I'm losing all my adult fan tail guppies fast

[Britni]

I bought my daughter a 10 galling complete Walmart special setup for her room back in December. It's been going since January 1st. We have well water here with a softener system on it. The fish get this almost lethargic lazy type swim going on and the next thing you know they have fallen to the bottom of the tank bloated and some have even had fuzzy like stuff coming out of their rear ends. It's taking them out fast one day their fine the next they get that odd swimming on and the next they are dead. I have at least 12 babies that were born in that tank that have not had a single problem. At first it started with the females but has now progressed to the males too. There is no fin picking going on what so ever. I feed Omega One Super Color Flakes and once a week I feed freeze dried blood worms. They are fed two to three times a day. I have not used any meds because I have no idea what's going on. I have no idea what the hardness or ammonia levels are.


TexasHuntress

[originalhandy]

3 times a day is way too much food. Once every other day with all they can eat in 30 seconds is what I do. Knowing what your water levels are like is essential, you can have it tested at any chain for free or buy an api freshwater kit. Over feeding can cause ammonia to spike. Try some water changes.

As for the white stuff im not sure, maybe ick ? The guys with more experience will be able to tell for sure. If it is I got rid of my ick with salt and an ick treatment and raising tank temp to 86 for a couple of weeks.


If you do get water tested at the store, ask them what the levels are though . They tell customers that ammonia level is safe when to me there is no such thing as safe ammonia.

30pc water changes are good, if yoy have a water issue the solution to pollution is dilution. Do you use Prime or anything at water changes?

Hopefully somebody with more experience can chime in soon.

Good luck!

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[mnemenoi]

+1 water changes are certainly in order. Sounds like the tank is not cycled and this is reeking havoc on your Nitrogen cycle, exposing the fish to deadly levels of Ammonia and Nitrite. My suggestion is do not add any more fish until it is finished cycling. To know that you'll need testing equipment or take water samples to a store and ask for hard numbers. Big Chain store fancy guppies are fairly delicate and are actually harder then most folks think. Most are bred in SE Asia in almost pure marine conditions, acclimated over to fresh quickly and shipped out. Many do not fare well within a week or two and have no idea why. Endlers guppies/livebearers bred locally in tap are far hardier or try Houston Aquatics (I know the owner is a die hard guppy aficionado and breeds them in the back room in fresh, so at least no surprises). Acquiring some Seachem Stability will help cycle the tank faster, just follow the directions on the bottle.

[Britni]

Thank you very much!!!


TexasHuntress

[morpheus]

Strongly second the test kit purchase, and agree with water changes needed. lethargic swimming usually points to high ammonia or nitrite levels. any pet store like petco and petsmart sell master kits which test for pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. The hardness test kits are separate, but water hardness wouldnt cause this behavior. you can also buy the test strips, they are easy to use and match the colors, but i personally find the liquid drop kits more accurate.

i only feed my fish once a day, and its only what they consume in a few minutes. excess food gets trapped in the gravel, so unless you have bottom feeders to clean as it drops or you siphon the gravel during water changes, it will accumulate and cause toxicity levels to rise. as suggested, do not add more fish now. bacteria can also grow on unconsumed food if left long enough. i do water changes every 2 weeks, about 30%, but you can do more if necessary.

it will take some time for good bacteria to grow on surfaces in the tank/filter. used filter pads and media help, as well as chemicals such as seachem stability to kick start the cycling of the tank.

[Britni]

I have Aqua Safe it dechlorinates and conditions I also have nutrafin aqua plus


TexasHuntress

[Britni]

So if I do this water change, and put bottled water back in there instead would that be better?


TexasHuntress

[Britni]

As I said before I have both Babies and adults in this tank. The babies are fine ad I assuming its because they were born in these water conditions.


TexasHuntress

[Britni]

At this rate I'm not taking my dead fish back up to petsmart. From here on out ill be dealing with local breeders and the shop I was told about in the first comments. I'm not quite sure where it is but there will be no more fish purchases until I get everything right in this tank.


TexasHuntress

[originalhandy]

If theyre still under guarentee with Petsmart take them back and use the credit agaisnt an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. $1 off is better than full price. The test kit is $30 but will last a really long time.

Bottled water should be fine, but so is tapwater. I use prime with my tapwater, on a 10G tank youre probably looking at using half a lid ful of prime at every water change. Most hearty fish can adjust to any water chemistry your tap puts out, so long as its stable fish will survive. Its ammonia/nitrite spikes etc is when you see dead fish. Do a 30% change every day for a few days then test the water again.

