The Planted Tank Forum banner

kids wanted guppies, I now regret saying yes

4K views 42 replies 18 participants last post by  Firedove 
#1 ·
they might be pretty to look at, but they are nasty buggers. we are losing an average of 2 a day of the 20 I bought (mix of males/females adults & juvies, I bought 10 to start with, but then in the past few weeks have replaced a couple here & there, but have easily bought 20 or more) they are turning on each other. we've lost 1/2 of them. I know that we have a few baby's in the tank born in the last day but I bet within a week there will be only the "nastiest" left.
Water parameters all 0, temp perfect, feeding NLS & Omega 1 foods x2/day, Lots of bushy plants & hide-a-ways but also lots of open room to swim.
 
#3 ·
If you would have said Bettas, I would have believed you. Lol
Or if you had a meaner wild guppy relative like mosquitofish.

I know a guy that has a 20 gallon tank filled with 100 adult guppies (not exaggerating) and they do not fight, they do mate though and know deaths.

Maybe you mean just the tiny guppies are being eaten by the adults?

I have seen all sorts of different guppy tanks, from barely any to socialize, to stocked just right, to highly overstocked, to males only, to females only, to a tank with a bunch more males than females (sexually mature) and I have never seen or heard of any deaths as a result.

Despit the constant males pestering females to mate, I still haven't seen any die, sure they stress some. I can see how some might die, especially if the have no where to hide, but still in my experience the females sort of tune them out and don't stress overly.

I see you mention water parameters are good and plenty of hiding places so those aren't the problem. Maybe there is some thing else irritating/frustrating them. It is known that agitated and stressed fish can become aggressive. Do the fish flash against objects? Are their gills abnormally colored?

Maybe there is some kind of chemcial entering the tank? Or the water chemistry is completely off?

I have heard of weak (not enough to kill) electrical discharges (faulty equipment) causing fish to become agitated and as a result, aggressive.

You sure they are not dying of a disease?
Kids dumped anything harmful in the tank? Stessing out the fish some other ways?
 
#5 ·
it's been a wide mix both male/female adults & juvies that have died so far. We had 3 pregnant females 1 was bullied to death, 1 is getting pretty big & square & then the 3rd just had her baby's in the last day or so. (we saw the 1st baby yesterday morning). Honestly I am wondering about a disease weakening them & then the rest are ganging up to protect themselves? I'm not sure but it sure is weird. I'm not game for aggressive fish & my oldest is so sensitive she sobs with each fish that's found dead.
No the kids are really good with the pets, they wouldn't put anything into the tank. & as for anything harrassing them the tank is in the family room, but in a fairly quiet corner!
I am thinking we do need to take them back to the store maybe I can get some store credit for something else.
 
#6 ·
Where did you buy them from? Like petco, petsmart, that kind of place? Or was it a locally owned place? If it was like petco then you most likely won't be able to get anything for them cuz they have a 30 day return policy and you said "weeks ago". They might take them but don't expect anything for them.
 
#7 ·
from 3 different places. 1 Petland in the small city where we live, then 2 big fish stores in the nearest big city. I've talked to a friend who has chiclids who's said they'll buy them from us. I think our whole family is happy with the 1 big peaceful community fish tank
 
#8 ·
Guppies killing each other is kind of like two snails being killed in a headon collision! I guess it might happen but they just are not very well equipped to do the job.
Guppies do die from lots of other causes, though. I would suggest checking other things before changing out fish. Zero for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is pretty hard to achieve and certainly so when there are dead fish in the tank. Dead fish means ammonia is created almost immediately.
 
#9 ·
we remove immediately. the tank is in a spot where someone is walking by all the time. I am a stay at home mom & right now my husband is home. but b/c so many are dying I"m checking it's water daily trying to figure out what the problem is. I know the test kits are still good b/c my other tank is showing some back & forth right now as it's just being filled up after planting & cycling. Plus I've added some extra plants yesterday.
 
#10 ·
What kind of test are you using? The strips are notoriously wrong. There is no way you should have zero nitrates. Did you previously cycle your tank before adding fish? If you just filled the tank and added fish you should have ammonia then nitrite and then nitrate readings. I would say that bad water conditions are causing the aggression and deaths. You should look into getting a basic API liquid test kit to check your water. You can find them as low as $18 on Amazon or a little more from an online pet store. You get many more tests from the liquid kits than you would from buying test strips and they are way more accurate. Try doing large water change daily being sure to add chlorine remover. You do treat the tap water before adding it to the tank don't you. Normal tap water can kill fish. Doing daily water changes should help you to see if the water is what is causing the problems. Do that for a week and watch the behavior to see if it improves.
 
#31 ·
Equally stumped by the rampaging guppies.

I have 10G's crammed with pairs ready to go and you won't see a torn fin in the mix.
Some strains treat the babies like caviar and some ignore them. That whole process can be tougher for little ones to get used to than fish dying. Mystery deaths do happen.
They just aren't the toughest fish, nor the longest-lived. Box store guppies tend to be very mature fish since they have the best colors and that's what sells. Even with great water quality it doesn't take much to send these fish downhill. Those stores literally pay pennies for them and they usually get the short end of the wholesale process.

