Male guppies keep dying.

Alright. I have a couple tanks, and my 10 gallon is a guppy tank. My tanks are all perfect when it comes to water parameters. The water is at 78°F. I have 6 guppy fry in a breeding net and they're fine. I also have 3 females that I've had for a month. I recently bought another male guppy since the first one I had died. I had gotten that one the same exact time as the females. The same store and the same tank. That old male stayed in one spot in the tank, by the surface, facing a current and away from the glass. He lasted a few days until he was weak and got his tail sucked into my filter intake. I was actually watching the females when this happened, so I was able to shut the filter down quickly. Anyways, he died. Same story with the new male guppy. He was swimming in one spot, then he got pulled into the intake. Here's where it's different. I had a sponge over my intake, and that should've reduced the pull greatly. He still got his body stuck flat against the sponge intake. I caught it within 30 seconds of it occurring. I put him in an empty tank I had. The tank is a 2.5 gallon. I used the aquarium water from the 10 gallon, so there was no difference. I even placed a heater and had it set to the same temperature. Everything was normal. I even had an old 1-3 gallon tetra canister filter that I hooked up to my air pump. It was exactly like the 10 gallon. He still died.
Now recently, 2 weeks ago, I got 2 males and another female. One male got stuck in a plastic plant, he probably died and drifted there. The other male just died today for no reason. He looked fine, was even eating fine. The female guppy? She's fine, just like all of the other 3 guppies. So now I have a tank of all female guppies and fry. The tank parameters are perfect

 

I had a similar experience although I have a 2.5 gallon with 2 guppies (I know I am overstocked). I originally got 2 males a yellow one and an orange one. The yellow one was like your females, active and healthy. My orange one had very similar symptoms as your males. I ended up having to euthanize him because he wasn't getting better (I still don't know what he was afflicted with). After reading this I'm convinced he would of died anyway.

After reading online and this whole thing I figured that guppies aren't as hardy as they used to be. When I went back to Petco to buy another fish I noticed that there was no orange guppies left in that tank (There was a good amount so some had to be bought, but some had to be in quarantine or no longer alive.) only the yellow ones were left. I bought my second guppy from the other guppy tank they had. This guppy is doing fine (besides the mistaken gender (female in male tank)). My advice would be to go to another store and buy more males. I figured you are doing this but won't hurt to add that make sure you are choosing a fish from the main active group and not hiding away. In my experience those fish seem healthier and might have better luck.

Hope that helps, and hope someone else comes along and gives a better answer. This is just my limited experience.

 

I had a similar experience although I have a 2.5 gallon with 2 guppies (I know I am overstocked). I originally got 2 males a yellow one and an orange one. The yellow one was like your females, active and healthy. My orange one had very similar symptoms as your males. I ended up having to euthanize him because he wasn't getting better (I still don't know what he was afflicted with). After reading this I'm convinced he would of died anyway.

After reading online and this whole thing I figured that guppies aren't as hardy as they used to be. When I went back to Petco to buy another fish I noticed that there was no orange guppies left in that tank (There was a good amount so some had to be bought, but some had to be in quarantine or no longer alive.) only the yellow ones were left. I bought my second guppy from the other guppy tank they had. This guppy is doing fine (besides the mistaken gender (female in male tank)). My advice would be to go to another store and buy more males. I figured you are doing this but won't hurt to add that make sure you are choosing a fish from the main active group and not hiding away. In my experience those fish seem healthier and might have better luck.

Hope that helps, and hope someone else comes along and gives a better answer. This is just my limited experience.

I bought from two different stores. Petco and my LFS. All the males from each died. I'll try again in a few weeks when my plants get fuller. Maybe that's the reason, stress. And okay, I'll choose from the active fish, but I tend to go for the prettiest, whoops.

 

That's a good plan. Yeah I like my orange one a lot as his head colorings reminded me of trout or salmon. He wasn't in the main group. My two guppies were in the main group and they were fine. Hopefully you have better luck.

