Guppy tank - water 80 - to hot?

[guppygal]

Hello - This is my first post and my first fish tank! I am 3 weeks into my new tank cycle. I have 3 male guppies that seem to be doing well (or OK). I struggle to keep the ammonia down, today I changed the water twice and I am now at 0. I have reduced feedings to 1X a day and a VERY small amt. My nitrites are 0 and my ph is 7.

BUT my water temp, with no heater is at 80. Is that too hot for my guppies? They hang out at the top all the time. (part of that could be the ammonia that I am battling).


If the water is too warm, I have been floating ice cubes in a ziplock - but I don't want to do that everyday!!

Thanks for any advice.

OH and my blue guppy seems to be missing some of his tail -- could the other males nip at him or is he sick or do tails sometimes loose some 'pieces'?

Guppy Gal
3 male guppes in a 5 gallon Hex

 

[psilo]

HI guppygal and welcome to the fascinating world of fishkeeping. :hi: To own your first fish tank is very exciting though i have to say that 5 gallons is pretty small and fishloads at the beginning of the cycle are inevitably going to put pressure on your filter systems until your tank builds up a healthy balance of bacteria to help break it down. What type of filter do you use? When cycling a tank this small with fish you would really need to add fish one at a time to help prevent ammonia and nitrite spikes but as you already have 3 fish that is irrelevant now. Cycling a tank this way it is ineviatble that you will have to do plenty of water changes to keep the water within healthy parametres to avoid harming your fish but you seem to be on the right track. Feeding once a day is good and now your ammonia is at 0 that is good too. Keep a check on it everyday and do water changes accordingly. Now after 3 weeks you should start to see the levels rising much slower.
80 degress in fine for guppies. I always keep my fish at that temperature and if you ever did have females with fry then this temperature is just right for them. Do not let it get that much higher though. Maybe if it gets higher than running an airline to agitate the water further will help to cool it down.
Male guppies do sometimes nip at each others tails. Often i find the fancier the tails the more likely they are to be nipped. If it isnt too bad then it will not harm them but you do need to keep an eye out for excessive nipping.
Hope this helps