I have no idea?

[Keeper]

Well, as a follow up from my post regarding my guppy that was losing color. I bought a QT setup with the following components:

- 5.5 gal tank
- 25 watt marineland heater
- penguin mini filter

I added about 2.5gals of already established water from my 10gal and 2gal of new declor'd tap water. I waited 24hrs for the filter to run and then I added the sick guppy(acclimitised first). I added aquarium salts last night and bought some meds on the way home today. When I got home the guppy was stuck to the intake of the filter. Now he is lying sideways on the bottom of the tank. Does the penquin mini have too much intake power for fish? I have no idea what happened but i'm very sad. Lost 2 fish in 24hrs. ANy input would be appreciated.

Ryan

 

[Keeper]

well the inevitable happened. My guppy has passed on to fish heaven. He is now buried in the yard under the lilac tree. Any ideas on what could have happened?

 

[Sara]

Sorry to hear about your fish, Ryan. The same thing happened to one of our neons once, but luckily enough we saw him pretty quickly and helped him on his way. We've got an Aquaclear Mini in our 10 gallon tank, and we put a sponge over the filter intake to keep it from sucking up the fish.

Just take a filter sponge and cut a hole or an 'x' in the top, and stick it on the filter intake. Just make sure that you take the sponge off and rinse it out every once in a while. Some people on this forum have also used pantyhose to cover their intakes instead.

HTH!

 

[oscarbreeder]

Keeper,

Sorry to hear about your loss.
It's always sad to lose a fish friend.

 

[oscarbreeder]

Sara,

That is some good advice.
I think I will try that on my Community tank and betta tanks as they are smaller fish.

 

[Keeper]

Sara, thanks for the advice. This was a full grown guppy. I didn't think a penguin mini had enough power to keep a fish stuck to the intake. I Normally use Aqua minis but thought I would try the Penguins because I have heard so much about it. I guess in future I will keep a sponge over the intake.

I'm still really concerned as to what happened.....in the morning he was *fine* and at night he is dead????? I can't find anything on the net as to what the illness could have been and maybe that is why I am frustrated. Again though...thanks alot.

 

[Aquafriend]

Sorry about your loss.

I had a cory that appeared to be perfectly healthy, yet he was stuck tail first to the filter intake one day (AquaClear 150). I gently knocked him off, where's he landed on his side and stayed there for a bit, then off he went swimming a little wobbly. A while later, he was stuck again. When I knocked him off, he lay upside down briefly, then swam off. He was never quite the same after that, wobbly and unstable. He died two days later. He didn't get stuck again because I turned down the flow on the filter. I was told that he was probably sick, even though he appeared healthy, and was just too weak to fight the intake as he went by, something most fish don't even have to think about. The intake is about 2" up from the bottom, but it was enough. I never did really find out what it was all about....

 

[pkremer]

I have a Penguin 330 which is sucking in 330 gph, and my swordtails and loaches can swim right by it effortlessly without getting sucked in, so I can't imagine a 100 gph filter being so powerful fish can't avoid it.

One of my swordtails once went crazy when I got him (I think from the stress of being moved to my new uncycled aquarium), and he got sucked up against the intake for a few minutes. Thankfully, he recovered, and since then there have been no problems.

I think since the guppy was already sick and weak, he wasn't able to fight the suction. Even if a fish LOOKS healthy, if he can't handle the suction of a filter only taking in 100 gph (Penguin Mini), he probably is sick. Losing color would be a sign of poor health.

Maybe he was stressed out from a recent move? Not getting food because other fish ate it first? Or maybe he had internal issues that weren't visible on the surface until it was too late.

Either way, sorry for your loss
Paul

 

[Keeper]

I appreciate all the replies.....I now understand what probably happened. Thanks again

 

[Menagerie]

Well, I will just second a couple pieces of advice. When you have ill, weak fish, a sponge over the intake tube will help.

How are the other fish?

 

[Keeper]

I'll defintaley put a sponge over the intake tube from now on. Another of the guppies is starting to look slightly faded...I noticed this morning before I left for work. I am going to put in QT tank when I get home(although i'm a little worried about doing this). I might be a big suck but I am very attached to my fish...just like I was attached to my dog.

 

[jlindseyjr]

Keeper,
Check out this article by a guy who's been raising guppies for 40 years.

http://www.ifga.org/articles/disease2.htm

 

[Keeper]

Thanks alot for the article. Very interesting