Chazza404 Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 So ive got a small guppy tank which ive been running since the beginning of march fine started out with 1 male and 5 females which had a bunch of babies as they do, and all was going well (cept the male died duno why couldnt see any issues), had a large female with white spot just when she was super fat :lol: so cranked temp to 29 and salts etc which solved it, but yea so i bought some new guppies this weekend and theyve been fine in the tank cept that all of the other guppies seem to be dying with no obvious reasons. They just seem to start floating or not moving really in all tipsy turvey and the die, its an undergravel system with pebbles so that excrement etc can easily pass down, its also quite well planted taking up about half of it and java moss covering the bottom, tested the water and its all within normal parameters nothing dangerous etc. Any thoughts would be appreciated, Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 I dont know what to tell you really... I have one tank that I just cant keep guppies in :roll: Strangly enough it has undergravel filtering as well, but the pleco and neons have lived in it quite happily for the last year. Well, one neon died, but thems the breaks, the other 6 look to be trying for old age pensions. The pleco has grown to about 6" and looking for a bigger home. But the guppys just lost condition and began dieing. So I moved them out. My other tank at the time had NO filter, just an airstone. The guppys basically took over in that tank. It's now got a decent Ehiem internal sponge filter, and even MORE guppies. It has a 4" pleco in there too. Same water, same food, same guppys. So.. ummm.. I dunno But if anyone in Taranaki needs guppys.. PM me, I have several hundred Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Guppies only have a life span of two to three years - so if it was your orignals ones that died not the knew stock - it could have just been old age. Have any of the "new" ones or fry died? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chazza404 Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 none of the new ones no, some of the fry have yes, it just seems that after i added in the new guppies the other ones decided to start dying, ive got some fry growing up well in another tank so it wont be the end of them but just wondering as to why :-? however it might be an xfile mystery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 I don't know overly much about guppies... However I got stung a long time ago when I kept some... I got some really nice meteorite blues (think that's what they are called) from a local breeder, beautiful things, healthy and great condition. I then purchased some other guppies thinking that I would add another splash of colour to my tank, only to find that the new ones had clamp fin or what I have been told a guppy sickness or virus.. (can someone correct me on that or have more idea on the guppy virus) These new ones knocked off every other one in my tank.. so they must have been carrying something. That served me right back then for not quarantining, you learn your lesson definately :roll: Maybe the newbies you have added are carrying something, apparently whatever this thing I was told, doesn't effect the carriers but effects anything else they go in with (guppy wise) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 We had a similar problem. Bought one guppy and wiped out the rest of the tank. The new guppy had a bacteria that the others had no immunity to and it killed them all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr pleco Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 used to sell these alot and swordtails to lfs had very similair problems in fact dave a HFF told me once he bought from a breeder he would only stock that breeders guppies/swords in the one tank its not quite explainitory but it seems what others have been saying one guppie from adifferent lfs can wipe out a whole tank of existing ones went thru a phase of this as a breeder sold like twenty to thirty fish to an lfs only to be told a couple of days later 1/2 of them were dead dying or clamped fins and swimming odd replaced them with more only to have the same thing happpen then gave twenty more but put in a different tank and all were perfect so its a mystery why but does occur .Where you can only get from one breeder or from one lfs to try and minimise this risk BTW it only seems to be these two species of fish that are effected or so ive been told p.s it was definetly an expensive way to find out too i might add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 I am having a similar problem with a tank of guppies, I have noticed them flashing a heck of a lot, in fact they are bouncing off the bottom of the tank. I treated them for white spot several times but the problem persisted. Also in the tank are otto's and b/n's neither appear to have any probs. I have moved the male guppies into a bare bottom tank which has not even been cycled and none of the fish moved appear to have any discomfort therefore I have come to the conclusion it must be the water parameters causing the problem,have not done any tests as yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 Thought i would add my bit to this. I have guppies in bare bottom tank with java moss and sponge filters. I have only ever bought guppies once and from the same person about 7months ago. All was going well until about amonth ago. Now there are alot of them flashing, and looking like they are wasting. Water is all normal. Some look like their gills are distended. I have started treating water with something for parasites. i don't know what else to do. I have some of the same guppies in another tank with a siamese fighter and they are fine..popping offspring out. any thoughts on what it could be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smcoleman Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 hi ive had the same problem i had 3 x 3foot tanks full of them. wood off been 2000 guppys i lost by buying some nice males an putting in all 3 tanks over a matter of 3 weeks i lost the lot that was a very sad 3 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 I have been told that a guppy virus/illness at times can come in on imported guppies and once put with NZ strain/bred guppies, our guppies here are not immune and get knocked off by the imports. The imports surive through having the immunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 I added a uv filter to tank and to date have lost no more fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 Hmmm its a pain in the rectal! I have pulled all guppy who are showing signs, or are looking suspect out of the tank and got them in isolation. When this first started happening it was effecting fish who had grown to mature size, now I have fry dying off from it. Just when i had started getting some really groovey looking fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplecatfish Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Well it seems that we all have guppies that just decide to die . I've noticed that whenever my population gets too large several will die, sometimes with no warning. I can have no problems for several generations then some will start to get skinny and lethargic or some will start rubbing against things. So I've found it pays to be ruthless and just remove them. I've been told that imports are bred in outdoor ponds where they feed in the muck that has been there for years, so they often come with parasites. For that reason I've avoided getting any new guppies for more than a year. I try to minimise the risk of inbreeding by having several males and females breeding at the same time. It's taken longer than normal to develop my blue tailed blondes but I have less bent backs and other problems than when I first started . Knowing what I know now, if I was to start again I would pay the price to get some really nice guppies and immediately dose them with prazi then levamisole and then furan 2 to treat any possible gill flukes, internal worms, bacteria or fungi . And if I was to introduce any new ones I'd put them through the same regime. I'm not a fan of random dosing but for those starting with a really good strain of guppies I'd follow the "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure philosophy". I'd usually fall into the opposite camp and say that you shouldn't treat unnecessarily and I certainly won't try to defend random dosing as it is generally unethical. But my experience with guppy borne parasites getting into my community tanks has shown me that I would not have needed to treat all of my fish so many times if I had dosed the guppies for everything at the start. Perhaps better strategies would be to quarantine all new guppies for longer than normal or preferably breed them in a different tank and add the new fry to your population rather than introduce the outsiders directly to the gene pool. And I apologise for the long rant. