Tsarmina Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 i'm having issues with my gups. it's got to the point where i'm losing 1 a day. they are only 6mths old at most, so its not old age. its a 4ft tank containing: 2 BN's 2 peppered cories and my girl gups / breeding boys / fry plants are java moss, java and indian fern, and a plant i got from jude (not sure of name) parameters, as of saturday 01-07-06 PH: 6.2 Ammonia: 0.25 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 40 GH: 3 50 KH: 4 60 Temp: 24oC i have since done a 20% water change. any ideas as to what the cause may be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 You will find a number of posts in the past with people losing guppies for no apparent reason. Mainly females I think. But your ammonia should be 0 and the nitrates less than 25. The pH is a little acidic for guppies too. What was a ammonia and nitrate after the water change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 still losing 1 a day. parameters as of 3pm today PH: 6.4 Ammonia: 0.25 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 the thing that gets me is it is sudden. mark checked the tank this morning at 9am, so i wouldn't have to take another body out, but they were all swimming around fine. when i checked at 11am, there was one laying dead on the java moss. it seems to be the girls i'm losing, but they are still dropping fry. now if they were stressed by anything, would they not abort?? this is just so frustrating :evil: and its getting to the point where i'm wondering if i should just give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 first things first.... DONT GIVE UP!!!! There is obviously some sort of disease or similiar in the tank that is slowly killing off one at a time, are there any signs of what they have died of?? for example: I keep having harlequins die one after the other. one will get fungus on a fin and then be dead the next morning. i have tried pretty much everything possible to no avail. Im starting to think that it may be guppy disease as mystic mentioned, i dont know anything about guppy disease but you may want to have a google and find out what the symptoms etc are. Hope you can sort it out!! Rogan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 What are your ammonia and nitrate readings now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 the test was done at the pet store as i don't have an ammonia test kit and my nitrate one is giving incorrect readings (and i follow the instructions exactly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 is it possible they are weak genetically? not sure if fish can get things like liver and heart failure if theyre weak genetically but its possible, they might still look nice but might have some faults inside somewhere. whatever it is has to be very fast moving, perhaps a post mortem and some checks done for bacteria or something? these fish in question dont look emaciated before dying or anything do they? are they just swimming around perfectly fine and looking good and then die? there isnt any chance of poisining? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 sometimes i can tell that they are going to die. what happens is they try to lodge themselves into a plant to stay upright. i noticed this with the one that died last night. if they can't, then they swim awkwardly and start to sink while trying to get to the surface. i do have an airstone in the tank so i don't think it's lack of oxygen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 make that 2 for today just noticed another girl on her way out, doing exactly what i described above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 swim bladder problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smcoleman Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 i had a big lost a couple of months ago i lost a 4 foot tank full over about 2 weeks i pull out 2000 dead guppies from babys to adults only save about 20 made was i not happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 esdot has had a thought, so far we have had one boy die 3 days ago, he was our first. since then we have only lost girls, the olny major change we have had to what appears to be an otherwise healthy tank, population explosion with fry, is the addition of a new boy, about a week ago, who we have just removed, to his own tank. Is it possible that some sort of STD, has been brought into the tank, like aids or such, we know its way out there, but as there are just girls dying, except for our sword tail boy, we are trying to go through all possible scenarios. Your thoughts please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 are they ones that look like they are going to die have clamped fins? are their body bent in a funny angle? do they move really fast and dont seem to get anywhere? are their gill plates open wider than normal and seems very red then normal? all these would help. i do feel sorry for u having to go though this but hang in there and hopefully one of us can help u out. DONT GIVE UP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 are they ones that look like they are going to die have clamped fins? No are their body bent in a funny angle? No. Though they do end up upside down. do they move really fast and dont seem to get anywhere? Not really. they seem more tired than anything are their gill plates open wider than normal only nearer to the end. they also start to breathe heavier too and seems very red then normal? No redness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 how about change in color? or wasting away and not eating? have u tried any medication yet? sound like u are at a point where u need to do some drastic water change and get some sort of treatment goin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 how about change in color? no change or wasting away and not eating? healthy appetites have u tried any medication yet? i have tried melafix, salt and tonic on the individuals that i know are sick, to no avail. i haven't dosed the whole tank yet as i have to try and remove the bristlenoses first. not an easy task in a four foot tank when they are only 2 inches long i'm doing water changes every few days as i don't want to recycle the tank if i take too much out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 perhaps a broad spectrum antibiotic like furan might be worth a shot. no need to remove bristles for that either (i used furan at a double dose as adivsed by a cat person on my pleco way back) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 thanks sharn, tsar is going to call the lfs and try to obtain some, meanwhile we have just lost a boy Symptoms: Lost colour, eyes bulging, body a little bent, almost looks like oxygen deprivation. From what im thinking this isn't the guppie diesease, from what we know of it, but more a new type of which seems to be killing the girls, and the occasional boy. possible transferred through the mating process. Just a theory, but becoing a little more solid, as we watch the losses. -Esdot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 i have added furan to the tank (hey, i'm willing to try anyone's suggestions once at the moment) the tank has gone a nice shade of green, as the packet said it would, and even my cories are more active now. Q. is it possible to get gay guppies?? because a few of my boys don't seem interested in the girls, just each other :-? :oops: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted July 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 well, done the furan treatment and there has been no deaths to speak of as yet, so hopefully we have eliminated the problem. am going to set up another tank as the population is still increasing very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Great to here tsar. Keep up the good work Rogan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 woo hoo :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damiana Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 It's possible he brought in a contagion. I also wonder about the recent population explosion, though you wouldn't expect them to go kaput at a lowish ammonia reading. I'd be doing daily 20% water changes as well as trying to get the pH up a bit. Here's a thought. Back when I first started breeding mollies I made the mistake of going off for a weekend without putting something over my filter intake in case they dropped fry while I was gone. They did, the fry got sucked into my filter and decomposed. I came back to pure carnage. Have you had a peek in your filter to see what's going on? It might even be a good idea to give everything a good rinse or toss into the bin (as applicable), just to remove some possible variables. EDIT: For some reason the last page didn't show up until after I'd posted. Sounds like you're on the right track! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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