losing fish rather quickly

[barbara]

alot of guppies dying. not sure what to make of it - we've checked the water and everything is fine but they're dying left and right. nothing strange noticeable about the fish as they die UNTIL this morning - the last remaining male guppy is ~spinning~ around the tank extremely sporatic, constant spinning as you moved about the tank. and moving real fast, not stopping to eat or anything - i'm sure he'll be dead in no time.

i sure will appreciate any ideas...

barbara


*DRUMMER* gotta see the drummer on the page! *grin* we got our 14 yo son a drumset for his bday on sat.

 

[revfred]

Some specifics as to water parameters might help. But it sounds to me like some kind of internal parasites. A broad spectrum med specific to internal parasites would be in order.

BTW ... very courageous of you to get a 14yo a drum set. Definitely Parents of the Year material .....

 

[barbara]

alright, let me know if you need more info than this, ok?

it is a 10 gallon tank, it has 2 very small ottocinclus, 3 female adult guppies, 1 male adult 'spinning' guppy & waaaaaaaay too many new fry to count!

yesterday i tested the nitrates, nitrites, ph, hardness & alkalinity & the ammonia. everything tests 'safe' or 'ideal'. temperature is (as always) at 74 degrees.

couple weeks ago when we returned from vacation, had alot of planaria, we did 2 partial water changes over a week's time and that has cleared up considerably.

that male guppy is no longer spinning around, but just kind of 'floating/swimming' with nose up and tail down... not dead yet, but not far from it...

what should i do?

 

[FroggyFox]

74 seems kind of low, you might consider raising the temp to at least 76. Do you have any salt in the water? How often do you usually do water changes and how much water? A lot of fishy sickness can come from poor water quality...so its possible that the ones you've lost and this male guppy have something caused by the same thing that caused youre planeria.

You say that your nitrites/nitrates/ammonia are all in an "OK" range...does this mean you're using dip test strips? Generally the liquid drop test kits give you a more accurate reading. We like to hear that there is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and under 20ppm nitrates (depending on if you have any live plants etc)...whether the test strip says something is in an "acceptable" range or not.

The other option is that if the fish that have died are all guppies...guppies from pet stores tend to be pretty weak...usually due to inbreeding weak strains etc. Its possible that they just haven't been able to handle some kind of stress from their move to your tank or something that was added to the tank. How long have you had them?

 

[revfred]

I would agree to boost the temp ... 76-80 is good .... it does appear that you are using test strips ... but I think the readings will do for the current problem. Froggy may have hit upon a possibility if you have not had the fish very long and also the conditions that spawned your planaria may have also caused a parasite outbreak. If you have had them for awhile, I still would suspect internal parasites. The onset of the problem seems too sudden for any other explanation IMO ... Either way, I think some meds . . . parasite specific . . . may be in order. Whatever is floating in your tank will infect new addtions.

Just thought ...while you were on vacation .... any particular arrangements that you made to care for the fish that were away may have caused some infestation of some sort?

 

[barbara]

did have some curious stuff after we returned from vacation. here's a link for that post.

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=26121&highlight=barbara

also, i've had the tank for quite some time - 'bout 9 mos or so - but not alot of luck with guppies, so none of the guppies have been with us for a long time. the males have been there perhaps the longest and that would be about 3 months. the otto's have had zero problems. the females that died in the last few days have been there only long enough to run out of the warantee from the pet store *eye roll* go figure!?! *laughing*

i've not added any salt, shall i do that & up the temp?

 

[barbara]

btw: we generally do 50% water changes once a month on that aquarium. we used to do them once a week, but found that perhaps that was too stressful or something because the fish died alot faster then.

also: the female guppies that we just lost - died within 3 days of giving birth (hence all those babies in the tank).

we can usually guess which fish are going to die in the next day or two because they become inactive and do not eat. is it possible that the fish food is a problem. we have tropical flake food that we feed them.

also months ago - around Christmas time perhaps? - we had mollies in that tank, they've been dead and gone for months. they died shortly after giving birth too.

this tank used to be a nursery so we put just a corner sponge filter system in there. is that filtration perhaps the problem? and if so, why is it not a problem for other fish in there?

the livebearers are my favorites! ~but~ they are the ones that keep dying on us too....

we have no faith in my local pet store, so what do you recommend?

 

[FroggyFox]

Giving birth can cause females to be under a lot of stress...I know I lost a few females in the beginning (when I first got guppies) and I'm pretty sure they were just about to give birth or had just given birth.

As for food...its always good to mix their diet up. Livebearers really like leafy stuff, I put cucumbers in the tank for my ottos and the guppies are always picking at it. Same thing with the spirulina wafers that I drop in for the snails...the guppies like them, and the mollies I hear NEED that stuff. Also, mine LOVE fresh hatched bbs, or some frozen bloodworms once in awhile. A high quality flake food is a must.

Salt, a lot of people swear by salt being able to keep fish well or treat some sicknesses...although I'm not sure that your ottos would do too well with it or not. Might get another opinion on that. Not a LOT of salt...like maybe a tablespoon for your 10G. Warmer temperatures would probably help.

Water changes: 50% once a month?? Thats not nearly enough, esp with a higher bioload in a 10G and all those babies. Its possible that fish that seemed to have died when you did them more often were stressing out from the changes in PH etc...if you get them used to smaller changes more often, then it gives your tank a chance to keep a stable pH, replenish trace elements, lower your nitrates etc. Why dont you try changing 20% every week? If thats too much and you dont have time...then how about 50% every two weeks?

Keep us posted!

PS. At the very least DONT add anymore new fish to the tank! When I was having my problems I know it was because I was replacing my fish every time one died and exposing the tank to new fish, more stress, possible viruses from pet store fish etc etc and not allowing it to stablize.

 

[revfred]

If the sponge filter is large enough ... for a 10G, that should be OK ... hopefully you rinse the filter occasionaly in dechlored water. It sounds like you may have used a time release feeding block. I definitely would switch LFS'. Their stock may be infected. I think the salt and the otos may be problematical. It seems that whatever it is is species specific since the other fish aren't affected. Will be interesting to see how the fry do. The fry might also present a problem in medicating the water. I would increase the temp., feed the fry, and see how it goes. Definitely use a good staple food ... such as TetraMin, for the other fish.

The other possibility is to replace the entire water column, boil the gravel if need be, driftwood, rocks, the whole works and start from scratch keeping the filter wet to preserve the bacteria colony. Not a happy prospect I know but doable.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

They tend to die right after water changes? Are you dechlorinating your tap water? Can you test your water for nitrates... some areas like to add them to tap water. Do you warm the water to about the same temp as the tank (although I've never had a problem with room temp water)?