Nic G Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Hey everyone! Well I'm quite new to the whole fish thing - I have horses & birds... not tropical fish!!! BUT my boyfriend decided to go on holiday and leave me with his fish for 4 weeks! I've read all I can about them, and am looking after them as well as possible, but I have a problem... all the guppies are dying. First they loose all their colour, then they disappear completely... I think they're dying and being eaten by the other fish. The other fish in there are 4 neon tetras, one other tetra type looking fish we haven't identified, 3 female swords, 2 catfish and a loach. Also I had a mailed catfish, but he died this morning What a disaster. Has anyone please got any suggestions?? I have checked the pH, it's about 7.3, could be lower obviously, but I don't know how to lower it. There is a limestone rock in there, but it's not lowered it at all, and they were fine in there for a while. I also checked the nitrite level, it's about 0.1, so that's not too bad. I'm going to do a part water change and see how that goes, but I don't want to change too much at a time because our water is very alkaline and it'll put the pH up too much. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 is there any ammonia ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Angl Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 How big is the tank? How big is the filter? Is the heater on? Have you done any water changes? What are you feeding them and how much? Do you have any water test kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 losing colour would indicate the stress levels going up, as most fish do this when you transport them, also my guppies go pale if the water is cold, so as ma suggested, check the heater B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 By the way, limestone raises the pH, not lowers it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic G Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Hi everyone, Okay, yes, the heater is on, the water is 26 degrees. I put one of those nutrafin weekend fish food things in there because it says they can help neutralise the water. I have a test kit and I've tested the pH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels, they are all okay. Except pH could go down a little, but I don't think its a major problem. I haven't done any water changes as yet. I am feeding them an algae tablet every 1-2 days for the catfish. Plus the odd cube of tubifex worms. And some community flakes. I was feeding them only a little bit 3 times, then I decided that was too much, so dropped to twice. Not an expensive filter, it has the cotton wool floss type stuff in it, no carbon, apparently there's not enough fish to need it?? I've been using the Nutrafin Cycle stuff once a week like it suggests too. Tank size its about 50-60ltr I think, its 60cm long, 31cm wide, 30cm deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 There might be a member that ccould nip around and have a look at your tank if we knew your location... NZ is a big place Welcome to the NZ Fishroom BTW Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Hi Nic G, You said ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels, they are all okay. Not trying to sound condesending but the acceptable "levels" for Ammonia and Nitrite are zero, Nitrates can be zero too. Unless there are real plants in the tank as well... .maybe 5-10 ppm max (?). How long has it been since the water was changed?? Most people would do "something like" 10 - 20 % per week. ( up to 50% i hear ) If you decide to do a water change do it using a bucket that has never had detergents in it ( I have a dedicated 15l Bucket) need any more help just ask Hope that help DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic G Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 the acceptable "levels" for Ammonia and Nitrite are zero, Nitrates can be zero too. Unless there are real plants in the tank as well... .maybe 5-10 ppm max (?). Yes that's what I meant when I said that they are all okay - ammonia 0, nitrite barely 0.1, nitrate barely 5, and yes, there are plants in there. Thank you for the suggestion, I will do a water change tomorrow and see how that goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic G Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 :-? this morning one of the swords has a white bit on back. The guppies never did. There is some anti fungal stuff masterpet put out in the little black bottles, same range as Cure Ex etc... I was thinking I should start this treatment in the water after I do the water change today......? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Good luck with the problem nic. I can't advise you on the treatment cause I'm a newbie too - but I am sure others will be able to help Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Jude you joined up before me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 but I'm a slow learner :oops: :oops: :oops: I've had second thoughts about that statement - I am a quick learner but a fast forgetter .............. blame it on an old lady memory :roll: :roll: :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Frustrating isn't it. Don't panic, just think in horse terms. Check the paddock (tank), feed (overfeeding causes laminitis, foundering or bizarre behaviour, colic etc. fish die), etc. :lol: I had a bad run with fish stressing and dieing and the more things i tried the more they stressed out. I stopped and pretended they were my horses. Eventually worked it out, but damn its hard when your new and don't know what to look for. Good luck. Sorry no real practical advice but i'm new to this too. Ask me a horse question and i can help you. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 ok this is blind advice first of all stop feeding them see what happens introduce food slowly and mess with the tank as little as possible do a 20% water change look for any rotting fish or plants and remove them. dont use deoderant fly spray or anything aerosol anywhere near the tank Same on the horse questions I can train a horse to do just about anything but I cant train my plecos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic G Posted May 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Thanks Willie & Joze!! That does make things a lot simpler if I pretend they're my horses!!! :lol: So we can all help each other on horse topics! hehe! They're okay today, I still have 3 swords, 3 neon tetras, 2 catfish, another fish (i tried to take a photo so I could post it on here to see what it is, but it didn't come out on my digi cam) and 1 last little guppy ...I started with 5!! I did a 15-20% water change yesterday and put in some of the Anti-Septic stuff for white spot, fin rot etc. I really hope they will be okay, it's hard when you can't do anything! If they were a horse I'd know what was wrong to start with, and that would really help!! And if you can't fix it, a vet likely could, but I can't imagine taking tropical fish the the vet! They'd laugh at me! Was bad enough when I took some of my pedigree budgerigars in coz they had something wrong with them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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