Fancy Guppies dying out?

[Alex51]

Hello everyone! I posted the Newbie Stocking Advice thread a few weeks back and started on my road to a nice little 29 gallon community. Well, some things changed down the road... And there has been two sad fatalities.

I am lost as to why these fish died so I am here to request any help and advice you veterans have to offer!

First, I carefully added a small group of Emerald Corycats (4) along with some Zebra Danios (6). The fish did well and I was quite proud of myself that there was little to no fluctuation in the levels in the tank. I read that I may have prematurely added the corycats so I purchased a long turkey baster to give them some nice grub in the rocks!

Now, week two, my girl friend may have gone a bit overboard, but we managed to safely add another little group of fish, 4 Red Phantom Tetras, 6 Cardinal Tetras and 2 Fancy guppies.

Now here lies the problem. The 1 fancy guppy died. It wasn't bloat... It wasn't any parasite (that I knew to look for). So my girlfriend ended up this last week buying another fancy guppy to once more pair with the one in the tank. However, that one sadly perished under (presumably) the same circumstances.

Is there anything I am missing? Should I be looking for something? The temperature on the tank is 76-78 and all levels ph-ammonia-nitrite-nitrate are within reasonable bounds if not perfect. (The pH is 7.2-7.4)

What am I doing wrong?!

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Al...

You likely just need to prepare the tank properly for the fish. Any tank requires large, frequently water changes, floating plants to help filter the tank water, a rounded teaspoon of standard aquarium salt added to every 5 gallons of new water and a varied diet of mostly frozen food, a little freeze dried and a very little bit of flaked food. The salt is optional for your egglayers, but my livebearing fish like my Guppies really do a lot better healthwise if I add a little.

B

 

[threnjen]

Guppies are pretty pathetic little fish. They are so inbred I think that as a species they are genetically weak.
I could be wrong of course. I just don't have a high opinion of their survivability.
If you show any ammonia or nitrite at all they may have been poisoned.

 

[henningc]

Now, Now, guppys have their place, but unfortunately ThernJen if right. First, if you want guppys, don't buy them from a pet store. If you just can't resist, get an envelop and mail me the $2.99 instead. If you want nice guppys go to Aquaabid or any other breeder and get something that has bred and reared correctly. Guppyalturnative is a good source, pricey, but great stock. You can call the owner Frank and he can explain. Like I said, get the fish from people who breed them and they wont go belly up.

 

[threnjen]

Poor guppies, I sound like I hate them! I actually have several. I've just not been impressed with their hardiness and the ones from my LFS only seem to have a 70% survival rate within 48 hours (and I drip acclimate very carefully, and have excellent tank maintenance).
I wish I'd bought my guppies somewhere nice like henningc suggested!

 

[GazMoor]

I gave up with guppies. Stunning little fish but even though everything in a tank can be perfect they just snuff it lol.

Only guppies I've had any long term success with were little endler guppies.

I too like to keep my tank very clean with maintenence.

I agree, all inbred badly which I think attributes to the high death rate.

Cheers,
GazMoor

***Tropical Tank***

190L Corner Aquarium

1200LPH Canister Filter

Planted Aquarium.

7 Glolight Tetras
5 Black Neon Tetras
5 Emperor Tetras
2 Bronze Corys
Pleco

 

[BBradbury]

Guppies

Guppies are great fish. Hardy, active and I can't think of an aquarium species that has so many different colors and fin shapes. I've raised them for years in species only tanks and with only Corydoras. Pet store fish can easily be nursed back to health if needed. They require only what every other aquarium fish need, clean water conditions, good food fed sparingly and heavy on the plants.

I have 100s in large tanks and they're fairly long lived. Up to 18 months isn't unusual. Inbreeding isn't a bad thing with Guppies. You occasionally drop in a new female and with the right care, the fish are very strong and healthy.

B

 

[Toad]

What are the genders of the guppy you have and the one that you replaced? Sometimes the males can harass a lone female to the point of death, and long finned males can be stressed to death by higher water flows and/or getting nipped at by fin nippers.

And sometimes a store just has a bad supplier. I get my guppies at pet smart and Walmart, that Fish Place has some of the worst guppies :/ which totally sucks.

 

[Alex51]

Oh man... well they were all males. One of the three hippies has survived and I think it will be my last. No sense I. Throwing away money. On the other hand the rest of the fish are doing fantastic!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[venymae]

I gave a couple guppies to a friend, who had a ten gallon. He had horrible tank care (I later found out) but they bred like rabbits, none of them ever died except a couple probably due to old age (tank was up for 5 years). He started with 6 (2 male 4 females) and would bring the offspring by the bag to the LFS in exchange for food. RIght before he shut his tank down I bet there were 30 guppies in it and the water was so thick and brown you couldn't see them all, but they were in there swimming all fine and dandy (poor poor guppies). He no longer has the tank (thank God!) but those guppies were the hardiest things I ever saw. Again that's just one experience. I also had guppies as a kid and found them fairly hardy. But I had a lot of wiggle room in a very understocked 29 gallon. I only remember that none died, and they loved to swim in the current

 

[BillD]

Guppies are great fish. Hardy, active and I can't think of an aquarium species that has so many different colors and fin shapes. I've raised them for years in species only tanks and with only Corydoras. Pet store fish can easily be nursed back to health if needed. They require only what every other aquarium fish need, clean water conditions, good food fed sparingly and heavy on the plants.

I have 100s in large tanks and they're fairly long lived. Up to 18 months isn't unusual. Inbreeding isn't a bad thing with Guppies. You occasionally drop in a new female and with the right care, the fish are very strong and healthy.

B

Really? 18 months is long lived? Guppies kept in water that isn't too warm should go about 3 years. From a friend who works at a large LFS, he claims they are among the hardest fish for them to keep alive. These fish typically are from the Asia. The question that arises from me is if they are able to get them to a decent size, as they do and they look very nice, how can they be so fragile? In fact, a member of our club was heavy into guppies, an international champion, and he didn't have issues with keeping them alive. His stock was top quality, both, what he acquired and what he sold; also expensive. Regardless, the guppies of today aren't the hardy wild types I kept as a kid, where no two males looked the same.