are guppies known to be unhealthy?

[deli_conker]

I bought some guppies a couple of weeks ago. Since they all came from the same tank and were pretty much the inhabitants of their own tank I didn't bother with a qt tank.

Yesterday morning, before work, I was feeding them and noticed that one of them was at a different angle than the rest. The others were pretty much parallel to the water's surface when eating while he was at a 45 degree angle. He was still eating fine, so I didn't think much of it.

When I got home, he was dead, stuck to the filter intake. They never swim by it so I'm assuming he sank and was pulled by the currents in the water.

Right now I'm just keeping a closer eye on the others. The only symptom I saw was his angle in the water.

 

[lmw80]

He could have been on his way out already. If your other ones are fine, I wouldn't worry too much of it.

What are your water params?

 

[lex]

Since guppies stay so small, it's hard to tell their age. Maybe he was just old?

 

[deli_conker]

Water parameters are at...

0 ammonia
0 nitrItes
<10 nitrAtes

That's one of the first things I checked. And the others are acting fine, thus far...

 

[lmw80]

It sounds like you did everything right. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much. Also, if the store has a return policy, I would take the fish back..unless it has already been disposed of...

 

[puffergirl]

I have had the same problem with my guppies also. I have found that they never seem to last that long when I bring them home from the LFS. The guppies at the LFS tend to already be older and also quite stressed from shipment therefore tend to not take well to that last trip home with you. I finally went to one of my LFS and bought some baby feeder guppies. I have had no problems with guppies since then, and they have grown up from babies in my tank now with babies of thier own. I would recommend doing this as well if you are having problems with your adult guppies you are bringing home. Also it is really fun to watch them grow and guess what colours they will be!

Good luck

 

[rallycat]

Also it is really fun to watch them grow and guess what colours they will be!

Woohoo! I'm doing this too! They were originally going to be food, but they netted at least 3 males and wow, so cool.

I decided to put all of my feeder fish in the same tank, small goldies and some guppies that I'd purchased at the same time. All the goldfish, unfortunatly, got ich. The guppies are still going strong though! If you keep them in a tank alone you'll most likely be happy.

And ditto, good luck.