 

Hello, welcome to fishlore

When you say your parameters are perfect would you be more specific?
What is your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates of both tank and tap? What test kit are you using?

What water conditioner do you use?
How long has this tank been running?

Most importantly, what is the GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) of your tank?

Have you tested the pet store water parameters in the bag before putting the fish into the tank to see if they're different?

 

If the fry are OK the water is fine.

Maybe the males fought a bit? I think you need 2-3 feamles per male.

 

If the fry are OK the water is fine.

Maybe the males fought a bit? I think you need 2-3 feamles per male.

This would still be guessing, you can't assume water is fine, its best to always check water parameters when anything is off in a tank.

You can do an all male tank or an all female tank but if you combine them then yeah, 2 or 3 females per male.

P.S. Welcome to Fishlore !

 

This would still be guessing, you can't assume water is fine, its best to always check water parameters when anything is off in a tank.

Water quality doesn't magically affect some fish and not others. Fry are many times more susceptible to bad water quality as well. No matter what the question is or how little it makes sense someone demands to know the stats anyway.

You can do an all male tank or an all female tank but if you combine them then yeah, 2 or 3 females per male.

Well, he had three males and 3 females, so I imagine that's the problem. I think this basic thread idea has been repeated 5000 times here. Guppy male suddenly has short tale and is sucked into filter I wonder what happened.

When there is pregancy, eggs or fry running around then it's also a bad time to add in new fish. They become many times more territorial.

 

I've only had one fry die from some sort of disease with white spots. It couldn't have been ich.
And I've gotten more fish. I bought 2 feeder male guppies and 1 female. The males are alive currently but I had to separate them due to one nipping the others fins. Now I have 5 females and 2 males in one tank. Let's see how it goes. That other male is in a breeder net for now btw.

Hello, welcome to fishlore

When you say your parameters are perfect would you be more specific?
What is your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates of both tank and tap? What test kit are you using?

What water conditioner do you use?
How long has this tank been running?

Most importantly, what is the GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) of your tank?

Have you tested the pet store water parameters in the bag before putting the fish into the tank to see if they're different?

I tested the pet store water and it's terrible so I have to slowly drip acclimate all of my fish over a few hours to avoid shock

 

Water quality doesn't magically affect some fish and not others. Fry are many times more susceptible to bad water quality as well. No matter what the question is or how little it makes sense someone demands to know the stats anyway.
.

You are still stabbing in the dark without knowing the parameters of someone's water. Just because all of the fish are not showing symptoms does not mean all is fine with the water parameters. There is no "demanding" of anyone. Too often, there usually are issues with the water as well and these cannot be addressed if you just assume all is ok.
This is why we tell people to fill out their profile. I have been on other forums where they won't even help you until you post these. We are not like that here but it still is information needed to know.

I've only had one fry die from some sort of disease with white spots. It couldn't have been ich.
And I've gotten more fish. I bought 2 feeder male guppies and 1 female. The males are alive currently but I had to separate them due to one nipping the others fins. Now I have 5 females and 2 males in one tank. Let's see how it goes. That other male is in a breeder net for now btw.

The 2 to 5 ratio should be fine. Do you want fry? If not, I'd return them and just go with all females though.......they often are already pregnant when you bring them home though at some time that will stop (within a year).

 

The 2 to 5 ratio should be fine. Do you want fry? If not, I'd return them and just go with all females though.......they often are already pregnant when you bring them home though at some time that will stop (within a year).

I think I should go with just females. I don't need fry, not like I'm gonna start selling them or start my own little strand of guppies. If I do then yea, I'll buy a pregnant one xD

 

The last female I brought home actually had about 8 fry in the carry home bag! I went to acclimate her and thought, wait, what, where did all those little fry come from? ha ha
She didn't even look pregnant.

I keep raising them until they're about 4 months old and then give them to my local pet store (not a chain, they won't take them).

