Dead Female Guppies

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KevinK

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 23, 2003
Messages
1
Location
Long Beach, CA
I have a 30 gal tank that had about a 50/50 mix of male and female guppies. The fish have been in the tank for months with no incident. The fish have no noticeable (to me) external signs of disease. Over the last week all of the older female guppies have died. No males. I had the water tested at the store and they said ammonia & nitrate were fine. I checked pH and it was low (turns out the city water is low). I added enough chemical to raise the pH to about 7.5. The fish were dying before I adjusted the pH. A female (since dead) had babies, and most of them have died over the last few days. The males seem to swim about the tank normally, and the females gather near the top in a corner where there's a plant. Also, the water looks not quite crystal clear - maybe a little cloudy or milky, but not much. About every two weeks I change out 1/3 of the water, and have done so for months. I am not sure what I changed to cause this.

Thoughts?? Thank you!
 
Dead Guppies

Hi KevinK,

It's very difficult to determine what could be causing the loss of your fish, after verifying basic parameters. Cloudy water, by itself, does not necessarily indicate a problem that would cause fish to die.

The only thing I would recommend is doing smaller water changes, more frequently. I generally do a 10-15% change 2X per week. I used to do larger changes, less frequently, but since I have switched methods, my fish are significantly healthier.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Guppyman
 
Hiya and welcome to Aquariumadvice KevinK, and I apologise for not responding sooner *slaps self* Thanx Guppyman, for bumping this post up; have a coupla kudos :)

Hrmm. Water parameters look fine, although what was "low" Ph? If the guppies were acclimated to it, and it wasn't terrribly low I have to admit I would have left it. But thats me.

Have there been any new additions to the tank? New fish, new decor, new chemical treatments or hardware?

I notice its all female which are dying; is it possible they are older then the males? Or, worn out from constant breeding/harassment by the males? Although...some of the babies are keeling over too. Did the baby deaths happen before or after the Ph change?
 
I feel that your male to female ratio might have something to do with it. Livebearing fish once they have been fertilized by the male does not need him again for about 3-5 months, if you have a ratio of 1 male to 1 female then when your females are pregnant they are still being persued by the male. with a ratio of 1 male and 3 females it give the females a bit of a break. A male constantly chaseing a female can stress her out and then cause problems if she is pregnant with the birth of her young. Alot of females also die while giving birth.
To make your females happier i would cut down the quantity of males in the tank, your females will be less stressed and happier.
 
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