midnightwolf

today i got my first fish for my 55g it has been cycling for a week and i got my water tested at a good petco and it was ready so i got 5 fancy guppies, 3 males and 2 females. i think one of the females is pregnent but im not sure. i can post some pics of her to see if that would help. oh yea my question was is it normal for new fish to stay in the top courner of a tank.?

well thanks for all your help.

Shawnie

Hi midnightwolf
how did you cycle your tank after the week? because unless you use established filter media, or tetra safestart, its not cycled....pet stores will tell you it is to sell you fish.....so getting your own test kit will let you know for sure....an empty tank running will not do it

your guppies should be a 1male to 2-3 females to stop harrasement or nipping...so maybe returning the fish if the tanks not cycled, then buying more females to male ratio will be better once it is cycled...

fishlover78

hi midnitghwolf, how did you cycle so quickly? cycled media or safestart? did you ask for the exact cold numders of the parameters, I am afraid the money hungry people strike again! please make me wrond midnight wolf!

fishlips

Welcome to Fishlore. Guppies breed constantly, so its always a good idea to have more females than males. Otherwise, the 3 males will eventually breed the 2 females to death.
A pregnant female will have a small dark area in her stomach in the beginning, and as the fry grow inside of her, she will begin to bulge.
I had swordtails years ago, and in the late stages of their pregnancies, you could actually see the little fry inside of her.
Best of Luck

midnightwolf

i do have my own testkit but its the strip kind and i wasnt sure if it was accurate so i went to the petstore and nitrate, nitrite and ammonia were at 0 i am kind of suspicious because i didnt think it could cycle that quickley but i guess i let my impatiance get the better of me... again, LOL not my strongest point. i cant get one of those master kits though because i dont have enough money and im already saving up for a bigger tank for buddy. the reason i didnt get more females is because the others were in poorer health and the males were soo beutiful i couldnt decie on just 1 or 2.

do you have any suggestions for me to get my fish through that dosnt include getting rid of them?

Dozey

As your nitrates are zero that indicates your tank is not cycled. 50% daily water changes will be required for some time to come. You will need to treat fresh water with a product that will detoxify the ammonia in the water but not remove it such as "Prime".

Minnow

Stress Coat+ is another water conditioner that will detoxify ammonia for 24 hours.

Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be to cycle a tank with fish.

Lucy

It would be a good idea to read up on the nitrogen cycle.
It'll give you good information on what's going to be taking place in your tank.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
As Dozey said, as soon as you see any trace of ammonia, start with daily water changes.

midnightwolf

i will never trust the people at petco again.

so i should make 50% water changes everyday and use stresscoat+ ?

fishlover78

don't! I advise you.

jdhef

Yes, for the safety of your fish, that is what you need to do. Or you could return the fish to PetCo and cycle without fish, which would be much less work.

If you choose to keep the fish and do water changes, a Python might be a good investment. (A Python is a gravel vacumm with a real long hose that hooks up to your faucet. You empty and fill the tank by turning your faucet on, so you do not need to lug around buckets.)

fishlover78

there are also cheaper versions, like the aqueon water canger and the lee's ultimate gravel vac, don't buy it at petco they're a rip off there I suggest ording it online at: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...10&pcatid=3910

midnightwolf

i dont want to return my fish because io just love them but im afraid i wont have time after school because of home work. would 2 times a week work?

Dozey

Unfortunately two times a week will not work. Every day your fish will be exposed to deadly toxins that have to be removed from the tank on a daily basis. Also, Prime and Stress Coat + only work for approximately 24 hours.

Daily water changes will be very important for your fish’s health.

midnightwolf

ok i will see what i can do butit will be hard untill i get a gravel vac.

tinah

I use a piece of medical tubing and a bucket.

midnightwolf

if you have more info for me let me know.

midnightwolf

one of my fish died today

but a day before i had relized that he didnt look too good and was like thet when i brought him home so i dont think i killed him. the others look great and im almost posative that my female is pregnant

i have decided that i am never going to buy fish from petco again. whan i went in today to get my money back almost all the female guppies were extreamly pregnant and couldnt even stay up right, infact i dont think thy were pregnant i think they might of been bloated or somthing and they had a messed up and curved spine.

there were also some dead fish in the tank and when i told an imployie she said that it happned and didnt take ot the dead ones she also said all the tanks share the same filter and that its hard to stop a desiese but they dont even try

im going to find a new petstore to go to.

JESS01

That is COMPLETELY awful!Oh, If you need a new petstore try Petsmart. got my first 4 zebra danios(Eeny, Meeny, Miney + Moe) there. They're just delights.