Female guppy dead

[jason19]

Hi all,

Added 2 guppies to my tank at the weekend past. Both were doing well with the other fish and eating well. They didn't show any signs of stress and slotted in with the rest of the fish seamlessly.

I found her this morning dead lying on the substrate. It really annoyed me as she was beautiful and added real colour to my tank. I checked my water parameters and they were fine - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 10ppm nitrates.

I did do a water change the day before she passed away about 30-40% (as there were slight nitrites showing on Sunday). Could this have been the reason? Really perplexed as to how the male guppy is seemingly fine as are all the other fish yet the female passed away.

Any thoughts would be great as I do plan to replace her eventually and don't want to end up back at the same situation. I was under the impression guppies were quite a hardy fish and could tolerate most waters so im really at a loss as to what happened her.

Thanks.

 

[ThunderCuck9000]

It could have been how you acclimated the tank, where did you buy them from? In a store or online? If online, how long did they travel?
Also, how did you acclimate them? If they were in the bag for a while, ammonia may have built up and when you opened the bag the oxygen caused it to become toxic, especially if they were in the bag for a long amount of time.
It could have also been shock from the change in pH/water hardness/temperature from where you got them.

 

[jason19]

It could have been how you acclimated the tank, where did you buy them from? In a store or online? If online, how long did they travel?
Also, how did you acclimate them? If they were in the bag for a while, ammonia may have built up and when you opened the bag the oxygen caused it to become toxic, especially if they were in the bag for a long amount of time.
It could have also been shock from the change in pH/water hardness/temperature from where you got them.

Thanks for the reply TC.

I bought them in a local fish store. Acclimitated the guppy along with the other guppy and neon tetras in the same bag. I also mixed the water from my tank into the bag gradually so it wasn't a shock.

The guppy lasted 3 days then died. All the other fish added on the same day are perfectly fine.

 

[ThunderCuck9000]

No problem
That all seems fine then, that's strange I can't think of anything else, maybe stress from the store if they came into the store recently? I haven't kept guppies so I don't know any specific things they'd need.

 

[Fishlegend]

Stress if their are only two guppies and one is a male that’s why they died if it’s a male and a female the male will harass the female to stress death. If it’s two males the males fought to stress death if it’s two FEMALES then it’s no problem.

 

[jason19]

Stress if their are only two guppies and one is a male that’s why they died if it’s a male and a female the male will harass the female to stress death. If it’s two males the males fought to stress death if it’s two FEMALES then it’s no problem.

Thanks fishlegend. Any time I looked in the tank he didn't seem too bothered by her and, in general, the male kept his distance from her. I don't know if its because they're quite small/young.

Point noted however. If I was to get another female would you recommend a 2 female:1 male ratio to stop he harassing if there was any by the male?

 

[Fishlegend]

More like 1male: 3females
It won’t stop the harassment but it will let the females have a break once in a while cause the male will go after one when the one it was chasing swims away therefore evenly distributed the males little antics.