Shy guppy :(

[RichAFix]

I'm new to this, so bear with me. Have a 5 gallon tank that has 3 (small 1.5") fish. A red glofish, a starfire wag platy and a male blue guppy. All on the fish store fishguy's advice. Our guppy isn't very social. He isn't social at all, this is only a 5 gallon tank with live plants and a little tiki hut thingy. We see him about 5 minutes a day. I don't know how he hides so well in such a small tank. Should I be concerned? The 3 don't seem to have any conflict with each other. I am a bit concerned about adding more fish to this small tank but is it possible he is just a racist and wants to hang out with other guppies? Do I try to add 1/2 more little guppies to give him a little posse to hang out with? Am I overthinking this? Are guppies just shy? P.S. Should I worry that even at feeding time he doesn't come out.

 

[HN1]

Yes, you should worry. No, you shouldn't add anything. It sounds like he may be stressed. What are your water parameters? Do you test? How did you cycle? How long has the tank been set up? What is your water change routine? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get enough info to help properly.

Welcome to AA btw!

 

[RichAFix]

The tank is almost 2 weeks old, I rinsed everything pretty thorough, filled with water (city water, I am sure heavily chlorinated, used the water conditioner that came with the tank) added the plants and and let it sit for 5 days with the filter running before I bought the fish. I do have a heater, the water is a consistent 78 degrees. There are 6 small (about 6" high) live plants (not sure what kind). The water hasn't been tested. I was going to replace about a gallon (20%) this weekend. So far the fish have been in 7 days. That brings up another question. My intention was to put a gallon of regular tap water in a bucket add the water conditioner and let it sit for 1 or 2 days then siphon out a gallon and put the new gallon in. He has been unsocial since we put him in. The other 2 fish seem pretty healthy. The red glofish swims around so much and so fast that I am concerned that he may be too active for such a small tank. The platy has been the perfect guest. What does one recommend for testing? The little strips at the local pet store were kind of $$$ (about $15 for 12 strips). How often should a person test?

Did I give you the info you need? Thanks for the fast response.

Sorry for all the silly questions, I did a little research prior, but apparently not enough. I just want Dory (I know it is a girls name and he is a male, but what do you say when the 4 year old wants to name the fish) to come out and be a little more social. If he is stressed, what do I do to relieve some stress, the guy at the store said this would be a good environment for these 3 fish.

 

[HN1]

No worries Rich, none of us does enough research starting off it seems. I sure didn't! I think the biggest issue for you right now is tank size and lack of cycling. Check out the thread linked below and post any questions you have. You (and your fish) will be fine, you obviously care and are observant.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ady-have-fish-what-now-116287.html#post983258

 

[dkpate]

Well, I can tell you that your tank is not cycled, and you probably have a buildup of ammonia which is probably stressing your fish out. Dory might just be more sensitive than the other fish? Until your tank is cycled, you will probably need to do 30-50% pwc's every single day until you can get your ammonia and nitrItes down to 0, and your nitrAtes (good bacteria) between 5-20ppm. Which could take 6 or more weeks. I would recommend the API Master Freshwater liquid test kit. It has about 720 tests for $20, and you can find it online at www.drsfostersmith.com. If you test and your ammonia is really high (1-?), you can try just feeding your fish every other day, because food breaks down and creates ammonia. And you should not feed your fish any more than they can eat in 2 minutes.
I wish you luck! I was in the same boat as you about 2 months ago.
You can look up fishless cycling in the search bar near the top of the page, and kind of get an idea about the ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte process.

 

[RichAFix]

Okay, so if I understand this correct I will be doing the following:
1. Order a "freshwater liquid test kit" from a place that isn't charging an arm and a leg. Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I am guessing I will not have this for a couple days.
2. Replacing about 20-30% of the water daily with tap water that has conditioner added. Do I have to let the water sit for a while or can I just take approx. 78 degree water, add the conditioner and replace it?
3. Testing daily when the test kit arrives and doing this until the levels get to normal.
4. If I understand this correct, I am basically hoping to get this tank to grow its own little bacteria to help cycle the tank. We have a freakin jumbo sized tank (I don't know, maybe about 50 gallons?) at work, can I take something out of there to help dirty this thing up? A rock or something that has funk growing on it? This tank is very well maintained by a tank service and has some really big fish that have been around for some time so I assume it is a healthy tank? Is that a bad thing to introduce something else to my already fragile environment?

I'm feeling like a bad parent here. Don't hesitate to tell me I am a knucklehead for not going in better prepared and don't hesitate to tell me what I should be doing in simple terms. I can and will take all advice.

