I have a 20 gallon tank 60x30x38 cm.
I have three female and one male guppy. I asked the guy in my LFS and he picked these out and gave it to me. One of the fish have spots in the back and it a has a pretty sharp looking fin on the top. You can see that in one of the pictures, the fish with a few dots in the back is what I'm talking about. So if it is male I can return and get a female. I don't want them fighting for dominance if it is a male.
Second question.
How long before a tank like this can get it's ammonia level spiked? Yesterday a guy was shouting at me about how much he hates kids and how I was a kid and how he had been growing fish for more than I've been alive blah blah and I shoulda cycled and they're all gonna die and I don't deserve to get help or advice and should just be left alone to deal with bad fish management. I really did do my research for hours and hours but somewhere I missed the part where it takes weeks for the ammonia cycle and just thought eh the bacteria starter thing should help.
The male fish Colors and the dot tail (in the pictures) has its upper fin cut and idk why.
I got these day before yesterday and we de chlorinated my tank and let it run for two hours and then added my fish after the water temp was at 28. The internet said they tolerate that and I thought that was the good temp. Again that guy shouted and told me to put it at 24 and I did and now it's set to that.
The fish from day one seem to be pretty fast and quick and I read that it could mean they are stressed. The water was a little dusty with plastic pieces floating from it but it was filtered in like 10 mins by the filter. I cleaned the sand about 10 times but apparently it wasn't clean enough. I saw them catching the plastic with their mouth and then spitting it and leaving it. The tank is clear now and the first day I had fed them goldfish flakes and guppy pellets (LFS guy said it doesn't matter if it says goldfish they'll eat and I should give them after my swordtails come in) and the first day they DID eat. Idk if it was over feeding or what but they haven't eaten anything since and everytime they don't I usually just siphon the top part out and throw the food out. The seem to be pooping fine and I saw them doing it.
The guy really scared me with the whole nitrogen cycle is gonna kill em thing and told me to get test kits and do 50 percent water change daily. I trusted him as he seemed to know a lot and he said he has been doing this for 16 years and I trusted him. (The Reddit guy)
I did a fifty percent water change after waiting for de chlorinator for around 10 mins (the internet said five mins so I just waited for 10 mins to be sure) I don't really have a measuring cup and it says 10 ml per 100 litre so I just approximated it and poured it in everytime. I feel like maybe I didn't know what 10 ml was and maybe put a little more?
The filter is set to low BCS I read guppies don't like fast water and I also turned off the air stone as it seemed to be creating water currents.
Today I wanted to get plants and substrate to help ammonia and stuff till the bacteria grows. Also I added bacteria starting tablets according to my fish store guys instructions. The fish store guy has been open for 15 years and he literally told me to buy smaller equipment and told me even the heater was useless because I live in a hot place. I still got it tho BCS I have air conditioning in my house. So he doesn't oversell and I trust this guy.
The plants were in stock but I needed my dad to buy them and the substrate and I couldn't get it and carry it on my own without my car. They did not have test kits in stock and said it'll come tomorrow. My luck sucks. I have been wanting fish for a long time and I really don't want to lose these. Ive already gotten a bit attached to them and I don't want to be responsible for their deaths. Ive literally watched hundreds of hours of YouTube to not mess up and I still did. The only thing I can remember doing wrong is the nitrogen cycle and even then these are like one inch fry looking guppies and I was sure they wouldn't poison it that quickly. I've also had the lights on in the hope that Maybe some algae could grow. Yes I know they are hard to clean but for now it would be extremely helpful if they did grow and clean ammonia.
Update: as I was typing this I went in to check on them and turned on the lights and saw a female sleeping upside down with fins moving. I heard this is a bad sign. I just frantically took out half of the water and added De chlorinated water. I left it to De chlorinate for around five mins and mixed it up decently. Maybe shoulda left it for more time but I didn't want it to get ammonia poisoned. They still seem to be swishing around fast everywhere except for two which seem calm.
Please please help me and tell me what I can do to fix this. I would really like to keep these alive. I thought they could maybe survive for two days without spiking ammonia. I'm worried and idk what's happening. I'm also planning on getting a little aquarium salt to see if that would heal and relax them. If you guys could help asap it would be amazing!
Sorry if I made someone angry here.
Also does the sand have to be removed before the substrate goes in? Can I just put it on top? The guy at the shop says the roots won't grow good enough with sand below.