 

They'd probably put mine in a feeder guppy tank

 

Hi
I started a new tank with just two female and one male guppy. After about three or four days the male died and so I went to the shop and bought another one, which then died a day later. Since then when I went back to the shop they were out of guppies so I got a catfish, some barbs and rummy nosed tetras and a betta. The Catfish died but all the other fish have survived including the original female guppies. Last week I went to another shop and as they only had male guppies so I just bought one. A week later this one died too. Are the females killing the males? If I had more females would this make it easier for the males?

 

Hi
I started a new tank with just two female and one male guppy. After about three or four days the male died and so I went to the shop and bought another one, which then died a day later. Since then when I went back to the shop they were out of guppies so I got a catfish, some barbs and rummy nosed tetras and a betta. The Catfish died but all the other fish have survived including the original female guppies. Last week I went to another shop and as they only had male guppies so I just bought one. A week later this one died too. Are the females killing the males? If I had more females would this make it easier for the males?

It's likely that your tank isn't cycled. Because certain strains are more popular for guppies they are often over bred or inbred leading to weaker lines in some cases which would make them more sensitive. The important thing to do right now is: check the parameters of your tank and make sure to do water changes daily or every other day until the tank is cycled. Cycling a tank is (in simplified terms) setting up a tank and adding an ammonia source so that beneficial bacteria can grow and feed on/convert uneaten fish food and fish waste into nitrites and nitrates which are safer for fish, and the water changes keep these numbers down (since the higher the readings the more dangerous it is for your fish). Until your tank is cycled and beneficial bacteria has grown your fish will be at risk. Also, that's alot of different fish in there right now. What size is the aquarium?

 

Have you tested your water parameters: water hardness GH, alkalinity KH, pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

Ammonia and nitrite levels should never be above zero in a properly cycled tank.

Nitrate levels are an indicator of water quality. Water changes will keep that under control.

Are you using a water conditioner when adding water to neutralize chlorine in tap water?

Different types of fish tend to do better in specific water conditions. For example, tetras usually do better in softer, lower pH water. Guppies tend to do better in somewhat harder, higher pH water. However, both can be kept successfully in slightly hard, neutral pH water.

To help the community diagnose your problem, please fill out the Emergency Template

Aquatic Emergency Template | Freshwater Fish Disease and Fish Health Forum | 376562

That will provide the details we need to properly diagnose the issues in your aquarium.

 

It's likely that your tank isn't cycled. Because certain strains are more popular for guppies they are often over bred or inbred leading to weaker lines in some cases which would make them more sensitive. The important thing to do right now is: check the parameters of your tank and make sure to do water changes daily or every other day until the tank is cycled. Cycling a tank is (in simplified terms) setting up a tank and adding an ammonia source so that beneficial bacteria can grow and feed on/convert uneaten fish food and fish waste into nitrites and nitrates which are safer for fish, and the water changes keep these numbers down (since the higher the readings the more dangerous it is for your fish). Until your tank is cycled and beneficial bacteria has grown your fish will be at risk. Also, that's alot of different fish in there right now. What size is the aquarium?

Hi Candace
The tank is 60 Litres. I have had it since January, it was set up for about a month before I put any fish in it. Every week I change about 10 litres.
Hi

Have you tested your water parameters: water hardness GH, alkalinity KH, pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

Ammonia and nitrite levels should never be above zero in a properly cycled tank.

Nitrate levels are an indicator of water quality. Water changes will keep that under control.

Are you using a water conditioner when adding water to neutralize chlorine in tap water?

Different types of fish tend to do better in specific water conditions. For example, tetras usually do better in softer, lower pH water. Guppies tend to do better in somewhat harder, higher pH water. However, both can be kept successfully in slightly hard, neutral pH water.

To help the community diagnose your problem, please fill out the Emergency Template

Aquatic Emergency Template | Freshwater Fish Disease and Fish Health Forum | 376562

That will provide the details we need to properly diagnose the issues in your aquarium.

Hi Thanks for the reply, I checked the pH and it's 7.5, I haven't done any other tests. When I change the water I add the conditioner and also drops from the bio nitrivec.
If there was a problem with the water conditions why would it only affect the Male guppies and not the females?

