30 litres
Occupants - 6 Guppies and 5 Orange Sakura Neocaridina.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Your tank is not cycled, levels of ammonia and nitrite is too high, so that's one. Second, your water is too soft for both, guppies in soft water, hardwater fish in softwater overall, need their minerals in water to live, shrimp seem to be thriving in hard water.
Third, 2 weeks for tank to cycle is not enough, cycle takes up to 6 weeks.
Why are you dosing salt? Finrot can be treated with cleaning tank everyday, water changes 75% per day as well as vacuuming your substrate.
Do an emergency 75% water change immediately.

 

[Dionnish]

Your tank is not cycled, levels of ammonia and nitrite is too high, so that's one. Second, your water is too soft for both, guppies in soft water, hardwater fish in softwater overall, need their minerals in water to live, shrimp seem to be thriving in hard water.
Third, 2 weeks for tank to cycle is not enough, cycle takes up to 6 weeks.
Why are you dosing salt? Finrot can be treated with cleaning tank everyday, water changes 75% per day as well as vacuuming your substrate.
Do an emergency 75% water change immediately.

Thank you for responding so quickly.
I have carried out the water change as recommended, and will continue, i was worried that a 75% change would be too much and would stress the fish out more. The aquarium salt was recommended by my local pet store as a preemptive measure to prepare yhe tank for any aquatic life introduced to the aquarium. How long would you recommend to do daily water changes? Wouldn't this affect the beneficial bacteria?

 

[dmpfishlover]

Daily water changes will not effect the beneficial bacteria (BB)..... The BB grows on surfaces in the tank...the substrate (gravel, etc.), Tank decor (driftwood, rocks and decorations), and in the filter and filter media. The BB are not present in the water itself, so water changes will not effect the BB population. As @Salty&Onion has already mentioned, it can take up to six weeks for the BB to reach a population level capable of removing all Ammonia and Nitrite. Until then you will need to closely monitor your Ammonia and Nitrite levels, and if they are not at Zero, a water change is required, because the presence of these in the water is deadly to fish.

 

[dmpfishlover]

It is recommended that a fishless cycle be performed and then add fish, but since you already have fish in the tank, you will need to perform frequent water changes to eliminate the Ammonia and Nitrite.

Check out the following thread on this Forum regarding Cycling your tank... I think you will find it very informative...

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Retired Viking]

Since you have already introduced fish into the tank I would suggest you consider picking up a bottle of Tetra Safe Start Plus. It has the BB population you need and will jump start your tank.

 

[dmpfishlover]

Also, if you have live plants in your tank, they will help quite a bit by "feeding" off of the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates, and help to reduce their concentrations. If you don't have live plants in your tank, I highly recommend you add some...especially floating tanks like Water Sprite or Frogbit.. They are particularly good at removing these from the water. You will still need to closely monitor the levels and perform regular Water Changes, but it will help possibly decrease the frequency of required water changes.

 

[Dionnish]

Thank you all for your advice, I have been carrying out the daily water changes as recommended, and will continue, as I have seen immediate improvement. I am awaiting some frogbit to arrive, currently have a Java Fern, Java Moss, Christmas Moss and Guppy grass doing well in aquarium. And have been using Tetra safestart, AquaSafe and EasyBalance since setting up the aquarium, in addition to Bactozym in my filter media weekly.