Guppies not doing well

[lenk0132]

Hello, I established my fish tank 2 months ago. It's 30l with 6 guppies. Yesterday I noticed that one of the guppy was hiding between plants and a couple of hours later I found it dead. This morning I found another guppy dead outside the aquarium and they never used to jump out. The other fish seem stressed as well (glass surfing).



My water is good (see picture) , exceph Ph and Kh which are usually a bit higher, but I decided not to mess up with it and keep it stable. The temperature is set to 25C. I perform weekly or biweekly partial water changes but since the aquarium doesn't have a lid I fill dechlorinated fresh water more times per week. I think I feed them just fine. None of the fish (dead and alive) have any discoloration, spots, nothing.



I'm trying to find what's going on, they did fine until now and were happy. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Fish jumping out of the tank is usually a water quality issue. They are trying to find cleaner water and dont know there is none on the other side of the glass.

Your water testing doesnt measure ammonia which is the most likely parameter to be out. Do a water change, get a test for ammonia and monitor further.

 

[lenk0132]

Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately I couldn't find ammonia test anywhere I live, but I did partial water change around noon and evening. I also placed a temporary lid over aquarium just in case.



I'm just wondering, typically if your aquarium is cycled, and you're not adding new fish you shouldn't have problems with ammonia, right? I can understand that ammonia rose after the first fish died because it was in the water for a couple of hours and that could be why the second fish jumped out, but doesn't explain how the first fish die. Just makes me wonder.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Yes, if your tank is cycled then you wont be seeing any ammonia, but you arent able to test for ammonia, so you have no idea if you are cycled.

 

[lenk0132]

I did have NO2 spike, doesn't that mean that the aquarium is cycled?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Not on its own, no.

You are cycled when you are seeing no ammonia or nitrite and nitrate is steadily rising. Just seeing nitrite says that some ammonia is going to nitrite, not that all of it is.

 

[lenk0132]

Follow up

Hi again, last weekend another fish died. One day I noticed that he was very slim and had a fin rot. On the next day in the evening he couldn't swim and just lay on his side, so I moved him to a separate 'aquarium' but I have no spare heater nor filter so I'm not sure if I helped him. I tried to keep the water warm with a blanket around it and a lid. He died by Monday morning before I could've bought medication.



I think that 2 of remaining 3 fish might be developing fish rot too, so I bought the medication anyway, it's eSHa-202 and it's for bacteria treatment. I cleaned the aquarium before treatment and I noticed white cotton like stuff floating in the aquarium. It's not on the fish, only in water. I understand that this is a sign of bacterial infection? Is this what has been killing my fish? Did it enter aquarium with the fish, or is it my fault - if so, how, if the water parameters are ALWAYS good?



BTW I was doing many tests during these days and all parameters are good, including 0 ammonia.
PS: Do fish keepers usually have a spare fish tank for quarantine?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Is the white stuff like clumps of cotton wool floating around in the water or more of a cloudiness throughout the water giving it a milky colour?

These mould/fungal/bacterial outbreaks can come from many sources, maybe from a piece of driftwood, often just out of the atmosphere. They are in pretty much every aquarium, unnoticed, and take advantage of inbalances of nutrients. They often go away when those nutrients are used up.

As to quarantine tanks, i think its something people who are serious into the hobby tend to pick one up eventually. It may just be a tote box, an airstone and a small heater. My first QT was a 10 litre all in one aquarium with a small heater. Does great for keeping a few small fish in temporarily as needed, and goes back in the box and put away when not being used.

 

[lenk0132]

It's like clumps. Do you think that the antibacterial medication is a good solution? The information on the internet is quite limited on this topic so I'm not sure what to do.
Thank you for all the information!

 

[Aiken Drum]

If its clumps its most likely fungal or some kind of mould, but bacterial bloom is a possibility. Either way its probably harmless, and will probably go away on its own. I would try to manually remove what you can, maybe syphon it out with a water change.

Are you from a country that restricts anti bacterial products to vets prescription? Im from UK, and we dont have access to true anti-biotic medication unless we go through a vet. And honestly, its not worth paying to get a vets prescription for a guppy.

Im assuming Esha202 is the same as Esha2000 (i cant find any technical info on 202 but it appears be 2000). Esha2000 isnt a true anti-biotic, but its about as good as you can get where anti-biotics are controlled. Ive used esha2000 to treat minor injuries and infections, but it wont be as good as true antibiotics available over the counter in the US for instance. Personally i wouldn't medicate a main display tank unless i had no option, but if all your fish are affected it wont do any harm. Clean water, regular water changes etc will be of most benefit though.

 

[lenk0132]

I think it is indeed restricted, because I couldn't find anything other in our shops in Denmark. I hope it's going to work for the fin rot and that I will be able to replace the dead fish soon because I can see some aggression arising between the 3 males that are left.
Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Denmark is in the EU and as such antibiotic medication wont be readily available. Esha and Waterlife products are the most effective (IMO) over the counter fish medication we have access to here in UK.