tricky_tink

well I went to the LFS and talking to the lady there she convinced me that my 1-1 ration of guppies 2 males, 2 females was all wrong and I needed 5 more females to more even it up. So I got them and they looked great at the store. I acclimated them to my main tank cause my 10 gallon was otherwise occupied by my Betta and my 2.5 gallon had fry in it. Next Morning !!cotton mouth!! on 3 of the 5 new guppies. I quarintined the sickies to a specimine container. I did a 33% change and I put the fry back in the main tank and treated it with melefix and maracyn plus. I put the sickies in the 2.5 gallon and treated it too. The cotton like growth fell off within a few hours but still not eating. Main tank everyone looked ok the last 2 new guppies had lost some color especially in their fins but they were eating and no cotton mouth or cotton like growth anywhere else so I left them in the main. That night 1 of the quarintine died, next morning the rest died. Main tank still looks ok. I did a water check and everything is o.k but the the Nitrate lvl is a little high between 10-20ppm<---color was closer to 10 but to error on the side of safety I'd call it 15ppm. I was thinking of adding some more prime to the tank in lue of another water change cause then I would loose the meds and have to add more. Or is 10-20 o.k? I also bought some live plants for the fry to hide out in and put a panyhose foot over the intake. Feeding lots of small feeding since the fry are in there now about 4-6 times a day. Just a few flakes, few dried bloodworms and 1 alge waffer the size of my pinky nail, then one frozen blood worm at night given directly to my butterfly fish and elephant nose and first bites for the fry.

Does everything I'm doing sound ok to you guys? Should I be doing more or less? I know the fry would be better off in their own tank but at this point I'm done trying to catch microscopic fry in my 45 gallon hex not easy! Besides their are 3 more pregnant ones and they will be dropping soon too and I just don't need a million Guppies so it'll be survival of the smartest. Some are dumb they sit in front of bigger fish mouths some are smart and hide behind plants, heater and filter tube, those are the ones I want breeding later in life.
Thanks in advance!

COBettaCouple

If you're not treating the water with Prime, get some Prime to treat it with. The Nitrate levels aren't too bad, but the Prime would help protect the fish from it's effects, if any, and you wouldn't lose the meds.

tricky_tink

The tank is treated with prime at every water change last one was last night. I waited to test till this morning to get a more accurate reading. So after a 33% change and the added Prime, fish protector and vita-chem<-----I do all those once a week at my 33% change in the new water. Last night I also added the Melefix and Maracyn Plus to the entire tank and removed the little carbon I had and stuffed in filter floss. Should I add more Prime? or no?

COBettaCouple

I wouldn't add more Prime since the water's already been treated with the Prime.

tricky_tink

K... Thanks Co Betta! I'll just keep an eye on it and maybe add another plant to use some of it up.