Why Dont Guppies Last? What did I do wrong?

[Verity]

Hey Guys.

I have a query - What do you think I was doing wrong?.....

Facts

28 Gallon Tank

Tank age - near 15 months

PH 7.2-7.6
KH 180-270
GH 125-250
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 50
Ammonia 0

8x Neons
1x Apple Snail
2x Plec
1x a fish i cant remember what he is. So ill post a photo;

Whats Happened.

Basically around October last year one of my Guppies passed away. no idea why.

about a month and a half later another. this one sat in the corner for a day or so before passing away. no visible illness

So I brought some Anti-Internal Bacteria Medicine. and treated the tank incase there was something wrong will all of them.

All was Ok for a while, but then another became sick. I noticed this one had swollen up and became pineconed. had a quick google, and look in a book. and came up with Dropsey as the illness.
put him in my Hospital Tank.
Died about 5 days later.

I managed to go a while without any passing away. until the other week. one passed away again no proper sign of why, except he has been sat in the corner of the tank on and off for a few days before.
when I found him floating at the top of the tank. one of my other fish (the one i cant remember his bread) was picking at it

So i was left with two.
both seemed happy and Healthy.
Friday i notcied i couldnt see the little blue tailed one.
this wasnt uncommon as he was always quite small and would often dissappear, only to appear a few minutes later.

Im away Saturday nights often and get my mum to feed the fish.
Sunday when i came home i found a note on my tank, telling me one of the fish were dead.
my little Blue tailed one....and my Black tailed one (last one) was missing.
so i took out the body of the blue one, and did a 25% water change and managed to find my dead Black tailed guppy.

Extra Facts

- I do water changes without fail every Monday

- and i often do a minor water change during the week and one of my plecs produce quite a bit of waste.

- the only symptons i noticed of the guppies was the one with dropsey. and other then that sitting in the corners of the tank

- I feed the fish twice. 7am. and 5pm

- i was using tiny pellets. but for the last month have been giving them flakes as the local pet shop doesnt have anything else.

- all the other fish are happy and healthy and have not had any pass away.



The fish in the photo, i was told is fine with other fish when i brought him.
he doesnt seem violent to the other fish in the tank.
would he just be picking away at the guppies becuase they are dead and he now sees them as food? - hes not killed them, right?!

am i over feeding them? the fact that one had dropsey makes me think that might be a reason.
I only fee them a pinch. and they all tend to eat everything i give them.

If anyone could shed any light on what Ive done wrong i would be very much appriciated. as I orginally got the tropical tank, to have guppies. but now I feel I cant have them, as I dont want to kill any more

 

[aaronalam]

He is more than likely only picking at them because they are dead, just something fish do.

I doubt your overfeeding them, guppies IMO are just that way, I have none left from my original 6/7, they all just dropped one after another over a few months, no idea why.

I think it's just the way guppies are.

 

[rich311k]

The fish in the photo is a dwarf gourami. Your nitrates are a bit high, you might want to up the amount of water you change on Monday. I would cut back on feedings as well. A few guppys dieing over the course of a few months is not all that tragic. Try buying them at another store. It is possible the DG was picking at them or keeping them from getting their fair share of food.

 

[Deckape]

The only obvious things I see right now is the plecos. If they are the common ones they get over one foot long naturally. They also have a large bio load. What temp do you normally keep your tank? Guppies tend to live longer at cooler temps. Also your nitrates are a little high. I am not sure of the fish in the pic but someone else will help on that. It looks like a ram to me but I am not sure. You have a great looking tank.

 

[Verity]

Thank you all for you qick replies!!

He is more than likely only picking at them because they are dead, just something fish do.

I doubt your overfeeding them, guppies IMO are just that way, I have none left from my original 6/7, they all just dropped one after another over a few months, no idea why.

I think it's just the way guppies are.

im glad im not the only one! i feel a bit better now.

The fish in the photo is a dwarf gourami. Your nitrates are a bit high, you might want to up the amount of water you change on Monday. I would cut back on feedings as well. A few guppys dieing over the course of a few months is not all that tragic. Try buying them at another store. It is possible the DG was picking at them or keeping them from getting their fair share of food.

thats it!! thank you! i couldnt for the life of me remember what he was as i got him so long ago, and that just doesnt stay in my head.

okie dokie. would 50% be alright for a water change or is that a bit too much?
should i try feeding them once a day?
ive tried looking into food amounts but find all sorts of amounts from once a day to upto 4 times :S so i get a bit confused on whats right for my mixture of fish.

