40+ deaths in less then two weeks, please help

wataugachicken said:
i think in your case and to reduce shock on the fish, it would be best to do 10-15% changes every day for about a week, and then the next week do two 25-30% changes, then finally continue on a weekly basis with approx. 50% changes dependent upon your nitrate levels after weekly testing. once the water quality is improved from what you have now, you'll want to maintain nitrate levels at no more than 20ppm, and always change water as necessary if ammonia and/or nitrite are present.
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I concur, though i'd say less then 50ppm nitrates personally. Under 20ppm is ideal, but may not even be possible in this tanks situation.


A single large change in TDS (Total Dissolved Solids, a measure of how much solid stuff is dissolved in the water) can cause issues for the fish. In some cases large enough issues to be fatal.
It's good to start with small changes until the water is close enough to the tap water to not cause issues.
 
that's true. 20ppm if stocking issues are resolved.
 
Well here's an update. I've been doing 25% daily water changes with barely any results. I was still detecting a bit of ammonia and nitrites. After several attempts at trying to figure out the cause I finally found it. Turned out to be a media bag I made out of gauze. I just recently found out that cotton rots. I removed the bag a couple of days ago and everything seems a bit better now. The guppies are still sick and the problem seems to be an internal parasite. I bought some De-Worming and Anti-Protozoan flake food today. I also got my water tested for PH and NO3 because my ph test kit bottomed out at 6.0 and I don't have a Nitrate test. Turns out my ph is actually closer to 5.0 and my nitrates at 0. The owner of the LFS gave me some crushed coral to help buffer the water and told me to mix it into my gravel. He also told me to add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to raise the ph. What do you guys think of that? Good or bad idea?
 
satanpie said:
Can we see a picture of this tank please?
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I'll get some pics up today.

OK, so I decided to not use the coral or play around with the ph. I'm just going to continue doing my daily pwc until it reaches the ph of my tap (7.4 - 7.6).

I already transfered the guppies to a bare bottom 10g tank with a hob filter without media or pads (mainly for water movement), a 50watt heater at 82ºF, and an air stone. I added Maracyn2, two tablespoons of salt and I'm feeding them at least two times a day with the De-Worming and Anti-Protozoan flakes. Gonna do 25% or 50% daily water changes. What do you suggest? 25 or 50? Should I add more salt? Someone told me to do one tablespoon per gallon of water but I followed the instructions on the package and only added one tablespoon per five gallons. Should I add some hiding places?

Today I'm disinfecting another 10g tank where I'll transfer all the snails to. As soon as I get rid of the 8" pleco, I will re-cycle that tank so I can transfer all the guppies to it after the QT period and someone is giving me a 20g tank that I'm also going to cycle for the guppies. Does anyone here want an 8" common pleco? Local pickup in Miami, FL only. Kendal area. PM me.
 
-if you have a light on the tank either put some hiding places in or don't use the light. some floating plants might be good to throw in there.

-test your water to know how much to change every day. if you don't have tests, do 50%.

-no need to add salt unless the fish have ich.
 
wataugachicken said:
-if you have a light on the tank either put some hiding places in or don't use the light. some floating plants might be good to throw in there.

-test your water to know how much to change every day. if you don't have tests, do 50%.

-no need to add salt unless the fish have ich.
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No light on it and my room is pretty dark all day long. I put a couple decorations for the gravid females to hide from the males. They are back to their normal selfs. :headshake2:

I unplugged the heater because my room is extremely hot all day long. The water temp got up to 86ºF. I've been running my portable ac for over three hours now and have only gotten the temp down to 82ºF at 8:30pm. I think it might be too hot in my room to keep them here. I was going to do my fish rack in here also which means I won't need any heaters in any tank but I just might need a chiller. At what temps should the water be during the day and at night? Right now I'm at 86º day/ 82º night. I'll continue to keep an eye on the temps.
 
it's a decision between getting the tank cooler and having it stable. keep in mind that the presence of ammonia and nitrites in the water will make it more difficult for the fish to breathe, and warmer water holds less oxygen, so it's a double-whammy.
 
A two-year cycled tank with ammonia?

Man, I don't know why you want to make these fish suffer anymore... but get rid of A LOT of them! Give them to the LFS or to other people, just don't keep a tank like this.

Not only are they really inbred, they live in horrible cramped conditions...
 
Phialophora you should read the entire thread. My two-year old display tank doesn't have ammonia anymore. It was a rotting cotton media bag that was causing the problem. All the guppies are in a QT tank atm and are going into three 10g and one 20g tanks afterwards.

Btw wataugachicken, the temps are currently at 78ºF. I'm going to leave the heater off all day and see what's the max temp the water reaches.
 
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