Okay, I've had these guppies for 2 weeks now. I have 6 male guppies and 1 female. I had 2 females, but lost one yesterday. They all seem to be getting along fine. One of the males got his tale nibble down to a nub, but he doesn't act like it's bothering him and he's as active as the rest and I haven't seen anyone acting aggressive since then. I think they were just establishing who the boss was. I got all of them from Petsmart and the females were separate from the males at the store, so they shouldn't have been pregnant when I got them.
I've been doing approx. 25% (maybe a little more) water changes every other day, I am putting in stress zyme, 2 tbsp aq. salt, and aquasafe every time I change the water. I've only been doing the salt the last 2 times though. Anyway, so yesterday I had a female guppy die on me. I noticed a few days ago that she'd been swimming really slowly and hovering in place a lot and just fluttering a little with lots of gill movement. Over the past couple of days, she went from looking fat and healthy with a nice round tummy, to looking really skinny (never saw any babies) and almost a little concave in the belly area. She swam slower and slower until yesterday morning she was just floating around on her side and breathing, but not moving on her own unless I disturbed her. I took her out of the tank, in case she had something catching and put her in a bowl with a bit of food and salt. She died shortly after I moved her.
Now the 2nd female is starting to behave the way the first one did. She's REALLY fat and looks pregnant to me and as of this morning, she has still been as active as the rest of the group. Now, tonight I'm noticing she's swimming slower and hovering in one place a lot. She doesn't have any other obvious signs of distress or illness. Just not swimming as actively as she was. Now, I've been pregnant, so I can relate to feeling lazy. LOL So I hope that's all it is, but I've never had guppies before, so I don't know how they act when they're pregnant.
Oh, they're in a 10 gallon tank with a betta and a little baby cory cat. The betta doesn't bother them, he keeps to himself. The guppies seem to rule the tank.
I just tested the water and the nitrate and nitrite levels were at 0, the water is soft, the alkalinity was between 180-300 and the PH was high, 8.2. I'm using test strips, so matching up the colors. You guys probably use something more accurate, but this is what I could afford right now. Anyway, so I dropped in a Tank Buddies PH neutralizer and that brought the alkalinity down to the 180 color and the PH to the 7.2 color.
Any ideas what might be going on with my girls? I don't want to lose this one. I added some floating fake plants and some faux breeding grass, to try to help out. There are plenty of hiding places. I've got tall plants in the back, the middle has 2 different caves with plants and the front has the breeding grass and an ivy looking plant with long arms.
Okay, tell me what I need to do or not do. I'm ready, I think I can take it. :worthy:
Oh yeah, and I know they say I should have more girls than boys, but I really don't want THAT many babies, and really, everyone seems to be getting along fine, now that they've established hierarchy and all that.
Thanks!
Annette
I've been doing approx. 25% (maybe a little more) water changes every other day, I am putting in stress zyme, 2 tbsp aq. salt, and aquasafe every time I change the water. I've only been doing the salt the last 2 times though. Anyway, so yesterday I had a female guppy die on me. I noticed a few days ago that she'd been swimming really slowly and hovering in place a lot and just fluttering a little with lots of gill movement. Over the past couple of days, she went from looking fat and healthy with a nice round tummy, to looking really skinny (never saw any babies) and almost a little concave in the belly area. She swam slower and slower until yesterday morning she was just floating around on her side and breathing, but not moving on her own unless I disturbed her. I took her out of the tank, in case she had something catching and put her in a bowl with a bit of food and salt. She died shortly after I moved her.
Now the 2nd female is starting to behave the way the first one did. She's REALLY fat and looks pregnant to me and as of this morning, she has still been as active as the rest of the group. Now, tonight I'm noticing she's swimming slower and hovering in one place a lot. She doesn't have any other obvious signs of distress or illness. Just not swimming as actively as she was. Now, I've been pregnant, so I can relate to feeling lazy. LOL So I hope that's all it is, but I've never had guppies before, so I don't know how they act when they're pregnant.
Oh, they're in a 10 gallon tank with a betta and a little baby cory cat. The betta doesn't bother them, he keeps to himself. The guppies seem to rule the tank.
I just tested the water and the nitrate and nitrite levels were at 0, the water is soft, the alkalinity was between 180-300 and the PH was high, 8.2. I'm using test strips, so matching up the colors. You guys probably use something more accurate, but this is what I could afford right now. Anyway, so I dropped in a Tank Buddies PH neutralizer and that brought the alkalinity down to the 180 color and the PH to the 7.2 color.
Any ideas what might be going on with my girls? I don't want to lose this one. I added some floating fake plants and some faux breeding grass, to try to help out. There are plenty of hiding places. I've got tall plants in the back, the middle has 2 different caves with plants and the front has the breeding grass and an ivy looking plant with long arms.
Okay, tell me what I need to do or not do. I'm ready, I think I can take it. :worthy:
Oh yeah, and I know they say I should have more girls than boys, but I really don't want THAT many babies, and really, everyone seems to be getting along fine, now that they've established hierarchy and all that.
Thanks!
Annette