Struggling New Guppies

[nitrogen15]

Got a pair of female guppies to start my new tank. I'm doing a fish-in cycle with mature media added to a new filter (sponge pieces and filter squeeze). I'm doing daily water changes. The guppies seemed extremely stressed and were piping at the surface quite often within a few minutes of putting them in. Their colour is good and they have high energy but no interest in food yet. Now it's the end of day 2 and they're both sleeping pretty hard at the bottom of the tank. Is this likely to be stress or a water chem issue? Not quite sure what my ammonia levels are, because unfortunately my water conditioner (Prime) gives false positives with my test kit. That caused me to initially panic and do multiple 95% water changes both days, until I realized the value wasn't changing and matched the value from my freshly treated tapwater. I used to use Tetra kits and didn't get this darn problem. Should I keep it up with the 95% changes as a precaution until I can get better kits? Also, any suggestions of ammonia tests that don't react with Prime, or should I get a water conditioner that doesn't de-ammonize?

Tank info:
Occupants: 2 female guppies
Size: 10 gallons/38 liters
Ammonia: unsure, see above
Nitrites: 0
gH: 12
pH: 7.5
Temp: 80F/27C

 

[nitrogen15]

They both ate today and explored the tank more. Maybe they're just taking awhile to get settled. I also got some Nutrafin water conditioner that doesn't react with my test kit. This means I can start monitoring ammonia tomorrow.

 

[willowstwin]

my male guppies did the same. They stayed right at the surface for 2-3 days until they started fully exploring the tank. If they have eaten and are now exploring, I wouldn't worry

 

[nitrogen15]

Thanks for the reassurance I also verified that ammonia is 0ppm today

Anywho, I think I've figured out the cause of stress. I'm pretty sure my LPS was keeping them at room temperature

All of this freaking out and breathing at the top could have been heat shock, and now I feel silly for not asking the LPS. Thankfully, my guppies seem to be adjusting alright.

 

[nitrogen15]

The surface breathing behavior increased again after I backed off on water changes. It's the two adult females breathing at the surface. The single stow-away fry that came with them seems just fine. Ammonia = 0, nitrites = 0 as usual. I also saw them rubbing on plants today. I see no signs of ich. They're all still eating, and not clamping their fins or acting sluggish. However, the air-breathing seems to be affecting their swim bladders already, as they seem to sink quickly and swim at an upward angle.

Here's a short video. Maybe that'll help.