Stressed guppy

[Itsmekaybee]

I'm looking for advice please.
1. How can I help my guppy that seems unwell?
2. What's a good fish to live in a guppy community to eat fry but live peacefully with guppies?

Details:

My female guppy has been stressed since giving birth. She was a bright red beforehand and now she's fading and has lost most colour on her tail. She was glass surfing and hiding, barely eating for a bit and we put it down to the babies crowding the tank (10 gallon/40L Aquaponic tank). Babies left and she didn't improve.

She hides in a corner, tries to bury herself in the pebbles, has a gaping mouth (barely closes it, not sure she can) and drags her mouth along the glass.

I've given her mashed peas, bloodworms, guppy pellets, bug flakes, she eats flakes occasionally and that's it. We have had her about 6 months.

I put her in a breeding separator for a little bit to see if she'd get relief being away from the boys, but it clearly made her unhappy.

Temperature 25-27 celsius
pH steady at 7.4-7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 40ppm

20% weekly water change with substrate vacuum, refill with water at the exact temperature of the tank with a teaspoon of stress coat (per instructions on bottle)

Aquaponic pump / plant filter and water filter in place, live plants (mossy plant died but some dragon plant left). Plenty of hidey holes, daylight during the day and dark sleeping conditions.

4 X female, 2 X male guppies, 1 X tetra (who thinks he is a guppy) and about 15 new new fry. Just waiting for them to get a bit bigger so we can move them on. I'm planning to get a couple of fry eaters to control the population, as they are typical guppies!

We had 2 x Otos die a few months ago due to low pH, but the guppies all were fine, a tetra died after a water change, and again the guppies were fine... I think its post birth stress, but I don't know how to help her. She's hiding behind the rock bridge and pump in the pic below:

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Hiya! Cool setup! Personally I like plants in the tank as well, guppies like the natural cover and protection they provide too so that might be something to think about.

Also, do you know your water hardness? It's essential when choosing which fish to keep as they all have specific requirements in regards to GH...guppies prefer hard water, tetras need soft water.

Are you using stress coat as your dechlorinater? If so I'd suggest stopping that and use something like Prime instead

 

[Itsmekaybee]

Hiya! Cool setup! Personally I like plants in the tank as well, guppies like the natural cover and protection they provide too so that might be something to think about.

Also, do you know your water hardness? It's essential when choosing which fish to keep as they all have specific requirements in regards to GH...guppies prefer hard water, tetras need soft water.

Are you using stress coat as your dechlorinater? If so I'd suggest stopping that and use something like Prime instead

Good questions!

Plants keep dying in there, I just can't seem to get them to flourish there's 3 X dragons flame in there but the leaves are shedding, and I had 3 X big fluffy plants and they all didn't last a week!

API Test strips today came back that the water is hard, so it's not that...

Re: stress coat, chlorine is pretty negligible in the water (Melbourne, Vic standard is <1mg/L), but I'm using it just as a precaution.

 

[Colin_T]

Nitrate 0
Nitrite 40ppm

I assume they are around the wrong way and it should read:
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm

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Aquarium plants need plenty of light.
How long is the tank light on?
Post pictures of the plants so we can make sure they are aquatic plants and not garden plants.

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The female guppy could have problems associated with giving birth.

I would do bigger (75%) water changes and gravel clean the substrate any time you do a water change. You should try to keep the nitrate as close to 0ppm as possible, and under 20ppm at all times. The high nitrates won't be helping the guppy.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

You don't have to get the water temperature the same. It's fine to be a couple of degrees different.

Make sure you turn the filter and heater off before doing water changes, and turn them back on after the tank has been filled up.
You shouldn't need a heater in the tank at this time of year in Australia.

 

[Itsmekaybee]

How long is the tank light on?

The UV lights are on for the Aquaponic plants on top from 10am - 2pm and the tank has sunlight from 9am-5ish.

The plants were both bought from an aquarium shop:
1. dragon flame, which research has told me need to be pulled out regularly or not be fully submerged. I've put them in the top for now to try and salvage them.
2. Giant ambulia, which just disintegrated in the space of about 2-3 weeks.
When I water change, I shut everything off and use a gravel vac.
We run the aircon pretty cold, so I've kept the heater on for consistency for them.

I'm going to try and add more live plants! The Aquaponic plants are meant to help with the nitrate but they aren't very effective!

 

[Colin_T]

UV lights aren't needed or wanted by most aquarium fish.
Does the UV light get into the aquarium?

