guppies keep dying???

msemanuel

I have a 10 gal. fresh tank with guppies. started 2 months ago with 5, 2m 3 f. they all died within 2-3 weeks. got 6 a week ago, 2m and 4f. since yesterday 2 f have died and 1 is close. the other female has red around gills. I cant see anything else wrong. they seem to stay at the top of tank just before they die. temp is at 76. only feed once a day. I did find one baby guppy yesterday morning, have him separated but still in same tank.

ph 8.4
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
kh 11
nitrates 20
gh 20+

Just use water out of the tap with dechlor. do water changes every 2 weeks. I don't know what to do, please help.

thewebpop

Wow, sorry you are having so much trouble. I at first would think a water problem, but you mentioned "Red Gills" which I believe can be a virus/infection that is treatable. Maybe someone with info will jump in and let us know which way you should go with this problem. Good Luck, Later, Pop's

Jay

Just the obvious questions

Was the tank cycled?
What is the substrate, do you have decorations.
What chemical additives have you used.

What is the pH out of the tap?

Red Gills and Hanging at the top may be an indication of water quality issues or lack of O2.



Jay

Loman

msemanuel,
I am curious, do you have any other fish in the tank that are apparently doing okay or are the guppies the only fish involved?

msemanuel

yes the tank is cycled. the substrate is gravel bought from the fish store. decorations are plastic plants. the only chemicals we use is chlor out by wardly and methyblu for a stress coat. the methyblu is used sparingly. once a month if that. the ph out of the tap is 8.6 to 8.8. we run a bubbler for o2. i have thought of water quality everything is fine except the ph is on the high side. the research we have done on guppies indcate that guppies can handle a ph up to 9 so we're at a lost on this. the guppies are the only fish in this tank. any ideas? thank you

Loman

Your tank conditions are not far from what I normally run (although I must admit I do not have very good luck with Guppies). I just lost 3 of them to some fungus thing which did not seem to effect any of the other fish. Is it possible to try some other species and see how that goes?

I am not familiar with methyl blue what all is in that? Is it designed to help the slime coat etc. or is it an antibiotic?

msemanuel

we have talked about getting other live bearers if this batch doesn't survive. methyl blu is the chemical it helps with the slime coat. and a stress reducer.at a lower dosage to the recommended dosage. the package says for treatment of fungus and bacterial infections. never had to use it for this though at full strength. i have used it for years. with great success. i trust it over alot of the other brands of slime coats. it is produced by aquatrol, inc.

Tommy Gun

I just read a bit about guppies and other livebearers and thought I would let you know about it. The article I read mentioned that guppies, once known as super tough fish that could basically survive anything, have been so over bred and inbred that they can be very fragile if you get a bad batch. So, it could be possible that you are buying the guppies from a store who is supplied by a source that is over bred.

My first inkling, assuming that your water conditions were as good as you mentioned, was a lack of oxygen. Keep in mind that using airstones or 'bubblers' do not actually put the oxygen in water like one might think. Gas exchanges (CO2 and O2) are mainly going to occur at the water surface. The airstones do help create water agitation which can improve gas exchange. Is your tank covered tightly by a glass top or an air tight lid of some sort? If this is the case, you may want to take it off or open some parts of it to help make more contact between your water and the air.

One more question, what type of water tests are you using? It may be possible that if you are using test strips, you could be getting a wrong reading since they are so easily spoiled. I would strongly suggest using the liquid tests with test tubes. They are initially more expensive, but do not spoil as easily and you can most likely get more tests from one kit than you can from a bottle of test strips.

It may be a good idea to plop a molly or platty into your tank to see if it can survive better than the guppies. This would help narrow down the possible causes since if the molly/platty can survive, maybe it is the strain of guppies you are purchasing. If the new fish succumbs to death in the same manner as the guppies, you will know the problem lies in another area not related to the fish themselves.

To me, it definately sounds like ammonia poisoning or lack of O2. I kept many guppies, mollies, and platties in the past and my fish did MUCH better when I took off the glass tops.

msemanuel

i keep a water fall going from the hob filter. the back of the hood is missing do to the filter and heater. i use the liquid test kits so i am sure the reading is close to being on. as you can get from these. i had the same idea about the o2 and amonia levels but the tests say differant.
i did not know about the over breeding of guppies. since the only fish store for 60 miles is one of those big chain stores. it is very possible that the two batches have bought from them may have been over bred. this tank is my wifes tank she wants the educational side of live beares. if it was up to me i wouldnt bother. but hey she lets me have my salt tank .so theres a little give and a whole lot of take.

Loman

So maybe you should give her a pair of Mollies

But the real reason for my post was this. I had not read about the breeding problems but that makes a lot of sense. I have noticed that feeder guppies do not seem to be as fragile as fancy guppies. That would certainly support the potential breeding issues.