If you want to take a slightly different approach, find a local breeder and try younger specimens and ask about the strain's tendency to eat babies or not.

Honestly, my worst problem with them is keeping females alive after giving birth.
 
#12 ·
Uncycled tank or new tank syndrome would be my guess, too. How long has the tank been up? Did you add all 10 guppies at one time (the original ones)? Did you seed the tank with stuff from your other tank(s)?
Do you still have the corys in the tank? If so how are they doing?
 
#14 ·
the tank is a 10gal that has been set up & running for 7+ years, as home to my betta. I have it on a surge protection power bar, the filter is a tetra whisper w/bio filter & the charcoal bags I also add that white crystal stuff that is supposed to be good to help with ammonia build up. Zeolite I think it's called? it seems to be running fine no weird noises but that said it's getting up there in age (probably 4-5 years old), Filter bags get changed mthly (I always transfer a couple scoops of the old filter medium into the new) & the heater is a good quality middle of the "line". I haven't seen a spike/dip in water temp.
Yes the 2 cory's they have been in the tank all along. I started with a group of 5 baby's, these guys are just hanging in there! I keep expecting them to be the next fish dead they aren't supposed to live this long! (hasbrosus? cory catfish) When I moved the betta & rasboras over into my big 30gal planted tank we left the cory's in the tank & then went & got the guppies from the store that same afternoon. When we got home I did a 1/2 water change, put the bag of guppies in & floated them for a couple hours. Then I slowly started adding my water into the bag over an hr then released the fish.
for tests I have the individual API kits & I use a good quality (name escapes me right now & I'm too tired to go downstairs to find the bottles) 3 step tank conditioner program.
edited to add, it's got high quality silk plants which are new in the last year
 

Attachments

#16 ·
Guppies are in their own tank. betta is in my big tank. I have decided to go ahead with the rehoming of the rest of the Guppies. It is too hard on my kids to see their pretty fish killing each other.
Then I will shut that tank down, clean it 100% & I am going to restart it fresh as another planted tank. I think in my kitchen with either my male betta freeing up the big tank for some more Molly's or a female sorority.
 
#17 ·
Don't blame you for closing the tank down - for the kids sake. Best to do it now before they start to hate the idea of fishkeeping.

Perhaps there's a way you can include them in the build of the next few tanks - choosing some rocks/wood/plants, perhaps still choosing the fish from a pre-selected shortlist etc.
 
#18 ·
Yes, that is the way most of our fish have been chosen. the kids almost always get to pick "who" our next betta or schooling (from the rasboras or tetras) fish would be. They love to watch the fish as much as we adults do. & the 11year old is so anal about feeding she yells at me when I 'do it wrong'. & the tanks always have finger smudge & nose prints all over.
 
#19 ·
OK so update on the whole guppy drama.... I called the local store this morning & they recommended just bringing the females in. The fish department manager said if that doesn't cure the nasties then bring the males in on the weekend or Monday.I said ok we can do that. I caught all the fish, put them into my fish keepers & emptied the tank completely.
Then hubby brought the tank upstairs to my breakie bar while I took a trip to the store. I took in the remaining 2 female guppies & left with a bag of aquatic soil & some plants.... LALALALALALALALALALA
 
#20 ·
Tank is being set up as a live Planted..... We will try just having male Guppies, with my hasbrosus Cory's & am going to probably try putting my male betta in with them. That will free up room in my big tank for some more community fish.
Will update how it goes a little later!
 
#24 ·
Since we took out the females the males have all been getting along fine. I am glad we seem to have gotten to the bottom of our problem. My girls can have their guppies but we will make sure we only keep males.
 
#23 ·
I have been a part of a betta forum for years & many people have successfully had guppy & betta community tanks. I've had great success with Cory's, tetras & Raspboras. Our Betta right now it seems that the 30gal is too big for him, he only swims around the filter, heater & floating log wedged in the corner.
Once we get the tank moved & set up we will decide completely who goes where. The Betta could go in the 10 with the group of tetras or rasboras & the guppies in the big tank... Lots of decisions!
 
#25 ·
so with all the hullabaloo today 1 of the males didn't seem to handle the stress, but even as it was dying the other males left it alone. I even watched them swim away from it as it was falling from the top of the tank down to the bottom. They didn't attempt to go after him at all. The problem was the females. My girls are happy to keep only males. so I'll add a few new males from a good local breeder in the coming weeks.
 
#27 ·
I am going to catch my lone scissortail rasboras in the big tank & put him into the 10gal with the betta & tomorrow I will go restock that school. then I can move the group of male guppies into the 30 gal which has a mixed school of tetra's, a school of harlequin rasbora's & 3 Molly fish which I know are related to guppy's.
 
#29 ·
Well I ran tests on my 2gal sick tank filter (Elite mini) & heater (beta bowl under gravel heated mat) yesterday & set it up using 1/3 water from my 10gal tank. 11 year old daughter has promised to do 2 1/2 water changes week & full tank clean as determined by water parameters. The guppies are no longer "my responsibility"!!!
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top