 

Even if you would've bought those males from another store, they can still come from the same fish farm. And if they're weak, they can be more sensitive for too much fluctuation of the water parameters that they ended up in.

 

Hi Candace
The tank is 60 Litres. I have had it since January, it was set up for about a month before I put any fish in it. Every week I change about 10 litres.
Hi


Hi Thanks for the reply, I checked the pH and it's 7.5, I haven't done any other tests. When I change the water I add the conditioner and also drops from the bio nitrivec.
If there was a problem with the water conditions why would it only affect the Male guppies and not the females?

Right now it seems like your tank may be overstocked (species not necessarily bioload - not saying this is the cause of death, it’s just a concern). All the fish aside from the betta need groups and the tank you have now isn’t large enough to house 3 schools/shoals. I really recommend picking one school of 5 or 6 to go with the betta and POSSIBLY one shoal of 5 or 6 of something small like pygmy corys. For a 60L I’d recommend trying the guppy’s again or trying something smaller like ember tetras/ harlequin rasboras. The recommended tank sizes for a shoal of cherry barbs is 113L (more for other types of barbs) and for a school of rummynose tetras is 75L.

 

Without further water test information, all we can do is make a guess as to why your fish are dying. Male guppies often subject to intensive inbreeding to bring out specific appearance characteristics, but that can also lead to health issues.

Guppies and other livebearers are prone to internal parasite infections. However, if the fish appeared to be healthy in the LFS, it is unlikely that they would die a few days later from a latent disease. If it far more likely that something in your water quality is affecting them. It is quite possible for one type of fish to be affected more than others.

When you added the catfish, some barbs and rummy nosed tetras and a betta, how many of each did you add and what type of catfish and barbs did you purchase?

Cory catfish, most barbs, and most tetras do best when kept in groups of 6-8 individuals. A 60 liter tank is suitable for pygmy corys, and small barbs such as cherry barbs, A 20 gallon (80 liter) tank is the minimum size for a group of 6-8 rummy nose tetras.

It usually takes longer than a month to fully cycle a tank. Since you do not have readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, it is impossible to tell if your tank is cycled. Even if it was cycled, when you added the new fish to the tank, it is likely that the ammonia level spiked. That could have caused the recent loss of the catfish. Without test data available, you have no idea what is happening in your tank, and neither do those who are trying to help you resolve your problem.

Please slow down. You should not be purchasing additional fish until you figure out what is happening in your tank. Purchasing a good water test kit would be most helpful in alerting you to potential problems in your tank.

 

Hi
Thanks for the advice. I bought the other fish on the advice given to me in the shop. I bought 4 rummy nosed tetras in February and they've been fine. When I bought the bettas I was told to buy the cherry barbs as there had to be another school of fish with it despite already having Guppies and rummy nosed tetras. I currently have the betta, 3 cherry barbs, the 4 rummy nosed tetras and the 2 female guppies who have been there since the beginning.
I'll do as you say and get the other tests done and post the results.

Right now it seems like your tank may be overstocked (species not necessarily bioload - not saying this is the cause of death, it’s just a concern). All the fish aside from the betta need groups and the tank you have now isn’t large enough to house 3 schools/shoals. I really recommend picking one school of 5 or 6 to go with the betta and POSSIBLY one shoal of 5 or 6 of something small like pygmy corys. For a 60L I’d recommend trying the guppy’s again or trying something smaller like ember tetras/ harlequin rasboras. The recommended tank sizes for a shoal of cherry barbs is 113L (more for other types of barbs) and for a school of rummynose tetras is 75L.

Hi Thanks for the advice. Now I have the fish in the tank so I can really get rid of them. I'll do some tests as all I have is the pH at the moment and post the results.

 

Hi Thanks for the advice. Now I have the fish in the tank so I can really get rid of them. I'll do some tests as all I have is the pH at the moment and post the results.

