Water issue with my guppies

[shadow212]

Hi there
New to this site
I have recently picked back up my fish hobby i acquired a tank from a friend who was moving away the tank came with
1 red eye tetra
2 zebra danios
And i bought 4 albino corydoras because i love them!
I have had it for eight months and i thought of adding in some guppies for colour and because i thought they were hardy and also beautiful to look at.I have had no issues with my tank untill i added my guppies 3 have passed in as many weeks!I had 5 2 males and 3 females!I have always been consistent with my water changes i gauge temperature i a really good filter that hasnt caused any problems i rinse it out occasionally in between changing to a fresh one (in tank water and not on the same day as a water change) I have live plants and good aeration.I read they dont like too much movement or too much lighting so i adjusted these to help them adapt and less stressed!
I use seachem prime and stability with my water changes and i also have an ammonia alert badge!Is it true that guppies prefer 7-8 ph my water tests are sayin this….is it my PH thats killing them off or am i doing anythin else wrong all of my other 7 fish are all doing perfect
As I said im Still finding my way with this but im so guilt ridden they are beautiful so if i can save my last two please help and dont be mean for the sake of it

 

[OldFishKeeper]

Hi there
New to this site
I have recently picked back up my fish hobby i acquired a tank from a friend who was moving away the tank came with
1 red eye tetra
2 zebra danios
And i bought 4 albino corydoras because i love them!
I have had it for eight months and i thought of adding in some guppies for colour and because i thought they were hardy and also beautiful to look at.I have had no issues with my tank untill i added my guppies 3 have passed in as many weeks!I had 5 2 males and 3 females!I have always been consistent with my water changes i gauge temperature i a really good filter that hasnt caused any problems i rinse it out occasionally in between changing to a fresh one (in tank water and not on the same day as a water change) I have live plants and good aeration.I read they dont like too much movement or too much lighting so i adjusted these to help them adapt and less stressed!
I use seachem prime and stability with my water changes and i also have an ammonia alert badge!Is it true that guppies prefer 7-8 ph my water tests are sayin this….is it my PH thats killing them off or am i doing anythin else wrong all of my other 7 fish are all doing perfect
As I said im Still finding my way with this but im so guilt ridden they are beautiful so if i can save my last two please help and dont be mean for the sake of it

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You have no control over what these fish have been through before you purchased them. I had the same experience with guppies I recently purchased. They used to be the most robust fish you could own.

That apparently changed with the constant inbreeding they were subjected to. I spent a lot of time and money trying to treat the ones I had purchased before investigating and discovering they are no longer as resistant to disease they once were.

I have since decided that I will only buy natural fish that have not be subject to inbreeding and have a proven lineage.

 

[Back in the fold]

Dan Hodnett at Dan’s Fish looked into the guppy thing really hard with the help of an aquatic veterinarian and found out that when guppies are shipped that too many are in one bag and that the ammonia build up stresses them too much . He now ships guppies with less fish and more bags and that has eliminated the problem for the most part . I’d like to hear what @emeraldking has to say about this because I think guppies are still very hardy and tough if they’re taken care of right throughout the whole sales process .

 

[Colin_T]

Pictures of the fish so we can check them for diseases?
Post pictures of the dead fish too if you have any.

How long have you had the guppies for?
How long after you got them did they start dying?

What sort of filter is on/ in the aquarium?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

Have you added anything to treat the fish?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

 

[shadow212]

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You have no control over what these fish have been through before you purchased them. I had the same experience with guppies I recently purchased. They used to be the most robust fish you could own.

That apparently changed with the constant inbreeding they were subjected to. I spent a lot of time and money trying to treat the ones I had purchased before investigating and discovering they are no longer as resistant to disease they once were.

I have since decided that I will only buy natural fish that have not be subject to inbreeding and have a proven lineage.

