Frustrated, want to give up.

[Celaw]

So, I am at the breaking point with my 15g guppy tank. Its constantly one thing after another and it all started from the day I pretty much got my tank and got it cycled (stats in profile)....

So I lose about 2 guppies to my filter intake right out of the gate, no clue why it happened I assumed originally they were weak from fin rot from aggressive behavior from other male guppies. So then I think about it and realize "Well maybe they're getting caught in the filter intake, escaping, then damaging they're fins in the process". So I put some filter sponge inside the intake tube and run some thread through 2 holes to prevent it from being sucked up. You might think it was a pretty smart idea, but a fish today managed to die outside of it, however he may of been weak from one of the other issues below.

About a week ago, I got over another issue after 4 fish died of what looked like starvation. This story will start with my local pet store selling me the wrong type of food and me of course feeding it to them. I then after the 3rd death find out from Hikari that it wasn't at all suitable for guppies and that I needed to address my pet shop. Naturally I did and they are in the process of retraining employees and gave me a refund, wrapping up that problem.

Now my fish have Ich, which I understand is common and I should of quarantined my fish after buying them. Lesson learned, but now two fish perished as a result from either that or too high of water temps (Trying to kill off the Ich with heat since I have shrimp).

So now I'm pretty much waiting for someone on this forum to tell me I should stop caring for fish OR move on and continue, because stuff like this is normal? I don't know, you guys tell me. If you encourage me to move on, I will continue to strive to take the best care of my fish as possible. If I get a lot of negative responses, I will just cut my losses and rehome my fish. One thing is for sure though, I never thought I would ever get emotional over losing fish.

 

[agrasyuk]

Loosing fish is never fun. I sertaily was quite sad and humbled when my German blue rams started dying one by one just when I thought that with 6mo of experience I know everything about aquarium keeping. Just yesterday I found one of the neons I bought day before on the filter grates. I know my tank is a good environment, I know neons are iffy, still feels bad regardless. Try understand why it happened and try to avoid in future.
Good luck! Hope this is encouraging

Now to your situation.
How are you verifying the tank is really cycled?
Yes, the "stats in the profile" indeed correct, but if you can link your thread to make it easier that would be awesome. Or better yet let discuss it here to keep the conversation focused in one place.

ADD
Unless you have a monstrocity of a filter like FX6 or maybe even a AC110 I wouldn't be to worried about healthy fish not being able to swim away from the intake. Regardless I think that foam in filter IMO is a bad solution. Restricts the flow a but doesn't really slow it down(and you don't want to slow it down). I think the proper way would be wrapping layer of coarse foam around the intake to prevent the fish from getting closer to zones of very high flow

 

[Celaw]

Loosing fish is never fun. I sertaily was quite sad and humbled when my German blue rams started dying one by one just when I thought that with 6mo of experience I know everything about aquarium keeping. Just yesterday I found one of the neons I bought day before on the filter grates. I know my tank is a good environment, I know neons are iffy, still feels bad regardless. Try understand why it happened and try to avoid in future.
Good luck! Hope this is encouraging

Now to your situation.
How are you verifying the tank is really cycled?
Yes, the "stats in the profile" indeed correct, but if you can link your thread to make it easier that would be awesome. Or better yet let discuss it here to keep the conversation focused in one place.

ADD
Unless you have a monstrocity of a filter like FX6 or maybe even a AC110 I wouldn't be to worried about healthy fish not being able to swim away from the intake. Regardless I think that foam in filter IMO is a bad solution. Restricts the flow a but doesn't really slow it down(and you don't want to slow it down). I think the proper way would be wrapping layer of coarse foam around the intake to prevent the fish from getting closer to zones of very high flow

Thank you for the encouraging response and I'm sorry that happened to you. Anyways here are my recent readings. I did have a bit of a spike in Nitrates on this reading, but I did add new fish not too long ago. I was going to say my tank was cycled, because of my readings being consistent. However I'm not so sure.

