Faded colours on guppies.

[Nudibranch86]

Hi. I have a well cycled biOrb Flow, 35 litre. The water temp is perfect and all parameters is OK. The airpump is set to a minimum, so the aquarium is still very well circulated and the 5 male guppies I have don't have to struggle with strong currents.
Still they fade in colour a day or two after I put them in. Why!?
They got beautifull strong colours in the pet shop, living in over crowded small aquariums, but as soon as they get into mine they turn transparent!
I feed them guppy flake food once a day, change 1/3 once a week and they don't stress each other. They form a beautifull peacefull school that would have been awesome if i didn't see trough them!

Please! What do I do wrong? What can I do to get the colours back? And please, tell me exactly why the interventions will work.

Thank you!

 

[Nudibranch86]

No one can help me with this?

 

[Adam Ellis]

Try feeding them on New life spectrum, it use's all natural ingredients which enhances colour. Flake food isn't really that good for fish, it had fillers in which help produce more waste. Try using a granule food or indeed if you want to to use a flake use a NLS flake and you will notice the difference.

http://www.feedmyfish.co.uk/New-Life-Spectrum-Community-300g-Tub

 

[Autumnsky]

That is 9.5 gallons approx. May be too small for that many guppies.

Also what kinds of plants and hiding places do you have? I would try and put some dark fabric or paper around the back half of the biorb and see if they don't color up. The darker colors may help them feel more secure. I would remove the guppies to 3 and see if they feel less stressed.

Paleness is usually caused by stress or bad water parameters which you said you didn't have.

How long has the biorb been up and have you had any other fish in it?

 

[Nudibranch86]

It's been up for 9 weeks. I don't think the tank is too small, in the pet shops they live in smaller ones for months!
Here are som pics of the aquarium. Will a daily water change do any good even if my parameters is OK?
I'll try buy the food you guys said anyway. Hopefully that's the problem.

 

[Autumnsky]

How did you cycle, the tank?

It could just be too much fish at once for their waste output, guppies are dirty fish and pollute the water pretty fast, and the BB needs more time to build up, maybe.

Test results and info?

Also I would still try to add darker paper or fabric, just to try it. I will still say too many fish to start with and do some partial water changes with Prime water conditioner if you can find it or order it. Prime will help some too.

 

[Nudibranch86]

I cycled it by doing a 50% wc x 1 a week, adding a bag of something they gave me from the pet store. Don't remember the name but they told me it was to ensure it would establish a healthy bacteria. Did this for 6 weeks, after that test result showed ammonia 0, nitro 0, titr below 15.
I added two guppies on week 4. They started fading after two weeks. Then added three more on week 8. Now all have faded and almost gone transparent...

 

[piao liang yu]

I cycled it by doing a 50% wc x 1 a week, adding a bag of something they gave me from the pet store. Don't remember the name but they told me it was to ensure it would establish a healthy bacteria. Did this for 6 weeks, after that test result showed ammonia 0, nitro 0, titr below 15.
I added two guppies on week 4. They started fading after two weeks. Then added three more on week 8. Now all have faded and almost gone transparent...

Some places dye fish to sell. The fading could be a result of the dye fading. Not sure why they would turn transparent though. Also, that is a pretty small tank. While it could probably house a few with no problems guppies have a higher bioload than their size would suggest. Just because petshops have them crowded in smaller tanks is not grounds for assuming a small tank is acceptable. Most of the time the petshops have a filtration system in place that combats the overcrowded effects and also in some cases has a system that does small automatic pwc's daily.

 

[Autumnsky]

What are the Nitrates at now?

Are you checking for the ammonia and Nitrites as well, are you using a test kit or strips or having the fish store check?

The Ammonia and Nitrate levels can change very quickly on a tank, especially a smaller size as you have. If the tank didn't establish a good solid colony of bacteria, you could be going through a cycle right now and the fish could be in danger of ammonia or nitrate poisoning. It depends on how often you check your levels. You would be able to see the pattern and make sure you keep levels good by doing pwc, and testing each day to get a grasp on how the tank is handling waste.

Were there any fish in the tank during the cycling? The BB feed on ammonia in the tank and if there isn't any ammonia in the tank, either by fish waste or adding pure ammonia. The BB will die off. Or not build a strong colony enough to process waste from that many fish.

Just trying understand to help you with the problem you are having.

It sounds like you are doing things the way you thought they should be done and care about your fish, and want to take good care of them so they will be well and healthy! Being transparent is not healthy for guppies. So we want to help!

 

[Nudibranch86]

Thank you for all your help

I added two guppies on week 4 of the curling. I test the water with strips once a week. The results are the same. Today as well. Now I've changed the 1/3 water three days in a row and one of the first guppies is getting its blue and orange color back!
So it might seem that's the problem! But why, when the strips are telling me everything is good?
I'll keep on doing small daily wc for some weeks and see if it really helps. Maybe I just have to do it more often because of the size, as you guys are saying.

 

[Autumnsky]

Sometimes the strips aren't very accurate/reliable. If moisture can get to them, if they are old, if they were a bad lot. I have had good luck with mine, but keep the moisture absorbing packet in there, and keep the lid tight and compare with the liquid API test, weekly. Don't actually have them right now, have been using the liquid API instead.

Good price on amazon to buy around $18. for whole kit.

I would get your water tested at the lfs, and ask them to write down the results for you. If something seems bad, see if they will do the liquid test for you, or just keep up the water changes until the colors come back. A colorful guppy is a happy guppy!

Order the liquid API asap!!! I suspect your tank didn't grow enough BB to keep up with that number of fish so you are probably mid way to finishing your cycle.

 

[Mebbid]

The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. It is probably a reaction of the fish to the color of the substrate. That is something I experienced most when trying to use a brown play sand in a tank but I've seen other color substrates do it as well.

 

[Autumnsky]

Darker colored substrate can give fish and dwarf shrimp a sense of security and comfort. That can also help them feel less stressed and they can have better colors as a result.

Changing the substrate before getting a handle on the BB colony would be unadvised as it would further reduce BB in the tank.

Getting a safe level for water parameters would be best course of action first.

Then make sure the tank is fully cycled and stable.

The stones at the bottom of the Biorb are part of the biological system so they need to stay, but you could add dark colored river stones, the smooth flat oval ones on top to darken.