2 new fry, 3 dead females, 1 dead male...

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Maypea

AC Members
Aug 8, 2013
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Texas
My guppy tank lost 3 of the new females, 1 of my males, and the water is fine. pH 7.4-7.6 Ammonia 0-0.25ppm NO[SUB]2[/SUB] 0-0.25ppm NO[SUB]3[/SUB] 20-40ppm. I know the nitrates are a little elevated but I typically do water changes and gravel vac on Thursdays (tomorrow) and had a piece of garlic soaked zucchini in there over night. I came home from work today, went to drop in a little brine treat and there were 3 of the females dead on the bottom and one of the males dying. I'm assuming the females were already pregnant when I brought them home because there was also 2 fry swimming around and I haven't had them long enough to have been impregnated by any of my males. The smallest female I brought home seems to have doubled in size overnight though. My fiancé said the females looked like their vent was blown out and pink. I have NO idea why the male died. He did have a clear-ish tail when we first got him but it turned gray and not so translucent but wasn't fin rot or ammonia and pH isn't ridiculously high so I have no idea what killed them. I removed the dead and did a quick gravel vac changing out about 25% of the water so with the parameters of the water post-death/pre-water change, I can only imagine they're all near-perfect now. :help:
 

Maypea

AC Members
Aug 8, 2013
42
0
0
Texas
API Master is the kit I'm using. Why wouldn't it be right if I am showing ammonia and/or nitrite? I am showing both, just not a whole lot, the color matches somewhere between 0 and 0.25. I do frequent partial water changes with gravel vac. It's a 20 gallon. Before the deaths it was 1 rubbernose pleco, 3 neons, and 13 guppies. Four of them died and I moved one sick one to a quarantine and he's not going to make it. He keeps leaning on the filter pump and tube vertically or wedging himself between them, it seem to hold himself up. The tank went through a fishless cycle for about 4 months from late February through mid-June...it was drained to be moved and then set up again for about a week and then cycled with fish with the same filter, gravel, etc. Lots of these fish were the first ones added to the tank in late June. Interestingly enough, the zebra danios are the ones that died. The only that that has been added recently are the female fish...and they are 3/4 who died. The LFS from which they came has great tanks and I doubt they harbored any diseases..
 
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jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
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Wait, so there were multiple deaths before too?

You should be seeing zeros for both NH3 and NO2, otherwise the tank isn't fully established or something caused a small spike. Ammonia (sometimes depending on pH) and nitrite at even low levels is toxic.
 

Maypea

AC Members
Aug 8, 2013
42
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Texas
the danios came from petco or petsmart and died almost right away. That was about 2 months ago. I no longer buy fish from there. I'm assuming the ammonia being somewhere between 0 and 0.25 has to do with the fact that there were four dead fish in the water that I tested... And like I said, I have a lot of trouble matching the colors between liquid and paper so it's hard to tell if I should be claiming 0 or 0.25. I can't think of any good reason why the tank wouldn't be fully cycled...the filter and all gravel and décor in the tank were well established prior to even the fishless cycle that was done before adding any fish at all...the common pleco who now lives in a larger tank had more than enough to keep him busy. I put the females in two days ago and today there was fry and death...
 

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
26,364
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Gainesville, FL
Real Name
Josh
Dead bodies could cause a spike. I was just wondering what the timeline was for the adding of fish since the move since it is still possible that some of the bacteria colony could have been disturbed and "over worked," so to speak, if stocked too quickly.

When were the males added? Females were only two days ago? That could just as easily mean it was poor stock. Livebearers (especially guppies) are bred so extensively that it isn't uncommon for a weak line to not last long.

Just to make sure though, how do you acclimate? I'm assuming there was no initial QT...even if you trust the source it is still possible for something to spread to the display tank.
 

authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
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Phoenix, AZ
I'm assuming there was no initial QT...even if you trust the source it is still possible for something to spread to the display tank.
Not to discount everything else he said, but this is very true. The LFS I get fish from quarantines everything themselves. Then they tell you to quarantine as well, just in case. They'd rather you be safe about it to protect your display tank, and if you question it, they'll gladly tell you that.
 
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