 

[RichAFix]

Is this the test kit I would need?
Aquarium Water Testing: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit

 

[dkpate]

You, good sir, are the fastest learner I have ever met! You are thinking everything spot on!
And no, you do not have to let your water sit of you have treated it. Yes, to adding the same temp water, every time. I did daily 50-70% pwc's every day for 4 weeks when I went thru this lol. Sometimes even having to do more than one a day to keep the ammonia below .50.
If it is a healthy tank (the 50G) I would actually recommend taking something from there and putting it in your tank! I did this for my 75G, and it was cycled in 1 week. If you can get some of their filter media, that would be great, and stuff as much of it as you can in your filter. And/or some of their gravel, and stick it in an unwashed, unused toe of some pantyhose, and tie it up to look like a little bag. Then just put it in your tank, and squeeze it every day to get the little "good bacterias" floating around looking for somewhere to land.
That is the same test kit that most people on here use. I have ordered from that site and got my stuff in less than 5 days, pretty dang fast.
KUDOS to you for coming on here and not giving up. I still can't get over how fast you picked everything up!!!

 

[WhiteDevil]

that is the best kit you can buy, search online cause I paid 30 in the store and found them for 17 online.

 

[dkpate]

That was from online Devil lol.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Rich, try Ultra low prices on aquarium supplies and equipment

they are local to chicago I think evanston and will ship to you in a day for regular shipping ground prices. Nothing like next day for the price of ground.

DK I know but there are always cheaper out there, and this stage of everyones lives, the cheaper the better.

Apros has it for 24 bucks( rounded up) 8.95 shipping fedex ground.

they base their prices off chicago LFS prices.

 

[dkpate]

$23.49 + $8.95 from your online store (you might get it 1-2 days earlier)
$23.99 + $5.99 from Foster/Smith

Not much difference *shrug*

 

[WhiteDevil]

days earlier and I do believe they will price match online.

stricktlypetsupplies.com

here BAM 25 bucks shipped to your door.
used 52325 since south milwaukee is a neighborhood and figured it was close enough since brew city has a gazillion zip codes.
http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/cart/

they are in the chicagoland area as well, palatine to be exact and are good people to work with, if they aint got it they will get it, discount it and free ship to you or you can pick it up pending they havnt closed to local store to go fully internet.

I mean you get it for .38 cents over regular price shipped to your door. I use these two ALOT and they are very good at what they do and my gear usually arrives the next morning by 10am especially using paypal. CC is just as fast.

 

[RichAFix]

Thanks for all the advice, I did order the kit this morning from Dr Foster. Unfortunately I didn't see that my post had a second page or I would have ordered it from Strictlypets. I think the faster delivery and shopping a little more local is always a good idea.

I replaced about 1/3 of the water this morning and I think we will skip the feeding today. There was a bunch of food/garbage that got sucked up in the syphon, so perhaps we are overfeeding. Dory was out and about while I was doing the replacement but he is back in hiding. I will just keep doing the replacement until I can confirm the water with the test, hopefully it arrives Monday/Tuesday and cut back on the feeding.

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR THE ADVICE! I can see how this quickly becomes a bit more than just a bowl of water with a couple fish swimming around.

 

[HN1]

Bravo to you Rich! Keep us updated and have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[dkpate]

Good job Rich! Your fish will thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[RichAFix]

Day 2 of 30% water cycle complete. I am amazed by how much more active the fish are today. Dory is definitely more social. I can't wait for my test kit.

 

[dkpate]

I am SO glad we were all able to help out, and that Dory and the others are doing better!!! When I first got my test kit, I was like a little mad scientist! HAHA!

 

[RichAFix]

Been doing my water cycles daily and got about 3 cups of gravel from the tank at work and put that in a nylon in the tank. Hopefully the test kit arrives tomorrow. I am starting to think Dory is just plain lazy. He was out a lot of first few days after I started the water cycles but has been in hiding the past few days. He is a master of hiding. This tank is pretty small but he hides very well. Yesterday he sort of burrowed under the nylon with the gravel from work and was hiding under there. I was convinced he either was eaten by his cell mates or somehow the cat figured out how to open the top of the tank. He is out now and seems happy. Maybe he is just on the night shift.

So here is my next dump question. Since he has been hiding at feeding time (I cut down to feeding once a day and a pretty small amount after I saw all the junk the syphon sucked up), how do I know if he is getting enough to eat? Are guppies scavengers? Should I be worried that I am now starving him?

 

[RichAFix]

Dory didn't make it. The 4 year old is taking better than my wife and I.