Random new guppy death!!

[Bettaguy08]

I recently got 9 guppy’s about 2 days ago and today I just found one dead out of no where. I’m noticing some of my other guppies are acting a little odd aswell. Not all but some of them are just staying at the top of the tank and not really going down, I got them from PetSmart. If anyone can help me figure out what’s going on please lemme know.
What Others Need to Know to Help You

When posting a request for help can you please include the following info

1. Water parameters. I have 10 nitrates, 0 nitrites, very hard water, pH 6.8, ammonia N/A, KH 180.

2. A full description of the fishes symptoms.
One of my guppies recently just died and I want to figure out why so none of the other guppies in my tank die.

3. How often you do water changes and how much. I used to not do them really ever but I did just do a %50 water change yesterday

4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water. I’ve added API quick start and stress coat+

5. What tank mates are in the tank. There are 12 guppies, 1 neritre snail, 1 otocinclus

6. Tank size. 10 gallon

7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish? Yup on Friday I just added these fish males guppies

You may cut and paste the template below and submit in your post:

Request Help

Tank size:10 gallon
tank age:2 months
pH:6.8
ammonia:N/A
nitrite:0
nitrate:10
kH:180
gH:300
tank temp:70-81 degrees


Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:
Volume of water is about a inch away from full, 40-20% water change

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Stress coat + api quick start, filter media is polyfil a filter cartridge and a sponge

Tank inhabitants: already said this one

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):just got a new thermometer for my tank

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Myraan]

Sometimes the odd fish dies so all you can do is water change plenty.

People will say 6.8pH is too low, but you may be high on CO2 for whatever reason, and your gH and kH are good for guppies, so that might be ok
I assume you used a test strip so the 6.8 might not be accurate anyway. Most people here find liquid test kits more accurate; I for one find them easier to interpret than strips (various are available, I like JBL, but API Master kits are cheaper because they come with larger bottles than most others).

Is the tank cycled? What did you do to cycle it and how long did that take?

The reason I assumed test strip was the "N/A" ammonia reading. If there is a problem with your water killing your fish (and there may not be) I suspect it might be ammonia. I don't like strips but I believe you can buy strips that just test the ammonia.

I would consider doing a daily partial water change until you find out for sure about the ammonia just in case, if there is a disease in water it might dilute it slightly as a side-benefit.

 

[Bettaguy08]

Sometimes the odd fish dies so all you can do is water change plenty.

People will say 6.8pH is too low, but you may be high on CO2 for whatever reason, and your gH and kH are good for guppies, so that might be ok
I assume you used a test strip so the 6.8 might not be accurate anyway. Most people here find liquid test kits more accurate; I for one find them easier to interpret than strips (various are available, I like JBL, but API Master kits are cheaper because they come with larger bottles than most others).

Is the tank cycled? What did you do to cycle it and how long did that take?

The reason I assumed test strip was the "N/A" ammonia reading. If there is a problem with your water killing your fish (and there may not be) I suspect it might be ammonia. I don't like strips but I believe you can buy strips that just test the ammonia.

I would consider doing a daily partial water change until you find out for sure about the ammonia just in case, if there is a disease in water it might dilute it slightly as a side-benefit.

I used aquarium quick start and stress coat to cycle it, it’s been running for about like 7-8 weeks. I used the tetra test strips which did not support ammonia readings I will get some that will though. For the water changes how much should I water change a day until I get the test strips?

 

[Circus]

Did you add ammonia or a source of it while cycling the tank?

I would do at the minimum a 50% daily change, if you cannot be sure of your ammonia levels.

 

[Bettaguy08]

Did you add ammonia or a source of it while cycling the tank?

I would do at the minimum a 50% daily change, if you cannot be sure of your ammonia levels.

Yes I did add a source of ammonia.

 

[Bettaguy08]

Did you add ammonia or a source of it while cycling the tank?

I would do at the minimum a 50% daily change, if you cannot be sure of your ammonia levels.

Ok I was about to do a water change and I just noticed my guppy looking VERY weird like he might die weird. He is sitting at the bottom of the tank and was barley moving, he’s moving right now but he was just laying on the bottom breathing super fast, what should I do. Or is this normal

 

[itiwhetu]

Why did you buy a fish that already had a problem? Please when you go to a LFS select the fish you want and only take fish home that are perfect. If the fish aren't perfect wait for another day.

 

[Bettaguy08]

Why did you buy a fish that already had a problem? Please when you go to a LFS select the fish you want and only take fish home that are perfect. If the fish aren't perfect wait for another day.

And, I think I just found the problem to why my fish always die…

 

[Sgooosh]

And, I think I just found the problem to why my fish always die…

what is the problem?

 

[Bettaguy08]

what is the problem?

The fish I get are unhealthy.

 

[itiwhetu]

The fish I get are unhealthy.

When going to an LFS. You start by looking in all the tanks. If any tank has a dead fish, you don't buy a fish from that tank. If any tank has a fish that doesn't belong in the parameters of the other fish, you don't buy a fish from that tank. If any tank has a fish behaving abnormally you don't buy a fish from that tank. So now you are down to about 10% of the tanks in the shop. So now you only select a fish that is perfect in every way for its species, and you ask for THAT fish. If the shop assistant chases the fish around and around the tank to catch it, you say " No Thanks ".

 

[FishHobby99]

The fish I get are unhealthy

Next time try Petco. I bought a few pretty & healthy guppies there. At the time, maybe 3 months ago, PetSmart had their entire stock of fish under quarantine and not available for sale. The tanks were cloudy with medications. Scary! I called another big box store new to the area & they said all their fish were under quarantine too, & likely they used the same vendors as PetSmart.

 

[itiwhetu]

Next time try Petco. I bought a few pretty & healthy guppies there. At the time, maybe 3 months ago, PetSmart had their entire stock of fish under quarantine and not available for sale. The tanks were cloudy with medications. Scary! I called another big box store new to the area & they said all their fish were under quarantine too, & likely they used the same vendors as PetSmart.

That is not good for about a thousand reasons. So, tell me are you going to end up buying those fish after they have been medicated. If so, what do you think the long-term effects on those fish that have been medicated are going to be? You are going to have to deal with their ongoing health issues.

 

[FishHobby99]

I absolutely did not buy these fish. Would never and besides they were not for sale.

 

[Circus]

Hmmm. I am not very good at diagnosis, but it could be a lack of oxygen (fixed with a bubbler) or ammonia burning the gills (fixed with frequent large water changes) I would go ahead with the water change, and don't forget to use water conditioner and temp match to your tank water if you can.

More than doubling the number of tank inhabitants might have shocked your system as well, causing an ammonia spike.