Guppies

[D.K.S.]

Anyone want to talk about guppies? Come on let's get the discussion going.

[Cichlid Man]

Young people are called babies, young dogs are called puppies, but young guppies are just called young guppies.

[Anonymous]

Was wondering why is it everytime i buy guppies they always get this whitish stuff on them. they are fine when i bring them home.i try and buy them as soon as the vendor brings them to the store but they always end up with this whitish stuff. even the ones in the store have/end up with this whitish stuff..what is it? how can i make it go away? i have tried mela fix that helps and salt that helps but it never goes away all the way.

Thanks,
azcutiepie

[doggydad38]

The whitish stuff is a fungus. It's just a stress response by the fish to a change in water conditions. If I don't do regular water changes on my tanks, my fish break down like that also and I've had some of my strains for 3 years.
Tony

[azcutiepie2026]

Yeah but my guppies die within 3 to 4 days of this.

[Anonymous]

azcutiepie ... the whitish stuff (spots?) is commonly called 'ICH' ... most fish can survive it if you raise your tank temp to about 85*, add a small amount of aquarium salt - no more than 1/2 tspoon per gallon - and add a medication designed specifically for 'ich'. It is easily obtained at any fish store. You will then need to do 50% water changes to your tank every week for about a month. You also must vacuum the bottom of the tank because this particular disease actually regenerates thru spores left on the bottom of the tank. One of the main things is to make sure you have quality fresh water in the tank, ph at or above 7.0 and well filtered.

[azcutiepie2026]

Oops forgot to say it wasnt ICH..i know what ich is It looks like someone threw salt on the fish.my fish dont have it..its almost like a cotton looking stuff..it starts either on the top of the head behind the eyes/not on the eyes. and then works is way on to the body looks like the slime coat is peeling or something..sometimes it starts at the other end and works up from the tail to the head.

[WinovichAquatics]

Hello, it sounds like there is something more that is causing the fungus than simply stress, though that probably isn't helpng. There are many fungal treatments available at fish stores or Petcos. Before you purchase your next fish, run the medication through the tank first for a week to kill off anything that might be causing it. Then go buy your fish from a different store. Fungus usually attacks when there is a weakness in the fish, I've found that it is usually caused by a bacterial or parasite infection first. Also, when you choose your fish, watch the whole tank first. See if there are any unhealthy fish. If there is a massive amount of dead fish in the tank that is a good indication that you shouldn't get one of those fish. Also, look to see if the tanks are clean and well taken care of. Look up information in books in the disease section. I have one that is from the '70s that I still use for diseases. I hope that this helped a little and feel free to Private Message me!

[Anonymous]

oops, okay ... well nevermind then ... i should not have assumed it was spots ... good advice from the lady above ... always make sure store fish are lively and healthy first .... yes and you can also search the net for fish diseases and get a good idea there and then buy the necessary meds ...
if it keeps happening in your tank it may be something in your tank ... i think the only thing to do at that point is break down the tank and disinfect it with a bleach wash and reset up ...

[D.K.S.]

Glad to see so many guppy people here. Sorry about your guppies azcutie, it does sound like a fungus problem.

[MrGreenGenes]

[mousey]

I am very partial to guppies. some of my girls are as big as large platys. I bought a feamle at wall mart a yeart ago Dec. and having been breeding the resulting fry off and on to get a few fish to keep my tanks stocked. Unfortunately with guppies I get more than a few
I have some very pretty ones--red fan shape tails with black flecks and some very black females with blue tails.
I like guppies because you never quite know what colors you will get and there is so much variation. I especially like the girls as they are fat and lazy looking but in actual fact they are eating lots of algae. The males are not as attractive in my mind as they are always thinking about sex and swimm about too quickly.
I have problems with my SAE"S eating off the flowing male tails too. Also the SAE's munch my bettas flowing tails..

