Losing all my guppies

[JackBauer]

OK, about a month ago we bought 3 new guppies. We added them to the main tank, and within a day, all 3 had died, along with 3 white clouds and 2 platys.

Two weeks ago we bought 6 guppies. We kept them in a new fish tank for a week before adding them to the main tank. We've lost 2 guppies in 2 days, and today I found another one that seems very sick. I cannot figure out what is going on with these guys. The one that is sick now seemed to be swimming weirdly and floating upside down, so I took him out of the main tank and put him in one of the small plastic hang-on-the-side containers, and took some video, until I figure out what to do. In the video I have, he is just swimming along very slowly, almost seeming to be crawling on the bottom of the plastic container.

The link to the video is here, if anyone can look at it and offer some info: http://www.christopherawheeler.com/video/

[Giddy012]

What are your perameters?

[JackBauer]

water temp: 78
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 20ppm

[Giddy012]

I don't know much about Guppies (just got my first ones today acually), but here are my thoughts, looks to me like over feeding. From the looks of the fish swimming behind him/her they are slightly large in the belly (yes I know what a pregnant fish looks like ). How much do you feed, could your son be sneeking the fish some food (could hear him in the background of the video)? You may want to post this in the general freshwater section, doesn't seem like people go into the disease area much.

[Ringo]

Could just be stress from all the moving.
Find out what your lfs parameters are. How long do yo take to introduce your fish into your tank?

[JackBauer]

Originally Posted by Giddy012

here are my thoughts, looks to me like over feeding. From the looks of the fish swimming behind him/her they are slightly large in the belly (yes I know what a pregnant fish looks like ). How much do you feed, could your son be sneeking the fish some food (could hear him in the background of the video)?

Up until a week ago we fed the fish 2-3 times a day. Then I switched to 1 time per day. If it were overfeeding, would it only strike the guppies? And would it start after we reduced the feeding?

Originally Posted by Ringo

Could just be stress from all the moving.
Find out what your lfs parameters are. How long do yo take to introduce your fish into your tank?

I'm not sure what the LFS parameters are. We got them two weeks ago at a PetSmart, an hour away. We kept them separated in a "new fish" tank for 7 days before introducing them into the main tank.

-----

I was reading another site about disease and the first one listed is fin rot. The symptoms listed for fin rot on this site include Rotting fins, loss of appetite, sluggish movements and laying on the tank bottom.

I'm not exactly sure what is meant by "rotting fins" but I noticed on that one that I posted a video of, part of his tail fin seemed to be gone, perhaps rotted. Before I quarantined him into the small plastic tank, he was swimming sluggishly along the bottom of the aquarium, and after he was in the plastic tank he clearly can be seen swimming on the bottom. Could this be what it was?

P.S. When I got home from class last night, he was dead.

[TheOldSalt]

Chainstore guppies are usually in very bad shape, and very often fail when you take them home, especially over a good distance, where your water and the petshop water are likely quite different.

Try getting a couple of gallons of store water with your next fish, and keep them in that for a few days while you slowly blend in some of your local water over a week or so to acclimate them.

Is it still winter in Iowa? Did the fish get cold on their long trip home? That's a big problem for guppies.

[JackBauer]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

Chainstore guppies are usually in very bad shape, and very often fail when you take them home, especially over a good distance, where your water and the petshop water are likely quite different.

Try getting a couple of gallons of store water with your next fish, and keep them in that for a few days while you slowly blend in some of your local water over a week or so to acclimate them.

Is it still winter in Iowa? Did the fish get cold on their long trip home? That's a big problem for guppies.

I don't think I'll have a chance to get any pet store water, since I live out of town, and the PetSmart I was at was in a town that I don't frequently go to.

I don't remember what the weather was like 2 weeks ago here. It might have been cold. Although in our car it would have been warm. If they got cold on the way home, would that really cause them to die 2 weeks later? After seeming to do well for the first two weeks?

[Buggy]

Just to cover all bases here....you are declorinating the water before you add the fish, right?

[JackBauer]

Originally Posted by Buggy

Just to cover all bases here....you are declorinating the water before you add the fish, right?

I'm using Amquel+, which I think says removes chloramines or whatever they call it.

[TheOldSalt]

yeah, amquel is fine.
Yes, a chill can have bad effects two weeks later, no problem.

If you really want guppies, then it's time you learned hat most guppy keepers already know: if you want good ones, you have to raise them yourself. That means getting a bunch and getting a few to make it, and then raising the babies galore they'll produce, which will be in great shape.
Sad, but pretty much true.
Alternately, you can go to Aquabid.com and buy some already good guppies from a breeder selling them, or go to your nearest guppy club. ( Good luck with THAT in Coralville ! ) For that mater, since guppies reproduce so much, anyone you know who has some will no doubt frequently have some healthy fry to get rid of for free or cheap.