I'm a new fish keeper. there, got that out of the way. so in this story there are going to be mistakes. LOTS of them. and it's ok to let me know when I made a mistake, but also know I'm beating myself up over the one's i've made.
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I got a moss ball from a friend. So I got a guppy to go with it-I'd ehard they have a symbiotic relationship. I was then informed that it was SHRIMP that have that, so I got a shrimp, too.
They lived happily together in a bowl. Guppy girl, shrimp, and eventually I got guppy girl a Boyfriend, Gunter. And in another bowl I put Sonny and Cher.
Plus more shrimp. cause....shrimp.
I got two boys and two girls from petsmart later, (stupid, stupid), and both boys died within a few days, and the girls never looked right, but one day Cher and Guppy girl were both pregnant, and so I let the boys go in with the petsmart girls so they'd stop bothering their pregnant ladies. When I moved Gunter back in with GG, i noticed a splotch of missing color on his head. Next time I was at Petsmart, I looked at the same breed of guppy, and they had the same thing, and the guy said it was normal.
Petsmart girls died within a week, I was told about real aquariums, I got a real tank, started setting it up.
Gunter starts acting old, and his back starts bending.
I'm on a well, did tetra safe start, then put the guppy fry guppy girl was pregnant with originally in a few days later, not knowing safe start needed fish. And now I know about the cycle and would't do a fish-in cycle again, but as I said, totally new.
Got my water tested, It was on the second cycle, guy suggested I toss the remaining few guppies in and fast them for a few days , but let it start. I have anacharis in there too, so a little bit of greenery
Ammonia .5 nitrate 20 nitrite zero, hardness 300+, alkalinity 300+, chlorine zero, PH 7.8 (ammonia comes out of the tap at .25, I had him test, which apparently is fairly common with that hardness of water)
I find one guppy fry and fish her out into a bowl for safekeeping while I set up a baby tank. Cher looks skinnier. No other babies- they were fasting, remember?
Maybe two weeks ago I did a 50% water change the day before I went to get my water tested, so my last measurement was zero, zero, zero, and he said I should start seeing nitrates again soon, but my tank was cycled. I also started pulling some water through the softener, so the hardness varies a little bit.
I was told I don't need water conditioner because I am on a well- no chlorine or anything.
Gunter starts acting really sick, and i eventually find him being eaten alive by one of the shrimp. I take him out of the tank, he dies.
The guppy girl was pregnant and started acting listless, so I moved her to her own tank. she ended up aborting her pregnancy, I think, since only four babies were swimming, and the rest were eggs with varying levels of spinal development. I put her back in the main tank, but she seemed off- mopey at times, but then playing with the other fish at other times. The moment I noticed the red mark (which looked like a welt below her fin), I moved her into QT.
Her fins were pretty clamped. As the next few days went on, the fins stayed clamped, and she got more desperate-seeming. it was like she paralyzed from the tail to the front, and at the end she was just hiding in the corners of the tank gasping, but coming to me when she saw me. when she died and I pulled her out, she looked like she had bruises all over her body.
Then the same day (last night), I pulled a several-month-old fry out of the main tank when i noticed the clamped fins, and the corner hiding. When she got into QT she was completely vertical, just diving down and hitting her nose on the bottom. She was dead by this morning, (with some white thing on her head, but i dont know if that was decomposition or not) and I pulled another fry out of the main tank today with clamped fins.
I think the ones who brought in whatever this is were petsmart fish that I let Gunter hang out with for a few hours. He started to lose color and get a bent back after that, but I moved him into the big tank when it was ready with all the others.
NOW I know about quarantine, and not moving fish around so much, and everything, but I was just setting up my first tank, so everything is new. But this is scaring the bejeezus out of me, especially after hearing about fish TB! I am a little immuno suppressed, dealing with chemical sensitivities, and my dad just had a HORRIBLE infection, so neither of us want to be on antibiotics for a few months because of fish tb! I debated getting rid of the tanks when I heard about it last weekend (after googling Gunter's bent back) I finally got myself brave again a few days ago, then GG started her death spiral.
I feel I'm in way over my head (which is normal, I tend to jump in head first), but I don't know whether to cull all the fish and bleach the tank for fish tb, or just pull them out as they get sick, or WTF to do. Sonny, Cher, and the two remaining guppy fry GG was pregnant with when I got her in June are looking fine in the 20 gallon by themselves.
water temp is 72, one ghost shrimp in the tank, anacharis, undergravel filter running with an aquaclear 50 as the aquaclear is getting established. (tank came with the UG filter)
---
I got a moss ball from a friend. So I got a guppy to go with it-I'd ehard they have a symbiotic relationship. I was then informed that it was SHRIMP that have that, so I got a shrimp, too.
