Male Guppies Keep Dying

[DonnBallenger]

About a month ago, i introduced 3 female and 1 male guppies (as suggested by the pet store) to my cycled 10gal tank in hopes of breeding them. I own 5 operating tanks ranging from 10gal to 50gal and have had great success with all other types of fish I've purchased.

I used the standard "float for 20 mins then drip-aclimate" technique every time. The first male impregnated all 3 females and died a few days later. I figured he was either weak or sick to begin with and didn't give it a second thought. The females had their fry a little earlier than I had been expecting, so I didnt have a chance to quarantine them, and all the fry got eaten by the females. No biggie. I purchased another male yesterday in hopes of rearing a second batch of fry that I could monitor more closely and hopefully save, but when I checked the tank this morning, my new male was dead. I had the pet store check the water as per their return policy, and they found nothing wrong (pH and nitrate/nitrite levels okay, water a bit on the hard side which i've heard from several sources is what guppies prefer). I got my money back, but I'm not going to put any more males into the tank until I get to the bottom of this.

Upon examination of the corpse, there are no signs of trauma (the females weren't picking on him) and he didn't seem too stressed when I released him into the tank. He actually spent the better part of the time I was watching him chasing the females around the tank, so I was under the impression that he would be okay. What gives? Are male guppies generally this hard to keep? Is there something I'm not doing right? Should I just go to a different store to get my males?

 

[Zagz]

You ccould try a male from a different lfs. Do you have hiding spots for your fry in the tank? Can you post your exact parameters? I would as I say try a different lfs for supply.

 

[DonnBallenger]

in addition to a ton of fake plants and 2 little "tunnel" ornaments, i purchased a small "breeder trap" from the LFS. its basically a small clear plastic box that floats made to catch the fry as soon as they're born. Now if only I could keep my days straight and remember to put my females in there before they spawn...

the setup is fairly simple: 10gal tank, HOB 20gal rated Aquatech filter, gravel substrate, heavily decorated with artificial plants and a few "toys". the lighting system is a basic wally-world 10gal hood with one incandescent and one floresent bulb. the bulbs are set on a 12-on and 12-off timer.

the pH was 8.5 (has varied between 8.4-8.7 which is right on the soft side of hard as i understand it). The nitrites test 0 and nitrates are ~20ppm as advised by the LFS. the temperature in the tank has been set at 80F because from what i understand, that's the best to encourage guppies to breed (not like they need much encouragement!).

i would have just chalked it up to weak fish, but a friend of mine works at the store, and he told me they haven't had any other customers complain about dead male guppies. He has told me of problems like this before and even advised me not to buy certain fish because of known problems.

 

[gu2high]

The pH8.5 maybe quite high.

I have begun from 2 guppy females and 2 males from different lfs from 8 months ago and have had 20 of them in the tank now and have also given 100+ to friends and lfs for free. My pH is 6.8-7.0 and I don't put female in breeding net. It is a community tank and has bluerams, gouramis, betta, mollies, platies, golden barbs, American flag fish, etc. but guppy fry still survive well. It is a planted tank but fry stay on top and no fish eat them since my fish get fed very well - 3 times per day with rotation of 20+ different fish foods. I have also had many platy and molly fry. Have lost one original female due to constipation I guess.

 

[zenkatydid]

Ph is a little high, and temperature is a little high, but neither should really be killing your males. I think you've just got some bad fish. My fry also survive at ridiculous numbers in a community tank, but I have heard this depends on the strain of guppy. Some are more or less likely to eat their own young.

 

[krustykrab99]

most stores seperate the males and females and i would say that the males are possibly all sick or stressed when you get them. try another store.