[Blackheart]

Hello all. In tank setup before I moved, I had on of Guppies. Recently resetting it up, I tried out several fish. I did have 20 Gold White Cloud minnows and 10 Penguin tetras. They all did fine, no deaths. Now I recently added 20 fancy Guppies and within the first 5 hours, already had one death. I did get the Guppies from another LFS then the other fish and they all seemed fine in the tank.

So whats up with this? Why do my Guppies die where others have lived? They died also when I had them before. Several of them. Are they not as hardy? Are they week due to massive inbreeding? Just curious because its kind of a bummer and the ones I got recently were not cheap at all.

 

[Plinkploop]

Hard to know without tank parameters being posted but I'd be willing to bet your water parameters are too different from the parameters they were kept in before you brought them home.

 

[nicole.ouellette99]

Agreeing here with Plinkploop. You need to post some parameters, otherwise nothing is known about your water quality. Also, the guppies probably needed to adjust better. you should try drip acclimation next time. Ive been keeping guppies for awhile, and they are pretty hardy. Usually if one dies, its from an outside source or old age.

 

[Blackheart]

I have lost two more Guppies since last night. I have to check for more things, but it looks like my PH is 7.6 and my high range PH is 7.8. I dont drip acclimate. I have had guppies before and didnt drip acclimate them and they did fine. I am guessing I purchased a weak strain.

 

[nicepoeci]

Ive got about 30 aquariums of guppies and endlers and there are a few things I contribute to the most deaths. Keep in mind that Poecilia are a very prolific species and death is pretty common - it happens often because its a species that can multiply so quickly - there are more chances of internal birth defects and bad genetics that come into play. There are however certain occurrences I would call the most common guppy / endler weaknesses and causes of death. One of the most common things Ill have happen is females will die over night without any sign of illness - I contribute this to a lack of kh / ph buffer in the water : whether this is wood or Pure baking Soda KH - if i add the baking soda that type of death discontinues - if i dont it will continue every night - not during the day. Sometimes if the water is also too soft and lacking trace minerals the guppies can get a type of wasting sickness that there isnt much you can do about. Another common illness is attributed to internal parasites which can either cause massive bloating / constipation - which can also be from a lower water temperature and overfeeding so have to know which one is the most prevalent of problem. And most of all - people buying guppies from a LFS or pet shop aren't taking into mind the stress it puts on the guppy having to acclimate to different water parameters and homes so quickly can cause very often a chain reaction leading to a lowered immune system and death. All in all its the law of numbers : x amount will die - same goes in the wild - they are literally water bunnies - they breed like crazy. As a breeder I try to selective breed and cull for the strongest lines which includes beauty and overall health and immune system. Just keep in mind - most guppy illnesses in the longterm come from a lack of trace minerals / hardness in the water. Fast causing deaths for me personally come mostly from PH spikes at night and the other illnesses I would just attribute to weak genetics / immune system and natural selection. I do not try to sell often to pet shops because its literally a revolving door of death and I would say there is a large proportion of the guppies that get sold around die because of this added stress and god know whatever illness that attack during this time of low immunity in a pet shop aquarium.

 

[nicepoeci]

ALSO - yea most guppies sold to pet shops to resell are low quality genetics. Im not selling the best of the best to LFS because thats not what they want to sell ( most of the time ). They want to sell the cheapest to make the most profit. aka the weakest lines available on the market.

 

[Blackheart]

So frustrating. And to think... I had bought White Clouds for one dollar each, had twenty of them with no casualties and then this... Guppies are my favorite fish for the most part so this is a kind of downer. I definitely wont be purchasing anymore fish from that LFS

 

[25cube2019]

When I was keeping guppies at a kid. I did even have filter or heater. No de chlorine water just well water and they multiply like crazy

 

[Plinkploop]

I still would strongly suggest that if you buy from an lfs that's not using the same water supply as you to do a drip acclimation. If the guppies you bought were expensive and doing fine in the store that they were at but dropped dead that quick after you dropped them in your tank it sounds more like parameter shock as opposed to bad stock. Your ph is actually well within the specs for guppies, but without knowing ammo, trite and trate levels it's still a guessing game as to the true cause of death. I usually factor a couple deaths in when buying from unknown sources but keeping your tank with 0 ammo, 0 nitrite and nitrate as low as you can and drip acclimating are a couple ways to drastically reduce the loss of newly purchased stock.

