Why do my guppies sit at the top of the tank?

[alis]

Hello everyone, I keep 5 male guppies and I've been doing 30-50% water changes daily for 2 weeks because I was convinced my water had ammonia (I couldn't check until I got a test kit for ammonia) which is why my fish were dying for the first 2 and a half weeks I had them. One of them is starting to do the shimmies and sometimes they go to the corners when I'm not in front of them. When I am in front of the tank, they come to the front, swim fine, and have an appetite. I also check my nitrite and nitrate on a test strip (working towards getting the API master test kit) and I found no nitrite and >20 ppm nitrate. I also was shocked when I did my ammonia test because it said there was NO ammonia. I also did not cycle my tank before putting fish in which was my fault (I'm kind of a beginner.) Does anyone have an explanation to this?

 

[libertybelle]

Sitting at the top and shimmying are both signs of stress and poor water conditions. It’s a symptom rather than a disease itself. Could be nitrites the test strip didn’t pick up. You said you have a liquid test for ammonia, did that show up as zero?

 

[RSD1982]

Check the water temperature. If the water is too warm it holds less dissolved O2 so the fish tend to go to the top of the tank.

 

[alis]

Sitting at the top and shimmying are both signs of stress and poor water conditions. It’s a symptom rather than a disease itself. Could be nitrites the test strip didn’t pick up. You said you have a liquid test for ammonia, did that show up as zero?

Yeah, the ammonia showed up as 0 ppm. Maybe my test strips are inaccurate.

 

[alis]

Check the water temperature. If the water is too warm it holds less dissolved O2 so the fish tend to go to the top of the tank.

I check my temperature often too. It's around 75-76.

 

[libertybelle]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate, that’s why people always recommend liquid tests in here!

I guess we need more information. Tank size to start. And you said you were losing fish for weeks. What fish? If you previously had a. Ammonia problem it could have burned the gills of your fish even if the water doesn’t show ammonia now.

Could you take your water to a local fist store for a back up check?