Two Guppies in Shock?

[caligulasAquarium]

I just started my daily 50% water changes, due to high ammonia. I came home from a Christmas dinner to see 2 guppies gasping at the surface, the third being normal, an angelfish lost her color (which is normal) but wasn't coming back quickly. The 3 barbs are fine, and so is the ghost knife and an isolated angelfish. Are the three fish just in shock or is something wrong? There is a possibility for the angelfish is because the black one is in the isolator.

 

[Miyavp]

Gasping at the surface can be caused by high ammonia. Unless you did all the water at once I dont think this could cause too bad of a shock. Sounds like you need to cycle your tank to me though. Some aquarium salt might help the stress level but until you get those ammonia levels down there isnt much to be done.

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Gasping at the surface can be caused by high ammonia. Unless you did all the water at once I dont think this could cause too bad of a shock. Sounds like you need to cycle your tank to me though. Some aquarium salt might help the stress level but until you get those ammonia levels down there isnt much to be done.

They've never gasped before, and I've had the annoyingly high ammonia for quite awhile, fighting it. It's only these two fish though, whereas the third is just getting her color back slower. Right now, all I can do is water changing daily, cause I believe the lfs is closed for the holidays, and we are a bit tight on money.

 

[Miyavp]

I dont see why you'd need money to fix this. My suggestion, do small water changes hourly until your ammonia level is zero. Another question, how is your aeration?(spelled that wrong sorry) Do you have a bubble stone or a filter that creates alot of surface breakage?

 

[Miyavp]

Since you mentioned you'd had it for a while it might've burned their gills which would make it harder for them to absorb oxygen. Maybe lowering the water level a tiny bit to allow the filter to make more of a splash would give them more oxygen.

 

[caligulasAquarium]

I dont see why you'd need money to fix this. My suggestion, do small water changes hourly until your ammonia level is zero. Another question, how is your aeration?(spelled that wrong sorry) Do you have a bubble stone or a filter that creates alot of surface breakage?

You mentioned aquarium salt which could help, but I don't have any of that. I wished my bubbler worked, but it only worked like once, then when I replaced my old volcano, it just wouldn't bubble. The filter doesn't disturb the surface a lot, it depends how much water there is, and there is a setting on it so I could make it weaker.

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Since you mentioned you'd had it for a while it might've burned their gills which would make it harder for them to absorb oxygen. Maybe lowering the water level a tiny bit to allow the filter to make more of a splash would give them more oxygen.

The guppies were in the high ammonia for as long as they were alive, I used to have plecos, which I donated to the lfs. The water level is actually a bit lower than it normally is.

 

[Miyavp]

My point is ammonia is poison and you need to get rid of it. Just because they've lived in it their whole lives doesnt make it any less toxic for them. Do water changes and lower the water level a little so the filter oxygenates the water more. Otherwise your going to have continued problems.

 

[caligulasAquarium]

My point is ammonia is poison and you need to get rid of it. Just because they've lived in it their whole lives doesnt make it any less toxic for them. Do water changes and lower the water level a little so the filter oxygenates the water more. Otherwise your going to have continued problems.

Thanks. And the guppies stopped gasping. And I'm planning to do a water change tonight.

 

[Miyavp]

Thanks. And the guppies stopped gasping. And I'm planning to do a water change tonight.

Thats a good sign Now you've got to establish a water change schedule to keep this from happening again. Do you know how to cycle your fish tank? Also do you have a test kit?

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Thats a good sign Now you've got to establish a water change schedule to keep this from happening again. Do you know how to cycle your fish tank? Also do you have a test kit?

Cycling, no, only done it once when I got my tank last year. The test, I have yesterday's results. They were outstandingly better than my tests on 12/8.
6.7pH
0.0ppm NO3- and NO2- Nitrate
6.0ppm ammonia (it may have been 4.0, it was a bit hard read).

 

[Miyavp]

Oh my....woah. That doesnt seem right. If your ammonia is that high your fish should'nt still be alive. Your using test strips right? Hmm.... that really need to be taken down to at least .25ppm. I would suggest doing more water changes today than just the 50% thats at a pretty critically high level.

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Oh my....woah. That doesnt seem right. If your ammonia is that high your fish should'nt still be alive. Your using test strips right? Hmm.... that really need to be taken down to at least .25ppm. I would suggest doing more water changes today than just the 50% thats at a pretty critically high level.

It was 8.0 last time. I've been fighting the ammonia for a long time. I'm surprised my fish are alive, especially the angelfish and ghost knife. I use water testing. The lfs doesn't sell test strips. I did about a 50% change yesterday. I'm seriously surprised that all my fish are still alive

 

[Miyavp]

Okay well lets get this under control first test your tap water. Lets see what that looks like. And by water testing do you mean drops??

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Okay well lets get this under control first test your tap water. Lets see what that looks like. And by water testing do you mean drops??

Yea. I have this kit called I bought quite recently. It has the testing bottles, the paper with the colors, everything. It's a good kit. I'm testing my water as I type this xD
The pH maxed out at 7.6ppm, which is why the pH has been rising gradually.
The Nitrite NO2- is 0.0ppm. Nitrate NO3- is 0.0ppm. The ammonia surprised me, is at .50ppm. This is the kitchen tap water. I recently ran out of tap water conditioner. The tap water is the same throughout the house except the fridge.

 

[Miyavp]

I thought you might have ammonia in your tap. You'll need to gey more water conditioner. You have city water right?

 

[caligulasAquarium]

I thought you might have ammonia in your tap. You'll need to gey more water conditioner. You have city water right?

Yes, it is city water. I live in the suburbs. My dad suggested a water filter to possibly save money, would that be alright, or would it be too harmful?

 

[Miyavp]

Yes, it is city water. I live in the suburbs. My dad suggested a water filter to possibly save money, would that be alright, or would it be too harmful?

For dechlorination? I imagine a filter like that would cost you more than the dechlorinator would. I cant be sure but I would imagine.

 

[caligulasAquarium]

For dechlorination? I imagine a filter like that would cost you more than the dechlorinator would. I cant be sure but I would imagine.

We've seen some pretty cheap ones, and this is a rather large tank, 55g. And I plan on keeping fish for a long time, so a filter could help in the long run. I'll go look around to see if people think it would be a good idea, because my dad just randomly threw that idea at me.

 

[Miyavp]

We've seen some pretty cheap ones, and this is a rather large tank, 55g. And I plan on keeping fish for a long time, so a filter could help in the long run. I'll go look around to see if people think it would be a good idea, because my dad just randomly threw that idea at me.

Well if you find one that works I dont see why not. But for now I'd buy a small bottle of declhorinator so you can deal with this ammonia problem. So with cycling a good rule of thumb is if your have any ammonia or any nitrites do a water change. Nitrates you typically want to keep under 20ppms. With daily testing for a few weeks you should see ammonia levels give way to nitrites and eventually those give way to nitrates. Thats when your know your tank is cycled. No ammonia or nitrites.