Guppies laying at bottom of tank!?? Sick? Asleep? Help!!

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starmagz

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 25, 2017
Messages
19
Hello. So recently I was given about 40 guppies (Yes... I know. But many of them are babies) from a man who was moving. He gave me them in a 5 gallon tank with a filter, fake plants, substrate, and a heater. He emptied the tank and I took the fish home with the supplies. I put everything in the tank and filled the tank up about half way with treated tap water. I acclimated them and everything was great. Space was tight but they were doing great. One week later (today) I transferred them into a 10 gallon tank. I know it’s still small but it was the only bigger tank I had besides the one for my turtle. I filled the tank up half with water from my turtles tank and the other half with water from the tank they were previously in. I put the filter, a bubbler, the heater, the substrate, and fake plants in the tank. I put the fish in two large baggies and floated them for 20 minutes. I used a test strip and everything was pretty darn good. However, about ten minutes after I put the fish in the tank, I noticed that half of them were swimming at the top of the tank and staying near the bubbles while the other half laid on the gravel, alive but not moving. HELP! Haha. Like, what’s wrong? I used a net and gently poked them and they moved and swam a bit but then went back to laying down. One of the fish was laying on his side for a while. Many of the babies are doing the same but others are just swimming around normally. And the ones that are at the top of the tank aren’t really moving much either. Just moving their fins and staying still. What’s happening??? Is something wrong? Or are they just sleeping because I know they stay still at night to sleep. Some just float in the water and others stay near the bottom at night. Are they just resting right now? Are they in shock? Sick? I attached pictures. Please help!!!
 

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I see several possibilities. Turtles have very high bioloads and so the tank water could be full of toxins like ammonia and is all around not a good choice for tank water. Second it could possibly be that you didn't drip or pour acclimate them. You only acclimated them to the temp. Could be "new home syndrome" where they just aren't comfortable in the tank yet. And last maybe they just really aren't happy with 40 guppies in a ten gallon tank.I would think that many would deplete the o2 in the water rather quickly. Just a few random guesses.

Did you get a new filter with the new tank?
 
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I'd try putting an HOB on that tank along with your air bubbler. Probably needs more surface agitation for O2.
 
If you need a cycled filter quickly, I can recommend Angelsplus.com. I’ve moved many times with the military and always end up starting over with their seeded filters.
 
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