It is possible, you could talk to the store you bought them from about accepting them back for store credit. They might be okay as is, but they would truly be happiest in larger groups. I don’t mean to bring you down it’s more about the quality of life for the animals. But once you get the results I hope someone can offer more helpful advice, good luck! (I really only have the basics down about water parameters myself so I probably won’t be any help there).

 

Hi
Thanks for the advice. I bought the other fish on the advice given to me in the shop. I bought 4 rummy nosed tetras in February and they've been fine. When I bought the bettas I was told to buy the cherry barbs as there had to be another school of fish with it despite already having Guppies and rummy nosed tetras. I currently have the betta, 3 cherry barbs, the 4 rummy nosed tetras and the 2 female guppies who have been there since the beginning.
I'll do as you say and get the other tests done and post the results.

Hi Thanks for the advice. Now I have the fish in the tank so I can really get rid of them. I'll do some tests as all I have is the pH at the moment and post the results.

Fish stores vary greatly in the quality of advice they provide. Some are great sources of information; other are worse than useless. Generally, the advice you will get here on the forum will be excellent. If someone provides poor advice, someone else will step in with a correction. I try to give good advice, but sometimes I need correcting as well. That is how we all learn. Remember that your LFS is in business of selling you stuff. Thus, they are biased in their advice. Most of us on the forum offer our time and knowledge because we love fishkeeping and have no alternative agenda.

 

I have run some tests
So NO3 - 100, NO2- 0, GH >6, KH 3, PH 6.4 and CL2 - 1.5

Is my tank cycled?

 

You did not provide a reading for ammonia (NH3), but based on a zero nitrite reading and a very high nitrate level, I presume your tank is cycled. However, A nitrate reading of 100 is an indication that you need to do water changes a lot more frequently. Most people consider anything over 40 ppm to be excessive, Many people like to keep nitrate below 20 ppm. Thus, 100 ppm is far to high.

I am also concerned with a chlorine CL2 reading of 1.5 ppm. Fish are readily poisoned by chlorine. The chlorine could be the cause of your fish deaths.

Check the chlorine level in your tap water directly from the faucet. Then check it again after adding your water conditioner/dechlorinator. Typically chlorine levels in tap water will be under 4 ppm. Anything over that is considered too high to drink. After you add dechlorinator, the chlorine level should drop to zero. If it does not, you may need to add more dechlorinator. The typical dosage of dechlorinator assumes about 2 ppm chlorine in the tap water. If the chlorine in the tap water is higher than this, you will need to add more dechlorinator when you do water changes.

Also check the ammonia level in your tap water. Some localities use chloramine to disinfect the water supply. Chloramine is typically 3 ppm chlorine plus 1 ppm ammonia. If you find ammonia in your tap water, it is likely that your water is treated with chloramine. Adding dechlorinator to water with chloramine will break the chloramine bond leaving chlorine and ammonia. The dechlorinator then has to reduce the chlorine to chloride ion. I suspect your water does have chloramine due to the residual chlorine in your water and the high level of nitrates. Any ammonia in the tap water will be converted to nitrates assuming you have sufficient colonies of beneficial bacteria. That could cause the elevated nitrate levels.

 

Hi Thanks for the reply
I bought a test kit that has a strip that tested all these things, I didn't realise that it didn't have ammonia on it and so that's why no ammonia test.

Typically I change about 10 litres every week. So should I change more? I have a basin that holds 5 litres so I change with two of those. The conditioner says I should add 5 ml for every 20 litres so I have added about 2ml to each basin. The measuring cap which is the inside of the lid isn't great so it's difficult to measure accurately. Maybe I haven't added enough. Can you add too much conditioner? If it doesn't hurt It would make sense to add more to be on the safe side.
I also have some bacteria drops (bio nitrivec) should I also add these each time I change water?

 

Did you use the test strips on your tap water? That will give you some idea about you are facing.