[Britni]

Ok did my first water change today. I took about two gallons out and put two gallons back in. Is that about right or is that to much?


TexasHuntress

[mnemenoi]

You certainly have the right info going forward :) Aqua Safe and Nutra Fin Plus are both dechlorinators, so its useful for prepping water before a water change so you avoid any Ammonia, Chlorine, and Chloramines (also adding fish slime occasionally). Seachem Stability (or Cycle, not sure who makes it) are live bacteria cultures for jumpstarting your tanks Nitrogen Cycle. They do not dechlorinate water, this is a supplement for speeding up the bacterial cycle for breaking Ammonia, to Nitrite, to Nitrate. Ammonia and Nitrite are both highly toxic to fish. Fish and excess food produce Ammonia, certain bacteria break this down into Nitrite which rises. Another bacteria break this down into Nitrate, which is far less deadly and is lowered during water changes. Usually new tanks require 30-45 days with food added to cycle and have the bacteria present to consume the Ammonia into Nitrate safely without levels rising to dangerous levels. Currently that is where you are at, if you had a testing kit we could spot exactly where you were. We can assume its somewhere in that point to Nitrite (complete guess, but I assume its close) and adults are more susceptible then younger offspring as its accumulating in their bodies. My guess as to why certain ones are dying while others survive. To reduce the amount in the water column you'll need to water change a significant volume. Adding your supplements will not add to the bacterial colonies present in the aquarium, the others will and thus speed up the process. Bottled water just lacks chlorine, but again no bacterial colonies so it just means no need to dechlorinate it. Hope that helps clear things up a bit.

[morpheus]

I have Aqua Safe it dechlorinates and conditions I also have nutrafin aqua plus


TexasHuntress

Aqua Safe does take out chlorine and help with the slime coat of the fish, but it does not detoxify ammonia or nitrites. the conditioner i know which does this is Seachem Prime. I use API tap water conditioner max strength, which only takes out chlorine and binds metals as well, but since you are most likely registering ammonia and nitrites i would recommend Prime

So if I do this water change, and put bottled water back in there instead would that be better?


TexasHuntress

i have never had well water, so that may add a wrinkle and others can comment better. i just use tap water and condition the water before adding to the tank in a bucket

As I said before I have both Babies and adults in this tank. The babies are fine ad I assuming its because they were born in these water conditions.


TexasHuntress

At this rate I'm not taking my dead fish back up to petsmart. From here on out ill be dealing with local breeders and the shop I was told about in the first comments. I'm not quite sure where it is but there will be no more fish purchases until I get everything right in this tank.


TexasHuntress

it is possible the fry are more adapted to the water conditions, but the water did not start with ammonia or nitrites. it builds over time as fish are added and waste accumulates. eventually it would get too toxic for fry and adults. just routine water changes and monitor the levels will solve things assuming there is no type of infection. you mentioned fuzzy material which could be many things. one step at a time and its correct the chemistry first

i have had mixed results with petsmart. one store location always died, and another store location never died. i just stopped going to one store but still occasionally buy from them.

you can always just return the dead fish for money back as long as its within two weeks of purchase for your money back. petco gives a 30 day return policy. some stores wont give a return policy at all. you dont have to replace the fish is returned to petsmart. i just bring the fish in a little water in a ziploc, and the receipt. they never even ask for a water sample when a fish is returned dead.

there are many stores people on her suggest, and all are happy to give advice of stores they like and dislike

[Britni]

How often after all this is straightened out should I be doing sweater change on this the gallon


TexasHuntress

[mnemenoi]

Water changes are a bit tricky, it depends on numerous factors such as stocking, feeding, water parameters. A test kit helps in this regard. Usually you target Nitrates and determine your accepted level (say 50ppm) and after 1 week you have that reading. You water change 50% and your levels are now 25ppm. If it takes you another week to hit 50ppm, then your water change schedule is (assuming a 20 gallon tank) 10 gallons per week. If you did a 75% WC, then your numbers would be 12-13ppm after and it might take 2 weeks to again get to 50ppm. That is why a test kit is helpful. It gives you hard numbers to go by, not just guessing. Older tanks work better, so often times need less water changes, while new tanks grow colonies, they need more on average. I would suggest 50% WC twice a week should be good for another month or two. By then your bacteria should be better off and we can reassess the parameters and any issues you might be continuing to have.