Nitrate 40
Nitrite 0
Total Hardness 150
Total Alkalinity 40
pH 6.8
Ammonia 0

I did have my heater running hot though for the Ich (88F) and what I did not know is that pulls oxygen out of the water. So I turned it back down and did a quick water change to address oxygen levels and Nitrate spike. This did jump start one of the fish that I noticed was struggling to breath. I wish information on killing off Ich would of mentioned this side effect of increased temps, though that's my fault I suppose.

Also yes I was planning on wrapping filter sponge around intake to prevent further issues.

 

[V227]

C
Consider the adversity you are going through now as just a training experience. Judging by your post, you have already got a good grasp on water management and the basics of fish keeping. A 15 gal. Tank is tiny and very difficult to maintain constant acceptable water parameters. When the budget and space allows, consider buying the largest tank you can afford. In the mean time consider the 15 gal. a trainer.
Guppies aren't exactly the Incredible Hulks of the fish world. Might be better to stock with more durable fish such as Zebra Danios, or a few Tiger Barbs.
As for ICK, or other parasitic bugs, an outbreak can happen to anyone. If you are accomplished, outbreaks are rare due to preventative water maintenence practices but sooner or later bad things happen. It's the knowledge you're gaining now that will help you overcome the rare future disasters that might happen.
IMO, Meds are far more effective in treating parasites than the heat / WC method. If the Guppies die, wait two full weeks keeping the tank hot, before adding new fish.
Buy inexpensive fish until things level out. I keep two very large schools of "cheap" tetras in my 120 gal. Red Eye and Buenos Aires Tetras. Cost $1.49 each. Beautiful and tough. Good luck.

 

[agrasyuk]

I've yet to have a complete tank wipe, but I read that this are possible with just the right desease brought from the store. Perhaps take a step back and regroup?
In either case it is possible to have a good looking fish tank without fish constantly dying - fact. You will get there.

No personal experience of treating ick though, someone else might chime in on that in more detail.

 

[Celaw]

Thank you both for your input, I have taken a breather and reminded myself that those fish in there are my responsibility and that they will always need me. I am incredibly thankful that I did as much research as I did going into this and didn't just buy fish that were above my difficulty level, because I probably would of felt more crushed if I had lost an expensive fish.

I always feel like I have as much knowledge as I need, but continue to be surprised at the vast amount of knowledge that still is out there to be learned. In the future I would love a bigger tank, but for now I think I will take 1 step at a time and master guppies before moving onto the next big thing.

Also the Ick has cleared up on all fish, so at least I have some good news.

 

[King Fisher]

The temp you got isn't bad for treating ich. I personally keep it at 86 degrees. Get yourself a python. Works wonders for ich IMO. It gets the parasite sucked out of your gravel, sand, ect. while removing water for your water change. I add aquarium salt at 1 teaspoon per gallon. Idk what this will do to a shrimp so don't add salt until you find that out. Also, keep up the treatment you are doing for another week after you don't see the ich so your chances of it coming back are slim.

What kind of filter to you have?
Are you using an API master test kit for your water tests?

If you are into an all guppy tank then I won't discourage that. Get more of them after you have ran your current tank for a couple months with success. I think you could probably fit 10-12 in there with regular water changes.

I'd get a good flake food like Omega brand. Also get Omega kelp flakes. I've had issues with guppies and constipation. This went away with the kelp flakes.

 

[Matt68005]

They are weak inbred fish. Constantly dying off not your fault. They only live about a year and a half under ideal conditions.
If you dont like loosing fish consider getting stronger, like a more wild fish or non-livebearer. Otherwise all i can say is you get use to it.

 

[nooboftanks]

You sound like me man! My first freshwater was terrible I got a 10 gallon and the employee sent me home with fish in my hand before the tank was even filled up not to mention it was 15 inches of fish for a 10 gallon tank non cycled they all died and I was devasted eventually you learn little tips and tricks which you already are with the foam in the filter to help smooth things out as far as guppies I’ve tried so many times to breed them and they always die within weeks so I would try and get something moreprone to success I really love dwarf gouramis personally

 

[flitabout]

Fish like guppies are better purchased online from private breeders that really care about their fish are well bred and carefully cared for, rather than big box stores that purchase from companies that specialize in quantities over quality.