Hi there
Thanks for your reply just woke up to check on em and both still swimming around with every one else in there…but thats how its been none of the fish seemed in distress not hanging out by the filter or heater gasping at the top or chilling out at the bottom too long.
They did come from a large pet shop here in Ireland and all in one bag.I didnt allow any of the shops water in my tank though…i added my tank water to the bag every 20 mins to help them adjust to my water before using my net to get them in!

 

[shadow212]

Pictures of the fish so we can check them for diseases?
Post pictures of the dead fish too if you have any.

How long have you had the guppies for?
How long after you got them did they start dying?

What sort of filter is on/ in the aquarium?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

Have you added anything to treat the fish?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Pictures of the fish so we can check them for diseases?
Post pictures of the dead fish too if you have any.

How long have you had the guppies for?
How long after you got them did they start dying?

What sort of filter is on/ in the aquarium?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

Have you added anything to treat the fish?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Hi there so i have included 2 pix of my last two surviving guppies i didnt take pix of the ones that passed i didnt think of it to be honest but they didnt look like they had or have any diseases but obviously theres something going wrong.I got the five guppies on 17 November and i think i have lost pretty much one a week till now where iv two left.
The filter i have is different to the one that would of come with the aquael leddy tank i have a pic there with its dimensions…the filter i have is an i100 Marina filter not sure why its different but its been workin perfect last 8 months as i said i took this tank from a friend originally
I clean the filter once a month washing it in the tank water changing the filter cartridge when i feel its had its time
I do a 20% water change weekly
And i syphon out the gravel every second wk or so if i see any excess food/ plant matter at the bottom i will do a quick syphon out or else use the net
I condition the new water going in beforehand with prime and stability
Sometimes in the passed if the waters looked a little cloudy iv used seachem clarity but have had no issues since adding the guppies with cloudiness so havnt needed to add that so no i havnt added anything to the water other then the reg conditioners iv always used!
Thanks
Any input into what i might be doing wrong appreciated

 

[shadow212]

Dan Hodnett at Dan’s Fish looked into the guppy thing really hard with the help of an aquatic veterinarian and found out that when guppies are shipped that too many are in one bag and that the ammonia build up stresses them too much . He now ships guppies with less fish and more bags and that has eliminated the problem for the most part . I’d like to hear what @emeraldking has to say about this because I think guppies are still very hardy and tough if they’re taken care of right throughout the whole sales process .

Hey there
Yeah all five guppies were in the same bag for bringin home i had to get the luas (tram) home about 30mins theres no petshop closer to me but i did introduce my own tank water into the bag every 20 mins for around an hour to help them aclimatise before then only adding the fish in with a net….i really need help are my water test readings off my orange guppy is hovering about an inch from the top of the water so i have given pellets and both are still eating ….im now on edge with every little movement they make ….I dont have a quarnetine tank but i just dont understand whats happening none of the guppies that passed gave me any reason to think anything was up no gasping at the top of the water or hanging out at the filter and none stayin too long at the bottom either so

Dan Hodnett at Dan’s Fish looked into the guppy thing really hard with the help of an aquatic veterinarian and found out that when guppies are shipped that too many are in one bag and that the ammonia build up stresses them too much . He now ships guppies with less fish and more bags and that has eliminated the problem for the most part . I’d like to hear what @emeraldking has to say about this because I think guppies are still very hardy and tough if they’re taken care of right throughout the whole sales process .

 

[Colin_T]

You're cleaning the filter and gravel fine. The only thing I would do is a bigger water change (50-75% each week, rather than 20%). Bigger water changes dilute things more effectively than small water changes. But the water changes aren't causing this.

If you get cloudy water, do a big (75%) water change to dilute it. The clarity treatment won't be causing the fish to die but it isn't necessary.

If the water is going milky cloudy, that is a bacterial bloom usually caused by uneaten food or a new filter. You aren't replacing filter media so that's good, and if you are getting milky cloudy water, then it's probably uneaten food.

