I have posted here before because I was having issues losing my guppies. I was purchasing them from Petsmart, and they were only lasting about a week. I went through about 2-3 batches of 4-6 guppies and I would lose all every time. Never right away, and never all at the same time. Some would die in hrs, others would take a week. My last batch I had one male that stayed strong. He has been in the tank for well over a month and is beautiful as can be. Very large with gorgeous bright yellow fins. He stayed healthy for so long last week I bought 1 more male and 3 females. I really want to have a natural breeding tank. After a week I have yet again lost all 3 females…BUUUUUT….one of them was pregnant from the store and gave birth to about 10 guppy spawn that are growing and thriving!!! Today, I the beautiful yellow tailed male looks like he is on deaths door. Everyone preaches on here about water changes and testing. I have done a lot of asking around and I have been told that the 3 plants I have and my filtration system is PLENTY for a 10 gallon tank and don't need to do water changes. I also was told that if I had a water quality issue, I would be losing plants before I lost fish, because guppies are so hardy. Also, aren't fry way more sensitive?! I haven't lost any fry that I can see and they are doing just fine. HOW AM I LOSING ADULTS AND NOT FRY?! This is driving me crazy to no end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Issues with guppies
- Thread starter Dunedain05
- Start date
I'm thinking you have gotten some very bad advice. A few questions and thoughts...
1. Do you know that your tank is cycled appropriately? That means you get good bacteria built up in your filter and on the plants and walls and substrate and decor that helps break down all the waste and excess food that goes into your tank. Without that, you're not going to be successful.
2. Do you have a test kit to check water quality? From your comments I am guessing no, and without that you'll never be able to tell if your tank is cycled or if something random happens that throws everything out of whack.
3. You'll almost ALWAYS need to do water changes, unless you are basically a professional with lots of experience who has created a very balanced natural system that is very heavily planted and you're very cautious about every feeding, etc. Unless you want your fish to keep doing, you need to do water changes.
4. In almost every case, your fish will die before your plants.
5. Unfortunately a lot of the guppies you buy are just not going to be hardy fish. They're way over-bred, precisely because they're an easy fish to keep. Some of them dying off is normal. However, ALL of them dying off (and repeatedly) is not, which points us back to water quality issues.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I think you'll figure out if you spend much time on here that most people at pet stores don't really know what they're talking about them. Stores like PetSmart will hire anyone and they don't have to know anything about pets. They walk them through the minimum to keep the tanks clean and get you out the door with whatever you'll buy. People on here really are trying to help. Some of them may not be super nice about it, but they want you to do well.
My advice to you would be...
1. Change about 50% of your water today and do the same in another day or so. Don't add any more fish until you have done that. And you'll need to change out 50% of your water at least once a week after that. When you do this, you need to add a conditioner to your water to neutralize any chemicals that can hurt your fish (try Seachem Prime or API Stress Coat, dosing instructions are on the bottle). Also, the water needs to be as close to the temperature of the water in the tank as possible (which brings up another question - do you have a heater?).
2. When you add fish, only add a couple at a time and then wait a few weeks before adding anymore. This way you can make sure those fish are healthy and this gives time for the bacteria in your tank to balance out to the load you're putting on it.
3. Get a test kit. I will admit that I do not use mine religiously (some people check their water every day), but my tank is well established. I use it when I have any unexplained deaths or have reason to suspect a water quality problem. Since your tank is likely not cycled and you appear to still be learning how to maintain it (I'm not trying to be condescending, it just seems that way), you'll need to keep an eye on this until you get a balance. As much as you don't seem to like the idea, I think this would reveal a lot about why your fish are dying.
1. Do you know that your tank is cycled appropriately? That means you get good bacteria built up in your filter and on the plants and walls and substrate and decor that helps break down all the waste and excess food that goes into your tank. Without that, you're not going to be successful.
2. Do you have a test kit to check water quality? From your comments I am guessing no, and without that you'll never be able to tell if your tank is cycled or if something random happens that throws everything out of whack.
3. You'll almost ALWAYS need to do water changes, unless you are basically a professional with lots of experience who has created a very balanced natural system that is very heavily planted and you're very cautious about every feeding, etc. Unless you want your fish to keep doing, you need to do water changes.
4. In almost every case, your fish will die before your plants.
5. Unfortunately a lot of the guppies you buy are just not going to be hardy fish. They're way over-bred, precisely because they're an easy fish to keep. Some of them dying off is normal. However, ALL of them dying off (and repeatedly) is not, which points us back to water quality issues.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I think you'll figure out if you spend much time on here that most people at pet stores don't really know what they're talking about them. Stores like PetSmart will hire anyone and they don't have to know anything about pets. They walk them through the minimum to keep the tanks clean and get you out the door with whatever you'll buy. People on here really are trying to help. Some of them may not be super nice about it, but they want you to do well.
My advice to you would be...
1. Change about 50% of your water today and do the same in another day or so. Don't add any more fish until you have done that. And you'll need to change out 50% of your water at least once a week after that. When you do this, you need to add a conditioner to your water to neutralize any chemicals that can hurt your fish (try Seachem Prime or API Stress Coat, dosing instructions are on the bottle). Also, the water needs to be as close to the temperature of the water in the tank as possible (which brings up another question - do you have a heater?).
2. When you add fish, only add a couple at a time and then wait a few weeks before adding anymore. This way you can make sure those fish are healthy and this gives time for the bacteria in your tank to balance out to the load you're putting on it.
3. Get a test kit. I will admit that I do not use mine religiously (some people check their water every day), but my tank is well established. I use it when I have any unexplained deaths or have reason to suspect a water quality problem. Since your tank is likely not cycled and you appear to still be learning how to maintain it (I'm not trying to be condescending, it just seems that way), you'll need to keep an eye on this until you get a balance. As much as you don't seem to like the idea, I think this would reveal a lot about why your fish are dying.
I think the last time you asked the question here, you were given some good advice and asked questions which went unanswered as you jumped to your own conclusion as to what happened.
I would suggest taking a step back and revisit your previous question; answer the questions that were asked there.
I would suggest taking a step back and revisit your previous question; answer the questions that were asked there.
Guppies are freshwater fish and if you aren't changing water then the water isn't too fresh is it? No matter the amount of plants or filtration water changes are a must.
Both fish and plants need water changes to be healthy. Even if you have your fish and plants in balance where ammonia and nitrites are not an issue, water changes still supply a lot of minerals and ions that are needed for a healthy tank. This is just part of the hobby, and if you are going to be a fish keeper its something you have to do. I hope you have better luck with your future endeavors
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Yesterday afternoon I did about a 30% water change. Made sure to have the replacement water as close to the aquarium temperature as I could to not risk any shock to the fish. This morning my last adult guppie was dead. The babies are still going strong though!!! Makes no sense!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don't do a water change for a long time and create a toxic environment, you can also cause shock to the system by changing the mess they're somehow surviving in too quickly. You have to work slowly after you've let it go so badly.
Im not throwing out the advice given so far, but if I had a water quality issue I would lose my fry faster or at the very least as fast as my adults. There is something wrong with my source of adult fish or something is affecting my adults that is not affecting the fry.
