I'm Very Discouraged By My Serpae Tetras. - Page 2

[mattgirl]

It looks like a female to me but I am not an expert on sexing live bearers (or any other fish for that matter). It has been a very long time sense I have kept live bearers. if I remember correctly if the anal fin is more pointy its a female, if its more rounded its a male (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

I am thinking you have that backwards. The male has the pointed fin and the female has the rounded one. Fortunately my molly fry all have the pointed fin thus no more babies once mom was gone.

 

[86 ssinit]

Welcome to fishlore Katie. Just saw this thread and your doing a great job. Welcome to the perils of fish keeping . What your doing is a fish in cycle. With the apI test kit just keep checking the water and Change water if you read ammonia. As Islandia said use. Your tap water and treat with prime. Your tap ph is fine. More than likely your pet stores are using the same water. Yes the bottled bacteria does work but most use it when doing a fishless cycle. For that type of cycling it does quicken it up. But being your doing the fish in you didn’t need it (won’t hurt). It’s great that your using the 10 gallon as a qt tank. Allways good to leave fish in there for about a month before adding to the main tank. Keeps the main tank healthy. Most problems will come from the pet store. Water changes are the best thing for a healthy tank. So please change water weekly. I do 50% weekly. Again welcome and enjoy the hobby.

 

[Katie52842]

Ahh, I’m sorry. With the new update I can’t see any photos. I’m trying to figure out how to fix it and then I can help sex it

Here. I've re-uploaded. I'm thinking the lower fin looks pointy. Which should mean male, right?

But if sheit's male, why the bloating in the belly region? Is sheit sick? The fish seems normal otherwise, active at feeding time, a quick swimmer... I don't see sheit doing the sort of bend-and-wiggle that the others do (often directed at sheit, but not always. Courting behaviour? Dominance display? All of the above?) and sheit does seem to be more interested in hanging out by the filter than the others are.

 

[Katie52842]

Welcome to fishlore, Katie. Just saw this thread and you're doing a great job.

Thank you.

With the apI test kit just keep checking the water and Change water if you read ammonia.

Absolute zero (not even a green tinge) for the past three days, even after I took the charcoal out of the filters again. I think we're good. Nitrite is a beautiful blue (as it should be) and nitrate is about 5 ppm. Anyone know optimum nitrate concentration for plants?

Your tap ph is fine. More than likely your pet stores are using the same water.

I seriously doubt it, as they're more than twenty miles away. Nah, I called and asked about their water parameters. Theirs are between 6.8-7.0, and their water is quite a bit harder than mine. (moderately hard, rather than ridiculously soft.)

It’s great that your using the 10 gallon as a qt tank. Always good to leave fish in there for about a month before adding to the main tank.

I'll do that in future. I expect I should keep a piece of sponge or something in one of my working filters so I can immediately re-start the cycle in the smaller tank when I need it. Currently, the tetras are in again, with four more (I got them Friday. Asked the pet store to hold them for me without adding them to their disease-ridden tank. So far everyone's still alive. The pet store, on the other hand, was down to one of their original tetras. Assuming they didn't sell twenty-some tetras in a week (highly unlikely, considering the looks of the fish, and the local demand) I'm saying that the issue was definitely with their fish.)

 

[aussieJJDude]

Here. I've re-uploaded. I'm thinking the lower fin looks pointy. Which should mean male, right?

But if sheit's male, why the bloating in the belly region? Is sheit sick? The fish seems normal otherwise, active at feeding time, a quick swimmer... I don't see sheit doing the sort of bend-and-wiggle that the others do (often directed at sheit, but not always. Courting behaviour? Dominance display? All of the above?) and sheit does seem to be more interested in hanging out by the filter than the others are.

It's a male.... if he enjoys eating, it may be due to eating too much. Otherwise, its something to worth keeping an eye on.


How long have you had said guppy? What's it poo like?

 

[Katie52842]

How long have you had said guppy? What's it poo like?

Two weeks. His poop is occasionally stringy (and hanging from him), but usually just like the other guppies' is. It has been stringy about four times that I've seen. They've also occasionally had stringy poop. I did enforce a one-day fast on them when I noticed I was giving them too much at the beginning.

 

[Giul]

It's a male.... if he enjoys eating, it may be due to eating too much. Otherwise, its something to worth keeping an eye on.


How long have you had said guppy? What's it poo like?

Agreed, it’s a fat male