spook Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 i went to the pet shop yesterday and brought 3 guppies one male is dead and one female is also on the brink of dying. within 24 hrs its a new tank, water is at 26 degrees has a power saver bulb over the tank for 12hrs a day. and at the moment im only feeding the tropical fish food. what am i doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 did you cycle the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Also how big was the tank and have you done any water tests? I think that regardless of cycling etc unless your tank is tiny 24hrs is too short for 3 guppies to cause enough waste to die? Maybe give the place you brought them from a call or go in and see if all their guppies are dying I know our local shops are having troubles keeping guppies alive.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted November 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 havent cycled the tank, how do i do that? The tank is only 16 litres. What tests do i need to do to the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Oic probably very possible that it is related to cycling with a tank that small however I know people do use guppies to cycle tanks.. Here is some light reading for you http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/where- ... t6979.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted November 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Thanks ill read about cycling, it is new water so perhaps the ammonia is too high. Guess i will have to buy a testing kit to find out whats going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Don't suppose there's any possibility that any sort of chemical or heavy metal has got into your tank? Cleaning agents, bits of wire holding stuff together, dodgy filter material? When you say they're on the brink, what do you mean exactly? Explain their behavior and maybe someone with tropical fish keeping experience can shed a bit more light. Good luck, you'll need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 This sounds like a combination of an uncycled tank and stressed fish. You brought the fish home from the LPS, which stressed them, then put them into a tank. A few hours later as they started pooping, the ammonia levels began to rise, stressing them more, and oops they died. Cycle the tank, then try again. I hope you're ready for lots of babies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 if the guppies were pretty (fancy like) which i presume they were? I mean why would you want ugly ordinary guppies lol :lol: - then they do tend to be weaker than the normal ones - so water parameters could have affected them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted November 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 the fish that are on the brink of dying float around the tank slowly sinking to the bottom. when they get to the bottom they get a burst of life and swim back to the top then again float to the bottom. they kinda float tail first towards the bottom. going to go and buy an ammonia testing kit and try this cycling thing. cycling - is that just basically changing the water a lot so that bacteria has a chance do grow. do i cycle with new water or use stuff i pulled out of the tank on a previous day? thank you all for you help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 I keep fish in tanks that size with no filter or airstone and have no problems. I even raise killi fry to sexual maturity in those tanks. There is no way that three fish will produce enough NH3 in that time to be a problem. The problem is more than likely weak interbred fish and a combination of stress from pH, hardness and teperature shock as well as chlorine and chloramines in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 If a completely new tank set up and you don't have another tank handy to source fish-ready water from, try purchasing some water from the shop you bought the fish from - even if only enough to fill a 1/3 of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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