guppy help staying on bottom of 20 gallon tank

[shirleyi]

Hi
I have 8 guppies I received from the same aquairium store ,9 days ago . All are doing great except for I noticed one guppy female who is not pregnant has been staying at the bottom of the tank and has not even come up to eat yesterday or today. She will swim over from one side to the other, but today she is hiding I guess from the other fish not to bother her it seems. No spots ,fins are working fine ,I do notice she seems to be breathing heavily as well. cannot think of what can be wrong with her being the other fish are fine . I also have one Molly. I did the fishless cycling for a month before putting them in .The only values off which has always been, is the ph which is 8.2 .Temp of water is 78. . I have one guppy I obtained 5 weeks ago in a separate tank as this was my starter fish ,and he is doing great as well with all the perimiters being fine except ph being 8.2 . I think that is because I have hard water which is making the ph higher . Anyway any suggestions what is wrong with her ??

Also I have 2 baby fish three days old in a separate breeders tank in the 20 gallon tank these fish are in . I had read that they do not eat for a week or so but I introduced today some really grinded up flake food ,they were eating it and running around like little kids with the pieces of food in there mouth and are doing very well . I read to feed them five times a day ? Is that true seems like a lot since I feed my adults once a day

 

[Istrom]

Guppies are finnicky fish. Sometimes they just get sick. Even if its just one of them and the others are fine. It's really odd. If it's anything it's some sort of poisoning. She may have eaten something she shouldn't have which would explain why only she is sick but im not sure.

 

[icydeath]

Given that your pH is high I would test your kH too. Your kH might make it hard for your guppies to breath and she just may be the weakest one which is why she is being affected. I assume you acclimatized correctly because the others are fine. Just might be a weak one in the batch.

 

[amyb_70]

I have had so many issues with guppies dying and they all die the same way.. i actually can tell the day before who i think is going to go next... but 1 thing i was advised of is that the allege eater i had was one of the most aggressive and most likely killing them ... which explained why they had tails that appeared to be shredding. i am by far a pro at this but have had my fair share of guppy deaths in the past 10 weeks. i am sorry but would guess that your guppy will pass sometime by tomorrow night.. get the PH level down, also add some aquarium salt. i have a 29 gal tank and was advised to add 7 tbsp. be sure to do this either during a water change or make sure that the salt is fully dissolved before putting in the tank so the fish don't eat it.. my understanding is even fresh water needs a little salt. its like a natural healer, it is to fish what echinachia or elderberry is to humans. to those of you with experiance please chime in and correct me if i am wrong here... i want to try and help, share my story ..

 

[Istrom]

If it makes anyone feel better, I can keep a saltwater reef tank in check, but I still have a very hard time keeping guppies alive XD

 

[icydeath]

LOL Just a testimonial on the inbred, weak genetics in modern guppies.

 

[amyb_70]

Sorry istrom it does make me feel better. Now my question is should I try the endlers or just give uP?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[icydeath]

Endlers are pretty hardy if you invest in good stock and are nice fish to keep. You should go for it.

 

[amyb_70]

Thank you. As for my guppies I won't be buying more. As they die I'll give the endler a try. If that doesn't work there's lots of differant tetras I like.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Matt68005]

It's not all about "weak genetics". A responsible guppy breeder is very dedicated to the care of his fish, frequent tiny meals, frequent PWC. Using the right water conditioners and meds, and not just inbreeding over and over, they need to be bred to other guppies of the same color but from other places. I advise that endlers are cute at first, but are nothing in comparison to a well bred well cared for fancy guppy. And endlers and wild guppies too will die off if they constantly inbreed.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[icydeath]

Make sure you mix in new blood if you let them breed.

 

[amyb_70]

Thank you Shirli, since i got rid of the chinese algae eater i have had 2 guppies die (no comparison to when i had the CAE, then i would have a dead guppy every day) the ones who did die both died after major water change and transfer from my 20 gal to my 29 gal. So i am confidant that i found my issue and resolved it.. its been at least a week since ive had one die, not bad after finding them most every day...
to all that have lead me to endlers, thank you.. i got a few yesterday (very young they are in with some fry). i am hoping that all stays calm as i got a super deal on another 29 gal and filter ... i plan on moving the guppies and endlers into 1 tank and keeping the other tank for the different tetras.... any input, tips and/or advise is always welcome. please do so w/ kindness as i have had several very rude comments on a couple threads i started...
Shirli i am interested in knowing how your guppies are doing and if you have found the problem