Sick And Dead Guppy

[Osian]

I've had a tank now running for about two months, doing a fishless cycling for the most part, and about a week and a half ago i got some fish. 4 guppies and 10 ember tetra. One of the guppies has died (first picture) after hidding for 3 days due to being attacked by another guppy (2nd picture), now the other guppy isn't moving much, stayes at the surface and gets attacked by a black guppy i have. This black guppy is also attacking the little blue one who has fin damage.

My tank is 60cm x 30cm x 35 cm and is 60 liters, The nitrate and Ammonia readings havent moved from 0ppm and i test every morning, and somtimes after work. The nitrate is between 10 and 20, and ph is 6.8.

I've been dosing with melafix, just under 8ml, although i missed one day as i thought they might not have enough oxygen. I've bought a new air pump which is running a air stone in a tube to encourage flow. I really dont know whats wrong, and the ember tetras all seem fine. The only guppy to look fine is the black one. ANy help would be very much appriciated.

 

[Helen G]

Any female guppies in the tank?

 

[Colin_T]

the first guppy looks fine (besides being dead).
the second pic with the red guppy looks like it has mouth fungus (Columnaris). The lips appear white in the photo. If that is the case then you will need something from the petshop to treat mouth fungus.
*NB* Mouth fungus isn't actually a fungus, it's a bacterial infection. Don't buy a fungal remedy because it won't work. You need a broad spectrum anti-biotic medication.

To work out the volume of water in the tank
measure Length x Width x Height in cm
divide by 1000
equals volume in litres

When measuring the height, measure from the top of the gravel to the top of the water level. If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove them before measuring the height.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating otherwise it will absorb the medication out of the water.

You might want to increase the PH a bit but 6.8 isn't too bad as long as it doesn't go any lower. You should also check the GH (general hardness) of the water. If it is low then increase it to about 200ppm.

The black guppy sounds like a bully and is probably best without any other males to pick on. You can use breeding nets to isolate him or the sick fish in the tank. You can also try adding a heap of plants (plastic or real). These will provide more hiding places and the other fish will be able to hide from the black guppy.

 

[Osian]

No females, and there's plants in the tank:

The orange one now is in hidding bearly moving and breathing quite heavily, he was drifting so he was pointing vertical with his face up, then shaking and going to lie normaly at the bottom, he hasnt done that for an hour now and seems to be just lieing there. Would moving him to a hospital tank be better? I have a 35 liter tub which i could move the 2nd filter(sponge) and the spare 50w heater into, but afraid that the stress from moving might kill him.

 

[Colin_T]

if you leave him where ihe is he will probably die anyway so you may as well move him out.

 

[Osian]

I've moved the red and small guppy and left the black one in the tank with the ember tetras, I'll go to the shop tomorrow to get treatment for the mouth as on closer inspection it does look like there's somthing there. Dont think i'd have spoted that. Thanks for the help.