I will update if there is anything wrong and I might edit any typos.
I have three female and one male guppy. I asked the guy in my LFS and he picked these out and gave it to me. One of the fish have spots in the back and it a has a pretty sharp looking fin on the top. You can see that in one of the pictures, the fish with a few dots in the back is what I'm talking about. So if it is male I can return and get a female. I don't want them fighting for dominance if it is a male.
Second question.
How long before a tank like this can get it's ammonia level spiked? Yesterday a guy was shouting at me about how much he hates kids and how I was a kid and how he had been growing fish for more than I've been alive blah blah and I shoulda cycled and they're all gonna die and I don't deserve to get help or advice and should just be left alone to deal with bad fish management. I really did do my research for hours and hours but somewhere I missed the part where it takes weeks for the ammonia cycle and just thought eh the bacteria starter thing should help.
The male fish Colors and the dot tail (in the pictures) has its upper fin cut and idk why.
I got these day before yesterday and we de chlorinated my tank and let it run for two hours and then added my fish after the water temp was at 28. The internet said they tolerate that and I thought that was the good temp. Again that guy shouted and told me to put it at 24 and I did and now it's set to that.
The fish from day one seem to be pretty fast and quick and I read that it could mean they are stressed. The water was a little dusty with plastic pieces floating from it but it was filtered in like 10 mins by the filter. I cleaned the sand about 10 times but apparently it wasn't clean enough. I saw them catching the plastic with their mouth and then spitting it and leaving it. The tank is clear now and the first day I had fed them goldfish flakes and guppy pellets (LFS guy said it doesn't matter if it says goldfish they'll eat and I should give them after my swordtails come in) and the first day they DID eat. Idk if it was over feeding or what but they haven't eaten anything since and everytime they don't I usually just siphon the top part out and throw the food out. The seem to be pooping fine and I saw them doing it.
The guy really scared me with the whole nitrogen cycle is gonna kill em thing and told me to get test kits and do 50 percent water change daily. I trusted him as he seemed to know a lot and he said he has been doing this for 16 years and I trusted him. (The Reddit guy)
I did a fifty percent water change after waiting for de chlorinator for around 10 mins (the internet said five mins so I just waited for 10 mins to be sure) I don't really have a measuring cup and it says 10 ml per 100 litre so I just approximated it and poured it in everytime. I feel like maybe I didn't know what 10 ml was and maybe put a little more?
The filter is set to low BCS I read guppies don't like fast water and I also turned off the air stone as it seemed to be creating water currents.
Today I wanted to get plants and substrate to help ammonia and stuff till the bacteria grows. Also I added bacteria starting tablets according to my fish store guys instructions. The fish store guy has been open for 15 years and he literally told me to buy smaller equipment and told me even the heater was useless because I live in a hot place. I still got it tho BCS I have air conditioning in my house. So he doesn't oversell and I trust this guy.
The plants were in stock but I needed my dad to buy them and the substrate and I couldn't get it and carry it on my own without my car. They did not have test kits in stock and said it'll come tomorrow. My luck sucks. I have been wanting fish for a long time and I really don't want to lose these. Ive already gotten a bit attached to them and I don't want to be responsible for their deaths. Ive literally watched hundreds of hours of YouTube to not mess up and I still did. The only thing I can remember doing wrong is the nitrogen cycle and even then these are like one inch fry looking guppies and I was sure they wouldn't poison it that quickly. I've also had the lights on in the hope that Maybe some algae could grow. Yes I know they are hard to clean but for now it would be extremely helpful if they did grow and clean ammonia.
Update: as I was typing this I went in to check on them and turned on the lights and saw a female sleeping upside down with fins moving. I heard this is a bad sign. I just frantically took out half of the water and added De chlorinated water. I left it to De chlorinate for around five mins and mixed it up decently. Maybe shoulda left it for more time but I didn't want it to get ammonia poisoned. They still seem to be swishing around fast everywhere except for two which seem calm.
Please please help me and tell me what I can do to fix this. I would really like to keep these alive. I thought they could maybe survive for two days without spiking ammonia. I'm worried and idk what's happening. I'm also planning on getting a little aquarium salt to see if that would heal and relax them. If you guys could help asap it would be amazing!
Sorry if I made someone angry here.
Also does the sand have to be removed before the substrate goes in? Can I just put it on top? The guy at the shop says the roots won't grow good enough with sand below.
I will update if there is anything wrong and I might edit any typos.