If the water goes a green cloudy then it's algae caused by too much light and too many nutrients.

I'm not sure what the ammonia level is and you would need a separate liquid test kit for that. Or take a glass full of tank water to a pet shop and get them to test it for you. Ammonia can kill fish quickly but isn't normally a problem when the filter is established and you don't change the media/ materials. So I would say it's probably ok and not the issue. Ammonia would also kill other fishes, not just the new guppies.

--------------------

At this stage I would do a 50-75% water change and gravel clean each day for a week and monitor the fish. If anymore act unusual, (breath rapidly, gasp at the surface, stop eating, die, etc), get video and post more pics of them.

You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either end.

 

[emeraldking]

It seems that things are just fine the way you've handled it all. But one of the important things has already ben mentioned by @Back in the fold . When commercial bred guppies are leaving the fish farm (most of them from Asian fish farms), they're put in a high number per bag. But also when they leave a wholesaler, the number of fish in one bag is high. This can cause a high rate of ammonia. The longer they spend in there, the worse it gets for those guppies.
Another reason why those commercial bred guppies are weaker is because Asian fish farms use a lot of salt in the basins where those guppies swim in. And there's hardly a selection procedure till even none. Because the main concern to fish farms is that they can provide the wholesalers the right strain in a continuous way. Selecting on quality (also known as culling) will cost time and money. So, the quality (this means also the wellbeing of those guppies) of a good guppy strain gets lost.
Another things that is in play is that those guppies are raised in a very fast pace. They look like adults when provided to the wholesaler but in fact they're much younger. Because of the fast growing, those guppies become weaker and will run faster through their lifespan. Also high temperatures and big water changes while growing up will let them grow up faster. But again, their lifespan will become shorter because of this.

Commercial bred guppies from Israel, Czech Republic and Germany are of a better quality but still bred in mass and also without a culling procedure. So, also these have their health problems but not as bad as those from Asian fish farms.

I myself promote a slower growth pace to develop stronger specimens.

If I buy myself commercial bred guppies, I'll make sure that those fish will reproduce first as fast as possible so the newborns will be born in my own water. The newborns will become stronger than their parents.

 

[Back in the fold]

@emeraldking Very good information and exactly the way I heard it . I also like and agree with what you said about getting commercially bred fish to reproduce in your aquarium as fast as possible to get fry into your own water . That’s good advice .

 

[BarbsandGobies_expert]

Hi there
New to this site
I have recently picked back up my fish hobby i acquired a tank from a friend who was moving away the tank came with
1 red eye tetra
2 zebra danios
And i bought 4 albino corydoras because i love them!
I have had it for eight months and i thought of adding in some guppies for colour and because i thought they were hardy and also beautiful to look at.I have had no issues with my tank untill i added my guppies 3 have passed in as many weeks!I had 5 2 males and 3 females!I have always been consistent with my water changes i gauge temperature i a really good filter that hasnt caused any problems i rinse it out occasionally in between changing to a fresh one (in tank water and not on the same day as a water change) I have live plants and good aeration.I read they dont like too much movement or too much lighting so i adjusted these to help them adapt and less stressed!
I use seachem prime and stability with my water changes and i also have an ammonia alert badge!Is it true that guppies prefer 7-8 ph my water tests are sayin this….is it my PH thats killing them off or am i doing anythin else wrong all of my other 7 fish are all doing perfect
As I said im Still finding my way with this but im so guilt ridden they are beautiful so if i can save my last two please help and dont be mean for the sake of it

Hi, I wouldn't worry to much. You can do all you can do but guppies are not very hardy fish at all and it's really just luck in whether they settle in your tank. I would purchase some Ammonia digest just in case. If you like colorful fish I would suggest Barbs. They are very hardy and really nice to look at and are quite friendly (if you get the right ones) I would go for Rosey and cherry barbs not gold or tiger barbs as they can be quite aggressive.
Hope this helps.