moahan Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hi, I am a new aquarist. I have had guppies and plants in a 4 footer for 6 months and they all kept dying. Can any of the experts guide me? Recently I got a vacuum to clean the bottom, used snail poison after increasing the ph to 7.5 as advised by the guy at a local shop.look forward to some ideas as it has been frustrating. At one time I bought a dozen guppies and live plants. Most of them died by getting entangled in the plants! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishHeadSoup Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hey welcome aboard! Ur gonna have to provide us a few more clues, what are the tank dimentions, what sort of filtration & how often do u clean change media etc? How often do u change the water, what are the water paramaters besides ph? It could be a number of reasons best off taking a water sample to a lfs if u don't have a test kit but it shouldn't be anything too major it gets easier with time. Hope this helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvl Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 Ur gonna have to provide us a few more clues, what are the tank dimentions, what sort of filtration & how often do u clean change media etc? How often do u change the water, what are the water paramaters besides ph? It could be a number of reasons best off taking a water sample to a lfs if u don't have a test kit but it shouldn't be anything too major it gets easier with time. X2.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 One of my daughters school friends was killing guppies constantly. I gave her some bred from DarrenK's stock and they are now breeding. Sometimes - but not always - guppys can be pretty ordinary from a store. Best start from the begining - check out that your tank is cycled correctly http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&source= ... 553a95b437 Make sure you are doing water changes - I like 25% per week minimum. Try adding a little salt - can help keep guppies happy. Look at your fish and see if you can tell us more symptoms - one thing for sure - your fish are not dieing because of getting caught in plants - they are going into the plants as they aren't well. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rion Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 Welcome to the forum I am a guppy addict and i have had this problem before check gills of the fish they should not be red but they can have a tinge of red though. If the gills are red it is a infection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khemo Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 Hi, I am a new aquarist. I have had guppies and plants in a 4 footer for 6 months and they all kept dying. Can any of the experts guide me? Recently I got a vacuum to clean the bottom, used snail poison after increasing the ph to 7.5 as advised by the guy at a local shop.look forward to some ideas as it has been frustrating. At one time I bought a dozen guppies and live plants. Most of them died by getting entangled in the plants! You used snail poison? Is your tank cycled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frinkie Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 which shop are you buying them from? if its been the same shop every single time maybe try a different one. x2 on the snail poison, in soft water it can kill fish. and I dont think your guppies would have died from getting tangled in your plants, rather they have died, and due to the current in the tank, then gotten stuck in them - anything other than a VERY sick fish can get its way out of some plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamptrout Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 do you have a snail problem? otherwise i wouldn't be treating the tank with any chemicals. also a clown loach is a safer option for getting rid of snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rion Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 which shop are you buying them from? if its been the same shop every single time maybe try a different one. x2 on the snail poison, in soft water it can kill fish. and I dont think your guppies would have died from getting tangled in your plants, rather they have died, and due to the current in the tank, then gotten stuck in them - anything other than a VERY sick fish can get its way out of some plants. i have had guppies get stuck in weeds because i had to much. but i think his problem is either the store or the snail rid he used. do a 25% water change make sure to clean you substrate and let the tank be for a few days it should hopefully fix its self hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyGirl Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum and this is my 1st post. We also were having some problems with Guppies, but on the females. Our 1st 2 fish that we purchased about 2 months ago are 2 boys which I named Gizmo and Fred and they have been perfect. But each of the females have died one by one, so we changed pet shops from where we were buying them from. We bought 4 females and 2 have lived and 2 died within 2 days of bring them home. This was a week ago but the other 2 seem to be fine and are pregnant. We purchased another 4 girls on Tuesday this week from Maryborough when we had to drive up that way. They were all pregnant and on Wednesday one of them gave birth and we are so excited about being grand parents. Only problem for us was trying to tell which of the females actually gave birth. We had the girls in a small 2ft x 1ft x 1ft tank, so there are approx. 12 babies. The fry could have come from one of the red females. So we had put all of the females back into the main tank 4ft x 15in x 18in, but then decided to put 2 of them back into the smaller tank into a net breeding tank so that the fry who are already born can survive. Can anyone out there tell me do the girls get narky when they are just about to have their babies?? Also how long once they start having their fry does it usually take, do the fry keep coming or can there be a bit of delay in between each fry coming out ?. How long after the fry are born can you tell what their colouring will be and what sex they are?? I have no idea and my husband only has a vague idea. I just love these little Guppies, and cannot wait to see how the fry turn out. Thanks for any help as it will certainly be appreciated. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rion Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 hey and welcome Jane, ok with female guppies they can be narky but usauly try and hide to give birth. colour can start showing within a month time. you can sex them from birth but is very difficult i wait till aprox 2-3weeks where they are bigger. the males will have a pointed anal fin the females is like a fan. females can take up to 24hours to fully given birth but usauly only a couple of hours. i have been breeding guppies full on for the last 3 years so if you have any questions pm me and i am happy to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishHeadSoup Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Ok firstly invest in a fry saver net otherwise ur gonna end up with none the mums will turn around and start eating the babies straight away so best to get them out of there. The females will have a Gravid (dark) spot which will get larger and more pronounced when Gravid (pregnant) you should be able to tell males from females very easily within a few weeks of growth. Once they give birth the Gravid spot becomes less visible and they thin out of course! So I would have your main tank then a secondary tank with a fry saver to throw the gravid ones in then once they drop then transfer the fry out of that net into the secondary tank for grow out. Mums go back in the main tank for Round #2 Once they start breeding its pretty hard to stop them so before you know it you will have more than u know what to do with! OR JUST PM THE GUPPIE GUY /\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyGirl Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Thanks guys for your replies. I have 2 of my girls in the breeding net tank hatchery at present, in the smaller tank so that the fry can go thru the net into the small tank with the other fry. We think one of the girls is giving birth at present as we had approx. 12 earlier this morning and now have about 20. As we moved all the girls out yesterday morning but put 2 of them back into the net hatchery yesterday afternoon. One of the 2 girls has been pretty narky with the other female, so I think she maybe the one giving birth. I am just so excited with the birth of these fry. Friends came over this afternoon to check out the new babies, their 3 year old boy was really happy to see these babies, they have just gotten themselves a bigger tank for get some tropicals so I have promised their 3 year old that when the babies are old enough I will give him a couple for him to keep. What age do you recommend that I can let them go to new homes. ?? Also does it matter if the male and female are from the same family for mating. ?? We have different females and males from different parents, so at present my adults are not related, but the fry born may be related or hopefully I might be able to tell which came from which female, as I have reds and blue ones, as they were pregnant when we bought them on Tuesday. Again thank you for your help Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishHeadSoup Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hey u could really let them go at any age but id give them about 3 mths that way they will have started to colour up and the 3 yo isnt gonna lose interest. Interbreeding is bound to happen but as long as you keep getting new bloodlines then you shouldnt have too many dramas best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyGirl Posted March 6, 2010 Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Thank you for the information. Well we think both of the girls had their babies last night, as they were both looking a lot thinner today. So this morning at around 10am my hubby John took them out of the hatchery and put them both back into our main 4ft tank. I cannot wait until they get big enough to see their colours. Thanks once again Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
