help a dummy!

[A_Yu]

i have been reading some of the messages posted and i seriously have no idea what some of the terms mean.
i have about 6 tetra in my tank and i have bought some guppies last week.. 9 males and 2 females. the next day, i female drop fry, so i took out the fry and put them in another container. They are still fine at this point of time. However, i notice that the female are always attacking the males' tails. i have no idea why, and all my male guppies have since died. Now, i separated the female which drop fry coz she is always the one attcking the males and my tetra. However, the other female guppy*which i believe is pregnant* just died! I have no idea what has happened which caused the death of my 10 guppies.
By the way, 3 smaller tetra also died during this 5 days.
I seriously have no idea what is happening and i hope to find out why or what are the possible cause. Thx!

 

[A_Yu]

just to add on something about the baby guppies. They are now in a separate tank and i wish to find out how long it will take for them to grow into 'adult' guppies

 

[fishfreek]

Is this a new tank? If so how big is it? Did you add all these fish at once?

Do you have an ammonia test kit? If so have you tested your ammonia? If you dont have a kit please take your water to your local fish store (LFS) and ask them to test your water.

I suspect the fish died as a result of ammonia posioning.

 

[A_Yu]

ammnia poisoning? how come? actually my tank is just a small round tank.. juz a decor in my room

 

[hisc1ay]

Your first problem is the size of your tank. Waste contains ammonia which is deadly to fish. It will burn their gills and eventually kill them. With many fish in a small tank, they will die. You may get lucky and keep a few until enough have died to keep the water stable. A general rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon of tank. So then if you have a 5 gallon tank (about 19 Litres), you should have no more than 5 inches of fish, which in the case of guppies is at most 5 fish.

I'd suggest this post as a starting point for you. Then do a search here on "nitrogen cycle" and read some of those posts.

You should never put that many fish in a brand new tank. If this was a new tank and you put 17 fish in it that was your first mistake. Even if it had been established with the 6 tetra, adding 11 fish at one time probably cause a huge ammonia spike that killed your males (I've found that my female guppies can handle more stress than males).

As you're reading about things and you come across terms you don't understand, please ask here for an explanation. I also suggest you wait to buy more fish until you have a better understanding of what happened, and what your tank can even handle. Please get back to us with a measurement of your tank so we can tell you how many fish would be happy in it.

Good luck.
-j

 

[A_Yu]

ok... i'm having my exam at the moment. i'll get back to my tank in another 10 ten days time. thx guys for ur help!!