Scribbles

One of my guppies seams to be dying
he was fine 4 hours before i found him lying on the bottom
the other guppy seems fine,he swims near the top of the tank with the filter on, but goes all over the place with the filter off

its a new tank, 10 gallons with a fluval 3 plus which turns it into a bit of a whirlpool
total ammonia is about 0.2ppm
nitrate is 2
temperature is at 79f
got them yesterday 22 hours
fed them once while they were acclimatizing 18 hours ago however the not sick-gruppy only took a nip of the food this morning
did i do something wrong?

I would greatly appreciate some advice.
thanks

Lucy

Hi Scribbles welcome to Fish Lore

I'm really sorry your fish aren't feeling well. Guppys are so pretty. I hope to have some one day.

Since they're new it's possible your fish were ill when you got them.

It's also possible your fish are feeling the effects of a cycling tank. Any amount of ammonia can make your fish ill especially since they're probably stressed from the move.
How often are you changing the water? What is your nitrite reading and what are you using to test the water?
What water conditioner are you using?

Since you have ammonia readings, I'd go ahead and do a 50% water change.

I'm sorry for all the questions, the answers will help the members help you.

Good luck.

Scribbles

I did a 33% water change just before i got the fish, i havnt established a pattern of water changes since im planning to base that on the test results

im testing nitrates and ammonia with the hagen kits, i didnt buy a kit for nitrites or pH
As for water conditioners, im using aqua plus and prime

Lucy

It would be good to have a nitrite test too. Prime will help detoxify the ammonia but I suspect your in mid cycle (since you have nitrate readings)
Nitrites are also toxic to your fish.
How long has the tank been set up?
How many and what kind of fish are in there?

If would be a good idea to do daily changes until your readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates between 5-10.

Scribbles

I set the tank up on tuesday with a piece of scallop muscle, ammonia levels peaked 3 days later at 0.8ppm, and added Big Al's Multi-Purpose Bio-Support on friday.
the 2 guppies are the only fish in there

Thanks for you advice, i got my sister to add some prime until i can get home to do a water change

Lucy

Your welcome.

I've never heard of Big Al's Multi-Purpose Bio-Support so I can't tell you whether or not it actually cycles a tank or really advise you what to do next regarding it.

Maybe someone who has had experience with it will see this and weigh in.

Otherwise, as long as there's ammonia or nitrites water changes are in order until the tank finishes the cycle.

Good luck

timmafee

i got a pretty yellow male from a store and it died 2 days later, seemed fine 1 minute, dead the next.

all my params are perfect

wierd, he was sick from the store i think

Tazmiche

here in the uk i have had a bad time with guppy deaths! However i have just learnt that one supplier is breeding in brackish water...adding salt
we buy them for fresh water tanks and thy die!! SO then we buy more etc!!! Money for the supplier!!!!

I am sooooo glad i found this very small store that REALLY cares!!! It was them that told me!!! You should see their bettas!!! Stunning, in tanks with peaceful fish!!

Back to the point maybe it is something similar!!! We can only trust the breeders etc!!