 

[Blackheart]

Why would that only effect Guppies though and not the other fish I have kept? Are Guppies more sensitive due to genetic weakness?

 

[Plinkploop]

Why would that only effect Guppies though and not the other fish I have kept? Are Guppies more sensitive due to genetic weakness?

Not necessarily, but since you said you bought the others at your regular lfs and the guppies from a different place- not your normal, it leads me too believe your usual lfs is closer to you and potentially share the same water supply. The other possibility is that your current tank inhabitants have adjusted to less than optimal conditions over time. I wouldn't rule out bad stock 100% but at least knowing the potential water toxicity is usually the first step in figuring out why you have such a different experience with them than the lfs they came from.

I just recently had a terrible experience with my tank, and I knew it was going to have a problem, but it was kind of an experiment, when I started stocking my tank. I know, from being in the aquarium industry (breeding/ plant cultivation, set up/ maintenance), that "pop and drop" or "drop and plop" was going to cycle me. I told my hubby and my child it was going to happen and that I was being a complete idiot. I didn't acclimate my first inhabitants. The tank they were going into was perfectly cycles and had been up and running for the better part of 10 years. 0 ammo, 0 nitrite, 25 for nitrates, moderately planted. I dropped the bags of 8 otos and 8 cories into the tanks, floated them to adjust water temp, cut open the bags and let them out. By the next morning 2 cories were dead. Tested my water and ammonia was through the roof, nitrites were starting to show... I had thrown myself into a cycle. Surprisingly every oto survived. Unfortunately I lost 4 cories. I tested the water from the lfs I used and their parameters were toxic- 5 for ammo, trace nitrite and trace nitrate- basically in perpetual cycle. When I went there to replace the cories I made sure to acclimate them in a bucket, net them and release them in my tank- no deaths. After that I did the same acclimation process with my rummy nose tetra and cardinal tetra- lost 2 rummynose and 1 cardinal, they were basically dead in the bags when I got home and I expected it. I hope this story can shed some light on why acclimation is important. I wish you the best!!

 

[Griznatch]

Good examples from all of the responders.

LFS are a mixed bag sometimes, and big box stores can be the worst. Unless the store gets local bred fish, you have the potential of getting diseased, stressed fish. Especially if they just got to the store and they aren't placing them in quarantine first. If it's a popular fish, the turnover is so fast they really don't get to settle in.

Don't get me wrong, I'm on my 4th or 5th generation from a trio of guppies I got from Petco. I just expected problems and was prepared. My Otos were from Petsmart. I ended up losing 3 out of the 10 I bought, so I count that a win.

 

[Blackheart]

Both places where I had purchased the Guppies were in the same city and same county. You have had bad luck then. I generally never have a problem with acclimating this way.

 

[Plinkploop]

Then I guess you have the answers to your own questions and I have no clue why you'd ask any of us for help.

 

[Blackheart]

Not necessarily help? But input. I am guessing I bought a weak strain as the place I had previously purchased Guppies from before, literally right down the street, for the most part had lived and had minimal die-offs.

 

[Discusluv]

Not necessarily help? But input. I am guessing I bought a weak strain as the place I had previously purchased Guppies from before, literally right down the street, for the most part had lived and had minimal die-offs.

Do you have an aquarium society local to you? If so, you will get the most hardy stock available to you through local breeders. Many also breed some very unusual varieties that you cannot get at LFS.

 

[Blackheart]

I am not entirely sure. The Guppies that I got before from another LFS were just standard Fancy Guppies. One thing also, I have moved from one county to another since then. The county I live in now I believe gets their water supply from somewhere else.

 

[kozlany]

Recently resetting it up, I tried out several fish.

Has this tank cycled? How big is the tank? What are the parameters?

I keep guppies but I couldn't venture a guess without this info.