Feeder guppies keep dying! (disease) I'm pulling my hair out!

[Dkdoll]

At this point, I think I am going to go crazy/hopeless/chronically depressed.

(haha) Well, that's an exaggeration, but I've just been having so much trouble lately with the feeder guppies! My dream tank is kind of atypical- I want to have a bunch of wild guppies (I prefer lightly decorated guppies to their fancy counterparts) in a heavily planted tank. So feeder guppies are the closest thing.

Problem is I can't get any to stay alive... I first got 20 from a LFS, and they were so heavily diseased they pretty much all died within a week even with medication. There wasn't one without fin rot/injuries. I got 20 more, thinking the first 20 were just bad stock, and they looked better, but the same happened.

I tried another LFS that looked promising and picked the feeders out myself, but its been a week, and the ones that looked just a little diseased are getting worse! I doubt any will survive. I had tried several medications (Melafix, Ich cure, Trisulfa) but none had notable effect.

I have 3 fancy guppies that are doing well, but I really crave wild guppies. Any suggestions on how to keep them alive or find good stock? (Before I go bald? )

[Sponsors]

[valerietheangel]

Maybe you could try some Endler's livebearers instead? They have that wild guppy look, are less common than fancy guppies and are fairly easy to get if you do some digging. You will usually find them on aquabid or you might contact some fish people near you to find them.

Here's a picture of a nice pair:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...3Doff%26sa%3DN

[lauraleellbp]

Have you considered Endlers livebearers? Wild-type coloration. Pretty vivid, though.

I'd try and see if there are any ALA members/breeders in your area (American Livebearers Association) http://66.18.211.163/alapublic/

Or you could try www.gambusia.net or www.goliadfarms.com

EDIT- LOL ninja'd by Valerie!!

[susankat]

Here is a wild type endler.

[MartialTheory]

yeah google a image search on endlers livebears. I have N class wild type meaning its not a strain and its beautiful. especially since u never know what type of endler pops out.

best of luck

[Kets]

If you are not interested in Endlers, this is what I would do if your current stock dies out:

-First of all, sterilize your tank. Use Pottasium Permegante or common bleach. Then dump the water, rinse the tank thouroughly with tap water and dry it out in the sun for three-four days. (It is possible that the first guppys' diseases might have stayed in the tank and caused your second guppies to die.)
-Cycle the tank again.
-Get feeders that look healthy. Drip acclimate them into your tank.

[dekstr]

Yup I think endler's look at lot more natural compared to their domesticated guppy counterparts.

I think to save you the trouble of having to disinfect everything in your dream tank, just quarantine those feeder guppies, or any fish for the matter, in a separate tank first before introducing them.

[Dkdoll]

Thank you for your suggestions! This is really late, but just an update. I been having some success!

Unfortunately, most of the ones I had when I wrote the last post died. I moved the few survivors to my second quarantine tank. But I had noticed that just salt and a little melafix seemed to work on some guppies. So I sterilized my tank and bought some more fish. A few of the very diseased ones died just a few hours/a day after I got them home, but the rest are doing so much better than before. Two that had very clamped/rotting fins have actually gotten alot better! Their fins are unclamped now and grow back (which makes me so happy).

I'm not sure what exactly is making the situation better than before, but some of the changes that I made were: instead of chemical medications (trisulfa, blue ick cure), I just added some salt (about a tablespoon for the whole 10 gallon tank) and a little melafix (about half of the recommended dose). Also, I had a lot of leftover baby brine shrimp that I hatch for some of my fry, so I fed them to this tank. I think the most important factor that changed was the medications. Perhaps the chemical cures actually made the fish more stressed and caused their condition to worsen?

[Natty]

I've had your obsession before with feeder guppies. When I was little I use to have a small tank packed with them and had ever since tried to redo that.

A few tips that I've noticed was:

1. Feeder guppies are full of diseases
2. When you first get them, watch out for the following:
a) Reduce tank flow, they are in a weakened state many of the time and extra tank flow stresses them out even more, making them more prone to diseases. Anything that creates a flow that'll push them around or make them swim a lot will stress them out.
b) Keep your temperature around 65-70F. They don't require as warm temperatures as their fancier cousins.
c) Plants add to the success, keeps the water clean, and helps feed the smaller ones.
d) Let them settle in for awhile, like a day or so before feeding them anything.

I've never exactly had as much problem as you've had with feeders though. Since they are fairly cheap, you can have many tries.

[Dkdoll]

Haha, it's glad to know someone has had the same obsession.

Thank you for your suggestions! My temperature is in the right range now, but maybe the problem before was because the temperature wasn't high enough. I didn't have a heater in the tank. I've also reduced the filter GPH. I had one small one that actually go stuck to the intake. I immediately pulled the power from the filter and found that he was still alive! He was so mutilated, and I felt so bad for him... I put him in a isolation box inside the tank, and he actually recovered! He's now doing very well

[Natty]

If you're going to keep guppies you have to cover the intake with a sponge prefilter, I use the one from aquaclear.

They give live birth and you're bound to have lots of issues dealing with that. If you keep your tank crystal clear with plants, then you just need to give it time. Diseases are very much connected to water conditions. Many fish that we get from our LPS or online usually have some type of parasite or diseases etc. Whether they show up or not would be very accountable for your water conditions as well.

[Blue Ridge Reef]

FWIW, most of the feeder guppies that come in to my shop appear heavily parisitized and "flash" often. I initially treat them all with copper and salt even when they appear healthy. The survival rate seems much higher.

[adamprice271]

DK, if the weather permits, and you have the room, have you thought of setting up just a smaller babypool outside, let it set out with water and some floating plants(to keep temps from getting too high) and put some of the feeders out there for a few weeks or so? I would imagine, with the natural water, and all of the live foods that will be available could help their condition out tremendously. Then all you would have to do is harvest some out later to go in your tank. I've done this before with some swords and platties with GREAT success in a short amount of time.

Adam

[aelysa]

If you want to pay shipping, I could give you some guppy/endler hybrids. And pretty much bomb proof, they've survived everything. They'd look kind of like the attached picture.
Also, the females have a bit of color too as a bonus.

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by Dkdoll

Thank you for your suggestions! This is really late, but just an update. I been having some success!

Unfortunately, most of the ones I had when I wrote the last post died. I moved the few survivors to my second quarantine tank. But I had noticed that just salt and a little melafix seemed to work on some guppies. So I sterilized my tank and bought some more fish. A few of the very diseased ones died just a few hours/a day after I got them home, but the rest are doing so much better than before. Two that had very clamped/rotting fins have actually gotten alot better! Their fins are unclamped now and grow back (which makes me so happy).

I'm not sure what exactly is making the situation better than before, but some of the changes that I made were: instead of chemical medications (trisulfa, blue ick cure), I just added some salt (about a tablespoon for the whole 10 gallon tank) and a little melafix (about half of the recommended dose). Also, I had a lot of leftover baby brine shrimp that I hatch for some of my fry, so I fed them to this tank. I think the most important factor that changed was the medications. Perhaps the chemical cures actually made the fish more stressed and caused their condition to worsen?

This has been my own personal experience with commercial medications, and why I personally just about never use anything besides salt, mela and pimafix in my own tanks any more. I QT all new fish in prophylactic salt; very very low doses for sensitive fish but IME it's been working for me!