The only obvious things I see right now is the plecos. If they are the common ones they get over one foot long naturally. They also have a large bio load. What temp do you normally keep your tank? Guppies tend to live longer at cooler temps. Also your nitrates are a little high. I am not sure of the fish in the pic but someone else will help on that. It looks like a ram to me but I am not sure. You have a great looking tank.

do you think shes been bullying them? she only comes out at night. and hides when she sees me, so i dont really get to see what shes like around the other fish.
i got my common plec years ago. ive upgraded tanks for her over the years when shes needed me to. but ive come to a point where i cant afford to upgrade.
ive found out from my local pet store, about a local place that adopts fishes. but he said she'd be ok in my tank for a while longer. so ive just been syphoning waste during the week.
do you think hes wrong and im better off parting with her? for her health and that of all in the tank?


my tank is on 76f 24c
should i go down a bit lower?


thank you everyone for your help!! very much appriciated

 

[rich311k]

50% would be much better and once a day is plenty of food. Removing those plecos would help the nitrate situation as well.

 

[Deckape]

my tank is on 76f 24c
should i go down a bit lower?


I would give it a shot if it wont bother anything else. I dont know about the behavioral side of the plecos, so I cant answer that.

It is best to have 2 to 3 female guppies per male guppy but you probally already know that.


ive found out from my local pet store, about a local place that adopts fishes. but he said she'd be ok in my tank for a while longer.

Be careful what the LFS tells you, not always do they provide the best advice.

 

[BeavisMom62]

Gorgeous powder blue DG! Used to have one (until I had a heater malfunction!).

 

[Verity]

50% would be much better and once a day is plenty of food. Removing those plecos would help the nitrate situation as well.

Okie dokie thank you, will start doing 50% and less feeding.*

Do all breeds of pleco produce a lot of waste?*
The common one that I've had for years, is quite large and I notice waste around her hidy place.
My other is a bristlenose (I think)

I had a mishap when transferring my common pleco to the new tank, and she ended up staying in a small tank with my othe fish for a night, which she didn't like. Jumped out of the tank and landed in a container next to the tank. I found her in the morning and ran to the tap with the container.*
Thinking she was dead I phoned my boyfriend in tears, who turned up 30mins later with my best mate who had a baby Plec (and the new heater for my big tank)*
Just as we were going to bury the common Plec she moved! She some how managed to survive! ....so I ended up with two*
She's stayed really small for the past year. And doesn't seem to make to much mess. So would she be ok?

my tank is on 76f 24c
should i go down a bit lower?


I would give it a shot if it wont bother anything else. I dont know about the behavioral side of the plecos, so I cant answer that.*
*
Be careful what the LFS tells you, not always do they provide the best advice.

Okie dokie, thank you, ill have a look into a better temp balance for all the fish

Yeah good point. I get the impression they want the best for the animals, they deffinatly seem like they care, and ask the right questions....but I'm not sure if they are given the best info in the first place

Gorgeous powder blue DG! *Used to have one (until I had a heater malfunction!).

Thank you! He's really gorgeous I love watching him swim around. Such nice colours

 

[BillD]

Guppies kept at high temps don't live very long. I keep mine in an unheated tank. In addition, the many fancy strains of guppies are not as hardy as the wild type I started with 50 years ago. A friend who works at a large LFS tells me the guppies are among the hardest fish to keep alive in the store.

 

[Verity]

Thanks for the reply.
My mate kept guppies in an unheated tank. They lasted her ages (she had to given them away when she moved) and always seemed happy and healthy. But she always had a warm room.
My house gets freezing cold in winter, and stupidly hot in summer (old house and in the attic) so I worried about completely freezing them.

What is the expected life span of guppies these days?
I found somewhere that said around 2 years?!

Thanks again for the reply.



And again for all of your replies! You've all been really helpful!
Very very much appreciated!!!!

 

[jetajockey]

yeah a year or two is normal

 

[Cobaltskyy]

Im not surprised about the pleco....when I was a kid we had one jump out of the tank...he was literally dried up on the rug. We rinsed him off and plopped him back in the tank and he was fine!! LOL

 

[Cobaltskyy]

Btw I had the same thing happen with my fancy guppies....one by one....no reason. Well good luck anyways!