dawnearly

My tank is FINALLY cycled. I have gone through all the ammonia spikes, and 1000's of water changes...ok maybe it just felt like 1000's !!! I have a 38 gal tank with 5 guppies, 2 dwarf gouramis, 4 neons, and one bristlenose. My readings are as follows...ammonia 0, pH 7.2-7.5, nitrites 0, nitrates 10. From all I have read that sounds like wonderful #'s. I lost 2 guppies last night, and my blue Gourami looks horrible this morning....he didn't come up for breakfast, and I see a weird orangest patch on him. A BIG orange patch. I don't know what to do...is the something that warants getting him out of my community tank?...and why did I lose those guppies? I did just get 4 guppies from my LFS Saturday, one of the 2 that died was one of the new ones. I dont' want any more fish to die !!! Any help would be great !!!! BTW the sick gourami hasn't moved from the bottom of the tank all morning HELP Thanks sooooo much

Isabella

Since your water parameters indeed are very good, it could be that the guppies you recently bought were already sick. It often happens that fish are already sick from the store. They could have infected all the other fish you have. The orange patch? That's strange. Does it look more like a sore or a hole in a fish's body?

dawnearly

I was just a abnormal colored patch...he didn't make it. I hope none of the other fish get sick. I put some aquarium salt in hoping to keep the rest well !!!

Isabella

Yes, perhaps that's the best thing you can do right now. Just do frequent partial water changes. As for the salt, you can add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water. If the fish are still sick, add appropriate amounts of salt with every water change. For example, say you have a 10 gallon tank in which there are 2 tablespoons of salt, and you change 5 gallons of water, so you add only 1 tbsp. of salt, not two. I know you already added salt, but just saying in case you were wondering

Another alternative is to use a "salt bath". Here is all about it: http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=1111.0
(Also read all the comments in this post to decide for yourself which salt treatment you prefer - adding salt to your tank, or a salt bath.)

Maida_gc

This is the second post in 2 weeks where someone with good readings noticed a problem after adding guppies. Just a post incase there is a link between the two. Anyone else ever had problems with additions of Guppies into their tank? Two coincedences you think? Be extra careful just incase when purchasing them, ensure it's a clean healthy tank. Best of luck Dawn