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Thought i would add my bit to this. I have guppies in bare bottom tank with java moss and sponge filters. I have only ever bought guppies once and from the same person about 7months ago. All was going well until about amonth ago. Now there are alot of them flashing, and looking like they are wasting. Water is all normal. Some look like their gills are distended. I have started treating water with something for parasites. i don't know what else to do. I have some of the same guppies in another tank with a siamese fighter and they are fine..popping offspring out. any thoughts on what it could be? Thats interesting..... some of our guppies are doing the exact same thing, i have seen the odd one flashing against plants and quite a few have red inflamed gills,some have lost condition. This started happening after moving them from a smaller tank to a much larger 90litre tank. Is the parasite treatment working? and what are you using?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 And I apologise for the long rant. :lol: Definately don't apologise for the rant purplecatfish, it was interesting to hear about your experience with them and thoughts on treatment etc I have been told rather a few times about the imported guppies that bring in a certain disease/virus that knocks off the NZ kept strains that are not immune to whatever these imports come in with, all I have been told is that they bring in the "guppy virus" whatever that might be. Definately pays to be aware. An old guy here in the bay breeds beautiful Meteorite Blues, and he was very weary about buying anything imported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Still lost none since adding the uv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 jimr Do you have imports mixed with NZ bred guppies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Hi African I honestly would not know but I was having problems with fish dying daily even though I tried medication untill I added the uv (It may be coincidental but I do not think so). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flosty Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 I know this post is 3 years old,but wanted to bring up this again as I have been having continuing problems with my guppies About a year and a half ago I got some guppies from a local breeder,I then added some from a LFS I added 2 of my virgin females to a blue moscow I just aquired,the females died over night, the moscow then wasted and died further more the other males I added to my guppy tank must have infected my stock as I have had issues ever since this. Every new male or female I introduce to the system goes on to waste away,some seem to be immune but very few I have quarantined,isolated individuals to no avail.Used PP,Levamisole,aquaflavin,Formalin & Malachite green,Salt and furan 2 but nothing seems to work. All I can conclude is that it is some sort of guppy virus. I am at the point of destroying my whole stock and starting again,Its been very frustrating. Are others still having these problems? is the uv the last resort? do you still use the uv jim r? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 interesting. Several weeks ago I bought two beautiful imported snakeskins from an out of town LFS. They were larger than any NZ bred snakeskins I've seen. I've been trying for a year to get some decent ones. Was told that no need to quarantine as they had already been quarantined for several weeks and were good to go. Foolishly I put them both into my community tank. Well one died over night, two days later the other one had what looked like fungus so out he came into my Q tank which already had a red tux guppy in it recovereing from a torn tail. he was gettig better and had been in there a month. Dispite meth blue and acriflavine that new guppy also died .. then I lost the red tux , he got a white patch overnight and died. I lost a further two guppies from the main tank and several older fry. SO frustrating. Whatever it was, it only affected guppy not the other fish and also very quickly . The main tank seems all clear now and the remaining guppy seem happy and healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 I know that this original post date runs back to 2007 but this seems to be a common issue still from what I hear around the place. Apparently some guppies can carry disease (imports in particular), which they have developed an immunity to. When you add them to a tank full of guppies that have not been exposed to this before these guppies then die (not all of them, some like humans are strong enough to stand exposure). Do these guppies then become carriers? I don't know but I expect so. I was told years ago not to mix batches of guppies purchased. When I did not mix them, there were no problems, when I did then there often were. Fish coming out of quarantine still need to be isolated. Just because they have survived this process it doesn't mean that they haven't picked something up from the fish that died in quarantine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 My daughter bred guppies when she was a teen. She had some beautiful colours and they had all been living together happily for 2 years or more with no other fish added. She the found a black male she wanted, in a shop in ChCh. Since the original fish all came from the same shop she didn't quarantine, just added it to the tank. Next morning she woke to find all the fish dead or dying, except the new one. Turned out the new fish had something her fish had not encountered before (a bit like the missionaries spreading measles) and they had no immunity to it. In this case it would not have mattered if she had quarantined the new fish because it was healthy. She was so upset she has never kept fish since! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 well I just had another fry die on me., just when I thought I had the all clear. All the fry are in the Q tank thank goodenss but I'm now thinking I might need to euthanise the remainign 9 and disnfect the tank. Whats the best thing to disnfect the tank? plain bleach? - will it eat the rubber heater holders and the impeller material ? (not sure what that is amde of but it feels rubbery) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flosty Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 My problem seems to be if I introduce new stock,generally males are the ones I am adding. They start out with nice big flowing tails,but within a week or two,there tails have all but disappeared and there bodies are now skinny,they still eat but don't put on any weight.Some tend to hang around the top of the tank,some on the bottom,they can be in this condition for months.The original guppies all seem to be fine I have kept the guppies apart for months,basicly isolating them but as soon as I bring them together its the same result. Furthermore all the fry I am raising end up being skinny and sickly like they are carrying the same disease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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