Test strips are quick and easy, but they tend to be rather expensive in the long run and they are not as accurate as the liquid tests. I recommend the API Freshwater Master Test Kit and the API GH/KH test kit. If you are in the USA, they are readily available on Amazon at a good price. If you live elsewhere, there are other test kits that might be available.

Rather than using your 5 liter basin, I suggest you get a bucket that holds 20 liters (about 5 gallons). Fill the bucket half full with water (10 liters) and add 1 full capful of water conditioner. That will be about double the recommended dose, but I suspect your chlorine level may need the extra. Stir well to mix the conditioner with the water and wait 15-20 minutes for the conditioner to react with the water before adding it to your tank. If you do this at the start of your tank maintenance routine, the water should be ready by the time you finish other tasks. Use your test strips to make sure the chlorine level is at zero before adding the water to the tank. If it is not zero, either you need more conditioner or the test strip is defective. Make sure the water is the same temperature as your tank water or just slightly warmer.

Once you get the water conditioner dose figured out, you might want to do two water changes per week until your nitrate levels start to come down. You could do the water changes back to back if you wish, but leave time for the water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine.

 

Hi Ray Clem. Thanks for this help. I used the strip test (amtra) it was the only one I they had in the shop. You need to check the chlorine straight away and wait a minute before checking the other readings. I had done a pH test a few days ago with a pH test and that was 7.5, so the pH is out by 1.
I'm actually in Portugal and I'ma bit limited to what pet shops I can go to as we need to stay in our local area. In fact buying a bucket isn't easy either as a lot of the shops are closed. The idea of the bucket makes sense. I had wondering about how long to wait after adding the drops.
I'll give this a go and let you know-Thanks Nathan

 

Hi Ray Clem. Thanks for this help. I used the strip test (amtra) it was the only one I they had in the shop. You need to check the chlorine straight away and wait a minute before checking the other readings. I had done a pH test a few days ago with a pH test and that was 7.5, so the pH is out by 1.
I'm actually in Portugal and I'ma bit limited to what pet shops I can go to as we need to stay in our local area. In fact buying a bucket isn't easy either as a lot of the shops are closed. The idea of the bucket makes sense. I had wondering about how long to wait after adding the drops.
I'll give this a go and let you know-Thanks Nathan

Since you were using liters, I suspected you might be in Europe.

Chlorine reacts with the test strip pretty quickly and can be read immediately. The pH also reacts quickly. It does take a few minutes for the other tests to develop their color.

I am not sure what you mean by "the pH is out by 1"? A pH test of 7.5 is ideal for for a community aquarium with a variety of fish. That is the target I use for pH in my tanks which contain some of the same fish you are trying to keep: guppies, corys, tetras, barbs.

It takes about 15 minutes for the dechlorinator to react to neutralize the chlorine in the water. There are some people who add tap water directly to their aquarium and then add dechlorinator based on the total volume of the tank. However, it is better to add the dechlorinator to a container of water before adding it to the aquarium and allowing it time to react before adding the water to the tank. If you have not been waiting long enough, that may be why you have a residual chlorine reading in the tank.

Not only does chlorine poison fish, but it also kills beneficial bacteria responsible for your nitrogen cycle. That is why proper use of a water conditioner is so important.

 

I have a separate pH test and it tested 7.5 but the strip test that I bought yesterday showed 6.4, so that's what I mean by being out by 1. That there's a difference in the two tests. I shall try changing the water and do it as you suggest. Maybe that's what I was doing wrong not waiting for the drops to take effect. Thanks again Nathan

 

I have a separate pH test and it tested 7.5 but the strip test that I bought yesterday showed 6.4, so that's what I mean by being out by 1. That there's a difference in the two tests. I shall try changing the water and do it as you suggest. Maybe that's what I was doing wrong not waiting for the drops to take effect. Thanks again Nathan

Thanks. The test strips are not quite as accurate as the liquid tests, but I am surprised the pH test is off by that far.

Hopefully, the Chlorine test is giving a bad reading as well. However, using a double dose of water conditioner should not cause any significant issues (other than doubling your cost). If the chlorine in your water is high, that should help.