They lived happily together in a bowl. Guppy girl, shrimp, and eventually I got guppy girl a Boyfriend, Gunter. And in another bowl I put Sonny and Cher.
Plus more shrimp. cause....shrimp.
I got two boys and two girls from petsmart later, (stupid, stupid), and both boys died within a few days, and the girls never looked right, but one day Cher and Guppy girl were both pregnant, and so I let the boys go in with the petsmart girls so they'd stop bothering their pregnant ladies. When I moved Gunter back in with GG, i noticed a splotch of missing color on his head. Next time I was at Petsmart, I looked at the same breed of guppy, and they had the same thing, and the guy said it was normal.
Petsmart girls died within a week, I was told about real aquariums, I got a real tank, started setting it up.
Gunter starts acting old, and his back starts bending.
I'm on a well, did tetra safe start, then put the guppy fry guppy girl was pregnant with originally in a few days later, not knowing safe start needed fish. And now I know about the cycle and would't do a fish-in cycle again, but as I said, totally new.
Got my water tested, It was on the second cycle, guy suggested I toss the remaining few guppies in and fast them for a few days , but let it start. I have anacharis in there too, so a little bit of greenery
Ammonia .5 nitrate 20 nitrite zero, hardness 300+, alkalinity 300+, chlorine zero, PH 7.8 (ammonia comes out of the tap at .25, I had him test, which apparently is fairly common with that hardness of water)
I find one guppy fry and fish her out into a bowl for safekeeping while I set up a baby tank. Cher looks skinnier. No other babies- they were fasting, remember?
Maybe two weeks ago I did a 50% water change the day before I went to get my water tested, so my last measurement was zero, zero, zero, and he said I should start seeing nitrates again soon, but my tank was cycled. I also started pulling some water through the softener, so the hardness varies a little bit.
I was told I don't need water conditioner because I am on a well- no chlorine or anything.
Gunter starts acting really sick, and i eventually find him being eaten alive by one of the shrimp. I take him out of the tank, he dies.
The guppy girl was pregnant and started acting listless, so I moved her to her own tank. she ended up aborting her pregnancy, I think, since only four babies were swimming, and the rest were eggs with varying levels of spinal development. I put her back in the main tank, but she seemed off- mopey at times, but then playing with the other fish at other times. The moment I noticed the red mark (which looked like a welt below her fin), I moved her into QT.
Her fins were pretty clamped. As the next few days went on, the fins stayed clamped, and she got more desperate-seeming. it was like she paralyzed from the tail to the front, and at the end she was just hiding in the corners of the tank gasping, but coming to me when she saw me. when she died and I pulled her out, she looked like she had bruises all over her body.
Then the same day (last night), I pulled a several-month-old fry out of the main tank when i noticed the clamped fins, and the corner hiding. When she got into QT she was completely vertical, just diving down and hitting her nose on the bottom. She was dead by this morning, (with some white thing on her head, but i dont know if that was decomposition or not) and I pulled another fry out of the main tank today with clamped fins.
I think the ones who brought in whatever this is were petsmart fish that I let Gunter hang out with for a few hours. He started to lose color and get a bent back after that, but I moved him into the big tank when it was ready with all the others.
NOW I know about quarantine, and not moving fish around so much, and everything, but I was just setting up my first tank, so everything is new. But this is scaring the bejeezus out of me, especially after hearing about fish TB! I am a little immuno suppressed, dealing with chemical sensitivities, and my dad just had a HORRIBLE infection, so neither of us want to be on antibiotics for a few months because of fish tb! I debated getting rid of the tanks when I heard about it last weekend (after googling Gunter's bent back) I finally got myself brave again a few days ago, then GG started her death spiral.
I feel I'm in way over my head (which is normal, I tend to jump in head first), but I don't know whether to cull all the fish and bleach the tank for fish tb, or just pull them out as they get sick, or WTF to do. Sonny, Cher, and the two remaining guppy fry GG was pregnant with when I got her in June are looking fine in the 20 gallon by themselves.
water temp is 72, one ghost shrimp in the tank, anacharis, undergravel filter running with an aquaclear 50 as the aquaclear is getting established. (tank came with the UG filter)