[sumpthinfishy]

Mousey, what do you do when you start getting too many? I can't keep getting tanks. Well, my husband wouldn't be happy anyway. He's wanting to wait and get a really humungous tank and I agree. So, in the meantime, what do you do with them all?

[swimmers]

Sumpthinfishy, some lfs will give you fish credit for them or you can donate them to them, the only problem is - they usually want them to be fairly good size - couple months old at least - & in the meantime your tank can get crowded. I kept getting tanks for all my baby platys & now have 5 tanks & just found one w/ stand in the dumpster! the possibilites are endless!

[sumpthinfishy]

Thanks for the info, swimmers

[ni317]

Hello I love my guppies also I have some wal mart guppies I had some huge moms at 1 time 1 dropped 60 fry a month I keep adding tanks to but now I have some pure fish Like half blacks and reds and getting some purples I am working on getting a nother 55 gallon assorted tank and giveing my half blacks there tank and down the line right now I have 30 or so females in 1 tank and 15 to 20 males in a nother I am going to let the females birth out and pick my nicest male and get my blues out and mate them up with a nice blue male and get some better fish right now I have 5 guppy tanks and will be adding at least 3 or4 tanks soon.
I sell my guppies I don't get much but they don't need a hole lot when I was doing really well I was making about 250 a month off guppies but I had moms dropping 50 to 60 fry and I had I think it was 6 or 7 doing that so I had tons and was selling them cheap I love seeing them birth also seeing 3or 4 drop out at a time is neat to me.Well tanks are calling my name to be cleaned I hope to chat with you all soon about guppies Diana

[Pareeeee]

Just had a guppy die this week - got himself stuck under a rock

[mousey]

well last year i walked about the street asking people if they could use a few guppies for any tanks they had. That worked last year!
Then I decided it was ridiculous to keep getting tanks( lot of work to keep up with the cleaning) so I separated the boys from the girls. This worked well until I was down to 3 females and one male. I gave the male to my neighbor and borrowed a male from a lady up the street. Now I have an abundance of fry again. I am learning to collect a few and let future litters become food! This goes against my maternal instinct and desire to save all living creatures but I am learning to do it.
I have not had much luck with giving to the pet stores. they seem to have contracts with dealers and so if they take any it is for feeders. Would rather let them get eaten as soon as they are born than to let them become feederfish. My girls are too magnificent to go for feeder food anyway.(red fantail)
It is a dilemma and i am having the same probs with swords and platys. I have decided to only buy males or egg layers next time I need fish.
The responsibility is too great.

[maximoves]

Hello Mousey, what size tank you have? I just wonder cause you have SAE, it must be quite large, 100 G or so?

Preventing guppy´s to breed, separate mails and females in different tanks. Then only every three months you can put one male you choose in to a female tank for few days and then remove it back to "boys room" again. Then just wait till new babies are born. Babies should be sold to an petstore when they are about 7 weeks old. After that they start to breed. At least separate males away form female tank.

I do like that and it´s easy and humane way to control thee breeding.

And fungus, treat your tank before getting any new fish. Don´t rush buying new before you use some fungus treatment, buy it from local petstore, follow instructions and after going thru whole medical program then get new fish.

Good luck for your Guppys!

[mousey]

well i have 2 SAE's in a 20 gal and 2 in a 15.
The sae's are about 3 inches long and I think they are a bit big for the type of fish i have and tank size. They were so tiny when I bought them last year!! and Big Als said they would not grow big. I guess one needs to qualify what not grow big means!!
They have sucked up a couple of 2 month guppies and as I say they munch the tails of male bettas and fancy long tails of any sort-- always at night. have never seen anything happen to tails in the day light.
someone on this site says they are not malicious like CAES. had one of them and gave him away after he took a dislike to the one orange platy and then ripped out all my plants one day.(too lazy to eat algae)
Anyway, does anyone live near Newmarket Ontario,? I have a wack of java moss to give away.Not planning on any more fry-- am going back to betta tank when this lot of fry is mature.
Mouse