1. dragon flame, which research has told me need to be pulled out regularly or not be fully submerged.

That to me is a garden plant that does not belong in aquariums.

2. Giant ambulia, which just disintegrated in the space of about 2-3 weeks.

I have heard of Ambulia and it is a good plant but I have not heard of giant ambulia.

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The best plants for removing nitrates are floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) and Duckweed.

 

[Colin_T]

AQUARIUM PLANTS 1.01

LIGHTING TIMES
Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they also struggle. Try having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.
If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.
If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.


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TURNING LIGHTS ON AND OFF
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

Try to have the lights on at the same time each day. Use a timer if possible.


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LIST OF PLANTS TO TRY
Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer, but don't buy it in winter because it falls apart), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow or twisted/ spiral Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).
The Water Sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

Ambulia, H. polysperma, Elodia/ Hydrilla and Vallis are tall plants that do well along the back. Rotala macranda is a medium/ tallish red plant that usually does well.

H. ruba/ rubra is a medium height plant that looks good on the sides of the tank.

Cryptocorynes are small/ medium plants that are taller than pygmy chain swords but shorter than H. rubra. They also come in a range of colours, mostly different shades of green, brown or purplish red. Crypts are not the easiest plant to grow but can do well if they are healthy to begin with and are not disturbed after planting in the tank.

Most Amazon sword plants can get pretty big and are usually kept in the middle of the tank as a show piece. There is an Ozelot sword plant that has brown spots on green leaves, and a red ruffle sword plant (name may vary depending on where you live) with deep red leaves.

There is a pygmy chain sword plant that is small and does well in the front of the tank.


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TRUE AQUATIC VS MARSH/ TERRESTRIAL PLANTS
Lots of plants are sold as aquarium plants and most are marsh plants that do really well when their roots are in water and the rest of the plant is above water. Some marsh plants will do well underwater too.

Hair grass is not a true aquatic plant, neither is Anubias.

Some common marsh plants include Amazon sword plants, Cryptocorynes, Hygrophila sp, Rotala sp, Ludwigia sp, Bacopa sp. These plant do reasonably well underwater.

True aquatic plants include Ambulia, Cabomba, Hornwort, Elodia, Hydrilla and Vallis.

The main difference between marsh plants and true aquatic plants is the stem. True aquatics have a soft flexible stem with air bubbles in it. These bubbles help the plant float and remain buoyant in the water column.

Marsh plants have a rigid stem and these plants can remain standing upright when removed from water. Whereas true aquatic plants will fall over/ collapse when removed from water.


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IRON BASED PLANT FERTILISER
If you add an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser, it will help most aquarium plants do well. The liquid iron based aquarium plant fertilisers tend to be better than the tablet forms, although you can push the tablets under the roots of plants and that works well.

You use an iron (Fe) test kit to monitor iron levels and keep them at 1mg/l (1ppm).

I used Sera Florena liquid plant fertiliser but there are other brands too.


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CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2)
There is no point adding carbon dioxide (CO2) until you have the lights and nutrients worked out. Even then you don't need CO2 unless the tank is full of plants and only has a few small fish in.

There is plenty of CO2 in the average aquarium and it is produced by the fish and filter bacteria all day, every day. The plants also release CO2 at night when it is dark. And more CO2 gets into the tank from the atmosphere.

Don't use liquid CO2 supplements because they are made from toxic substances that harm fish, shrimp and snails.

 

[Itsmekaybee]

This is fantastic help, thankyou so much. I'll get some floating plants, I tried to get duckweed but the aquarium had sold out, so I'll try again

The UV light is for the top herbs, but a bit seeps in at the back.. I'll get a dedicated aquarium light for the fish & aquatic plants too! I think that may have been a factor in them not thriving.

I'll keep doing larger water changes and will get plants in ASAP and hopefully that's enough to turn her around.

 

[GaryE]

It's an unfortunate thing, but I have had a lot of livebearer females who never recovered after dropping large broods over the years. Some just fade away.

A background on the tank would help a lot with stress. I use dark acrylic paint.
Everything eats small fish, and they have very hardwired instincts to stay close to cover or use their camouflage. A tank with open glass all around visually is part of the room, and the poor fish are always expecting birds or large fish to come roaring out from behind the TV. Darken the back and they will relax more, as small fish like to use the stream bank shallows for safety.
You'll notice they have better colours with cover.

 

[Oblio]

A tank with open glass all around visually is part of the room, and the poor fish are always expecting birds or large fish to come roaring out from behind the TV.