Please let us know how things work out over the next few weeks. I like knowing if my advice turned out to be useful.

 

Hi Rem Clem
So yesterday I woke up and found one of the female guppies had died. She was stuck in the filter. I presume she must have been sick to get stuck there.

I did as you said I put 10 litres in a bucket added the drops for the chlorine (5ml) and the drops for the bacteria. I cleaned the filters in the water filter and the ornaments in the tank. In the end I waited about 40 minutes as I had to wait for the water to cool down.
I ran a strip test last night and again this morning. The test is not the easiest to read as there isn't much difference in the colours but what I can see is that the chlorine reading is now at 0.8 and the N=3 appear to be closer to 50 than 100. Are these still too high?
Thanks

 

It sounds like your are making progress. The ways the color charts are designed, it is easier to read them once you get closer to normal levels. Do another water change in a couple of days and see if things drop even more. Ideally, the chlorine will read 0 ppm (assuming the test strips are accurate) and the nitrate will get down below 40 ppm.

Did you test the chlorine level in the water after adding the dechlorinator? Hopefully, it will read zero. if it does not read zero, it may be that your test strips are bad.

By the way, add your bacteria supplement directly to the tank, not to the tap water. If there is any residual chlorine in the tap water, it will kill some of the bacteria.

Remember that the media in your filter and the ornaments in your tank are covered in beneficial bacteria. When cleaning them, do so in the old water you removed from the tank, not under running tap water which has chlorine. Also do not clean too thoroughly as you want to leave some of the bacteria to start new colonies. I like to have two filters in each of my tanks so I can clean one of them and leave the other undisturbed until the next water change. You might want to clean only half of your ornaments at a time. If you syphon the sand, only clean half each time.

 

Hi Sorry I haven't replied for some time. As it goes my last guppy died since we spoke but the other fish have been fine. I have been changing the water as you suggested each week. I still kept getting the same results with the strip tests that seemed to suggest that the chlorine was 0,8. I started suspect that maybe the tests weren't that good so I bought a separate kit just to test the chlorine. The new test shows the water is fine at 0. Yesterday I even tested the water in my bucket before adding the drops. It was obviously had chlorine so I then added the drops but back to the original dose and then tested the chlorine and it was at zero. I don't think the strip test was that reliable in the end. I know have a separate kit for the chlorine and the PH. Is there anything else that I should test regularly?

I wonder if there was something about the conditions that were not right for the guppies.

As my tank stands now. I have the betta, three cherry carbs and 4 rummy nosed tetras. Is this now the max I should have for my tank (60L) or can I add any extra fish?

Cheers

Nathan

 

I suspected some of your test strips were giving inaccurate results. I am glad to see your chlorine levels are zero as they should be if you are adding a dechlorinator.

Guppies can be weird. In an effort to get different strains, guppies are often inbred. Although can emphasize desirable traits like coloration and shape, it can also emphasize genetic defects as well. The same thing happens with purebred dogs as well. Many breeds are susceptible to specific health issues as a result of the inbreeding required to be "pure bred".

Also, because guppies are often farm raised in huge numbers in overcrowded conditions, it is quite common for shipments of guppies to have internal parasites such as Camilanus worms.

Guppies and most other livebears tend to do better in water that is somewhat higher in pH, hardness (dGH) and alkalinity (dKH) than some other species. That comes as a result of their native habitat being in Central America and Mexico. However, if healthy, they will adapt to less than ideal water conditions. If they make it through the first several weeks in your aquarium, they will often do quite well. Any offspring born in your aquarium usually will thrive.

Let your aquarium stabilize for a few months and then try adding some guppies if you still wish to do so. However, it would be best to quarantine the new fish for a few weeks to make sure they do not bring an infection into the established tank.

 

Ok thanks for all the advice

 

I struggled for a while trying to keep store purchased guppies alive but once I kept them alive long enough to have babies everything has been fine. The babies have proven to be much hardier and I'm now on my 3rd generation.