Help With My Guppies!

I had four guppies in my tank and only had them for 2 weeks. This morning I noticed my brightest one with the prettiest tail was sitting on the bottom of the tank hardly moving (apart from his 'breathing'). He is usually very active and darts around a lot so this was unusual. Then I started to see when I put their food in he really struggled to swim up any further than 3cm from the bottom and then sinks down. His tail was drooping down a lot. I got my water tested and it had 1ppm ammonia so I bought some Quick Start and replaced some water in the tank with the new liquids. Within 1 hour, my poor guppy was dead on the bottom of the tank. I am so upset as I have no idea what I have done wrong here as I am very worried about my other guppies and I am a beginner to fish altogether. Tonight, 2 of my other guppies have been hiding ALOT and sitting on the bottom of the tank almost like the other one. They seem to have lost their colour and weren't swimming as much. Although now when the healthy fish comes up to them, they will nip at each other and seem as if they are fighting?!

Anyone please help, I don't want to lose any more

 

Based on your profile saying you do not know about the nitrogen cycle, my assumption is ammonia poisoning and stress related to a cycling tank. When tanks are brand new they do not have enough beneficial bacterial to help break down the fish poo (well that's the long story short version LOL). Most fish will struggle to survive this.

The quick start can help, I would do 50% water changes daily (water only don't clean the gravel or filter) to help the fish survive it. I'd keep using the quick start as well. Can you get any filter media from an established tank by chance? Like do you have any family or friends with tanks?

 

Based on your profile saying you do not know about the nitrogen cycle, my assumption is ammonia poisoning and stress related to a cycling tank. When tanks are brand new they do not have enough beneficial bacterial to help break down the fish poo (well that's the long story short version LOL). Most fish will struggle to survive this.

The quick start can help, I would do 50% water changes daily (water only don't clean the gravel or filter) to help the fish survive it. I'd keep using the quick start as well. Can you get any filter media from an established tank by chance? Like do you have any family or friends with tanks?

I don't have any friends or family that I know of with tanks Its really upsetting and I feel like I never got told enough information to keep this all from happening.

I have 2 males who are now following each other and nipping each other???

 

I don't have any friends or family that I know of with tanks Its really upsetting and I feel like I never got told enough information to keep this all from happening.

I have 2 males who are now following each other and nipping each other???

It isn't uncommon for fish to fight and bicker a bit when they're stressed. What size is this tank?

 

20L

 

Unfortunately that tank size is much too small for guppies. Too small of a tank will also cause aggression between fish.

 

You say you never got the correct information. This really annoys me too. When I started fish keeping both my local stores sold me incompatible fish or fish that weren't suitable for the tank I just bought from them. I bought 3 make dwarf blue gouramies and no one said anything about the fact you can't keep more than one in a tank. You Must ask when you buy fish whether or not they are suitable for your needs and if a store doesn't give good advice shop elsewhere.

 

There is a lot to help you moving forward here, but done is done. Hopefully adding some BB will help. Best advise I ever got, don’t buy fish at a chain. Look for a local store that specializes in fish. My LFS (Local Fish Store) took the packaged tank I purchased and helped me lay everything out. It cost about 10% more but was so worth it.