Guppy died of unknown reasons

[alia258]

My guppy, Blondie, died of unknown causes today, she was fine this morning but when I got hope from school she was dead and floating in the tank. She was young when I got her, and her sister from the same batch is perfectly fine (and preggo) so I'm confused as to why my guppy died. She didn't have a bent spine or show any signs (that I know of) that she had fungus or parasites. Here are the pics of her:

Alive:


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Just now:


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I'm sad to lose my guppy, I loved her clear body, and she was always very calm compared to the others. I'm mostly posting this, because of she has an infectious disease then I have to treat the tank, but I don't know what to look for in an infectious disease other than parasites and fungus (which I'm thinking probly isn't that, since there hasn't been any stringy poop for over 4 months)

 

[jpchin]

what are your water parameters? you need to liquid test (API is best) for ph, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. that's the first step. how long has your tank been cycled? i would do a water change right away. please post yuour numbers so we can start to help.

 

[alia258]

My mom won't let me get a testing kit, and I'm not sure how soon we can go to the pet store to get it tested for free. I've gotta get another female soon though, because the ratio 1:1 isn't a good one, the other could die from stress (an I don't want my other fishy to die!)

Blondies egg sack looked a little bloated and like there was blood spreading out of it, and I know she was preggo, but not THAT preggo, and so that worries me a little

 

[jpchin]

how long has your tank been set up? did you cycle your tank before you got your fish? if you can't get a test kit than you need to do frequent water changes. what water conditioner do you use? seachem prime is frequently suggested. it has the ability to neutralize the ammonia for up to 48 hours. so if you do daily water changes of 50% and use prime it will help your fish live through cycling. what size is your tank? the more information you give us the better it is for us to help you

 

[alia258]

My tank is cycled, so that isn't the issue. I have a 10g and now I only have 1 male and 1 female guppy (I know it's a bad ratio, I need to grab another female) I use stress coat as my conditioner and weekly 50% water changes and usually add about 15% every 4-5 days from evaporation (the bulbs are very hot) so they have a nice circulation of nice water and there's a small amount of fish waste left for the plants to use (emphasis on small amount) I also have 3 neons and a breeder box with guppy fry which are much too tedious and hard to count. I have 1 Cory cat of unknown gender and he is great at keeping food off the ground. I have a bubble wall in the back of the tank as well. The other fish haven't shown any signs of illness and I've been watching closely. My other female guppy, Noir, is quite stressed out at the moment, but that's expected since she's the only female at the moment. I'll hopefully be grabbing another female (and some neons/cories) to go into my tank.

But I still can't think of why Blondie died, he was preggo once, and she had one drop (which I didn't save because they looked unhealthy, and because it was a batch from the store and I was told to avoid that too) I'm still worried as to why her body looked so bloated, does that happen to fish after left dead in the water for long amounts of time? Or did she get a disease that causes sudden bloating perhaps? If I go to the petstore tomorrow I'll be testing the water to double check the everything is in order. Here's a pic of my tank and filter (because it has a large amount of bacteria and looks a little odd to me, maybe it's not bacteria that I'm looking at???)

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The filter is a tetra PF10 btw

 

[jpchin]

not having that kind of filter myself i'm not sure but it looks like a lot of gunk build up. when is the last time you changed your filter media? the next time you clean your gravel you should rinse all the filter parts in the tank water that you siphon out when you clean the gravel or when you remove water for a water change. DO NOT rinse the filter under the tap because the tap water will kill your good bacteria. if you have replaceable parts on the filter (like sponges, or inserts) change out on at a time and not all at once. if it's a foam insert just rinse in the tank water and squeeze the water through until youu get most of the gunk out. it sounds like your 10 gal is over stocked especially if you have a bunch of fry in the tank. i would not add any fish unless you can re-home some of what you have. you don't say how often you clean the gravel. this should be done once a week. please post your water parameters when you get back from the store. you really should have your own testing supplies. if you can only get 1 or 2 tests i would get the ammonia and nitrate tests. they sell them separately and both would probably be about $10-12 dollars. you really need to be able to test at a moments notice and not have to wait until you can get to the pet store. also petsmart and the other chain stores use strip testing and that is not reliable. liquid testing is best.

 

[alia258]

I use a gravel vac every 50% water change, I guess I forgot to put that in there. I have a home for the guppy fry in about a week (someone has a 50g but wants to wait till the guppies are older because the pleco they have eat small fish, but the adults should be fine in there) I'll be doing more PWCs once I get the fish, and I'll look into the liquid testing kits. Do pool testing kits work with aquariums? My dad has a chlorine and Ph tester, which could be of use.

 

[jpchin]

i don't think the chlorine is of any benefit. the ph test maybe. the thing i think most important is the ammonia and nitrate tests. both of these at high levels will kill your fish. those numbers shoulf be 0 for ammonia and 10-20 for nitrates. however if you don't know those numbers, it's hard to say what's going on in the tank and to add more fish at this time i think would be a mistake. also you need to address the conditions of your filter. it looks pretty dirty from the picture you posted. how often do you change out the 50% water? as i wrote in my other post you should rinse all filter media in the tank water you take out. if you have inserts in the filter you should change them out. however if theere is more than one insert (like a sponge and bio ballls) only change one at a time. wait a week and change out the other. that's the best i can do without the water parameter readings. again i would not add any fish to this tank until all your water readings are within normal limits. it's really not fair to the fish.

 

[alia258]

The readings are all good, I had it tested yesterday. It's good to know that the water is all good, the worker said that nitrates are about 5-10 and nitrites were 0 (did I spell those right? I get the names mixed up sometimes) ammonia is below .05ppm and so my tank just needs another pwc before I add the fish. My neighbor is giving me 3 neon tetras tomorrow, so it's good that my tank is all in order!

I'm planning on changing my gravel to black sand. I washed it last night until the water ran clear and I'll wash it again before I put it in (this afternoon or tomorrow) I was thinking that I'll do a pwc during when I put the sand in so the water level will be lower when I put it in. Will this cause issues? And about how much of the gravel am I supposed to put in the sock/bowl/panty hoes? I'm avoiding ainu-cycle as best I can, so my fish aren't stressed or die!