GuppyLog || Guppies gone Quiet

New to Guppylog?
Immediate Help

Conversions and Calculator
Conversions and Tank volume calculator

Add yourself to our guppylog map
Guppylog Members

* Change as much water as often as you can! *
Inkmaker

Front Page · Everything · News · Ask Guppylog · Diaries

Guppies gone Quiet
By miskairal from the miskairal department, Section Ask Guppylog Posted on Wed Aug 29, 2007 at 12:17:39 PM PST Tags: (all tags)

My male guppies have gone very quiet. Still swimming around but not going ballistic all over the tank as they used to...

After my last lot of treatment for dropsy prevention (Myxazin contains formalin and possibly malachite green and have no idea of other ingredients - all ineffective), I got my 2nd algae bloom. This was in late August, cloudy, green tinted water but I could see through it unlike last time this happened following a different treatment.

I persisted with 4th daily water changes which was all I had time for, decreased the light, covered the tank in the mornings when the sun reflects off the floor and decreased the feed going in.

With no change by the 12th September(14th here now) I went and took a lot of plants from the creek again (naughty I know). There were a few shop bought plants hanging on for life but they are far from thriving. I hoped the plants might help absorb some of the nutrients causing the bloom??

This tank is smack bang right inside the main door and we have a big party here on Saturday so I couldn't stand the thought of 50 people being presented with a green tank on arrival. I went and bought some algae cure to see if this would help and added it yesterday - I mean I put up with it for 2 weeks, honest I did :)

Now all those male guppies are much quieter. Put it this way, many are often seen just hanging around doing nothing. They don't look stressed nor do they seem to have rapid gill movements. This has never happened here before unless the fish was sick. At feeding time they all come bolting up to feed position.

Water tests show Ammonia - 0, Nitrites - 0 and Nitrates - 10, pH - 7.3, temp - 26C/78F. I have been doing 24litre water changes (90 litre tank) every 3 days for the last 2 changes, due again tomorrow.

This "quietness" is more pronounced in the younger, half grown fish. There are still many swimming around all over the place but with so many fish it is hard to tell if I'm seeing the same fish or not.

Could the fish just be "hanging out" because the tank is a little darker now with taller plants in there or simply because they have more "private" space? OR could it be the beginning of something terrible?

Any ideas anyone?
Thanks
miskairal

< Pre-labour signs?????? | Balloon Molly Babies >

Menu

· create account

· F.A.Q. For Newbies!

· Immediate Help For Newbies!

· search

· Scoop Info

· Our Tanks

Login

Make a new account

Username:

Password:

Related Links

· More on Behavior
· Also by miskairal

Guppies gone Quiet | 7 comments (7 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Guppies gone Quiet (none / 0) (#4)
by miskairal on Wed Sep 15, 2004 at 07:57:34 PM PST

Thankyou everyone for your comments!

Unfortunately, the glass is not the problem as I have to remove it every time I do a water change and it gets cleaned then too - that would''ve been soooooo simple.

I am from the land downunder and maybe we are a little backward (or maybe we do actually speak a different language) but I don't understand 2 of you comments Angelee :))
" except I don't like the chemistry set method much". Do you mean that the water testing is maybe not showing up something like the osmotic pressure change that may be the cause?
AND
"If any dumpage is possible, chances are that this would have eventually become a problem anyway". Do you mean dumpage of toxic things in the creek? I have to use water in the tanks straight from the creek anyway (without any treatment) as this is our only water supply other than what we can catch in our guttering and it doesn't rain much here. To keep the pH fairly stable I have to use 50:50 rain water to creek water. My main problem with taking plants from the creek is that I shouldn't steal from nature and maybe upset the balance. Mind you we have about 5km of creek through our farm so my taking of about 10 plants over the last 6 months probably won't make much difference.

I didn't get to the water change yesterday but have done it today and it occurred to me that maybe I was over "rinsing" the sponge in the filter and being a bit too thorough on the gravel vacc so I think you may have hit the nail on the head when you said about the good bacteria. I forced myself to not be overzealous with the vacuuming but I still rinsed the sponge as it was pretty gungy - probably from the new plants.

I think the activity level has increased and the cloudiness has decreased.

Now if the fish can just handle everyone "Feeling Groovy" on Saturday night, all might be well :)

Thanks again
miskairal
--
Repeat after me,
I will read the Immediate Help

Re: Guppies gone Quiet (none / 0) (#5)
by guppygirl on Thu Sep 16, 2004 at 07:52:22 AM PST

Hey Miskairal,

Sounds like you're on the right path taking Angelee's advice. You may have overdone the cleaning, been there, done that.

If your filter material is still getting grungy quickly, you may need to cut back on the flake food even a bit farther for a while.

I usually switch to feeding small portions of brine shrimp only for a few days. I'm not sure if this helps the tank to rebuild the good bacteria faster, or just gives the fish something to be happier about, but I've found it's worked for me.

I agree with the low lighting for a while as well
to help quell the algae bloom.
I also believe that cleaning the sides of the tank of algae can get it to clump and be filtered out better than by using chemicals.
Crank your filter up when you do this, and expect at least a day's wait in clearing.
Cleaning the sides of the tank doesn't remove as much good bacteria as overvacuuming and multiple water changes do.

Hope some of these ideas work for you before it's Party Time!!!!!

I think they'll be boogying right along with the gang by Saturday!!!!

Best of luck, and keep us posted!!

gg
:o)

[ Parent ]

Guppy Girl just suggested something on the (none / 0) (#6)
by unclescott on Thu Sep 16, 2004 at 08:42:02 AM PST

filtration front which nudged a memory. If you have a cannister filter (don't run out and get one just for this though) they can be filled with a fine medium and filter out cloudy and green water. The old diatom filters did that. With the newer modular filters that diatomacious earth might have to be put in a special bag.

Less expensively, a larger sponge filter on a powerhead can filter a lot of water. The larger sponges from Ken's might work. I throw a small pool sponge on a powerhead for a living room tank. The size of the sponge slows down the the flow enough for the particles to catch. (The drawback is that the sponge gathers so much material that it takes forever to clean under the faucet.)

You know this miskairal, but for a lurker who might not, sponges produced for other purposes or ocean sponges may not be appropriate for this use. Check and see if the material is inert, free of organic residues and has no poisons in it (designed to discourage mold around the house for instance).

All the best,
unc;e

[ Parent ]

Re: Guppy Girl just suggested something on the (none / 0) (#7)
by miskairal on Sun Sep 19, 2004 at 08:12:54 PM PST

Thanks gg and unc;e!

Today (monday here), the tank is crystal clear and the plants have grown many centimetres. It looks great and the fish are way more active again but I have lost another to dropsy :(

I have stuck with my water changes every 3 days despite having guests for the supposed Saturday night party start to arrive on Thursday and the last ones leave on Sunday afternoon.

I left the lights on all the tanks but covered the side that would get the most traffic so the fish felt more secure. I left the lights on so they couldn't get a sudden scare so easily. My son's girlfriend who started my guppy plague, made up signs for the tanks asking people not to touch and I explained to the few young children what would happen if they fed the fish or touched the tanks.

All went well and the fish even came through a juke box going for 18 hours which had been one of my concerns, the other being that someone might commandeer a power point belonging to a fish tank but all filters and heaters were still going next morning. A 6 year old boy saved my sanity Sunday morning by finding my "lost" camera for me - tucked under one of the fish tanks stands. At some point on Saturday night I must have assumed that was a safe place for it ;)

I really want to get a different filter for this tank unc;e but I can't at the moment. There is no more room for anything to come out the glass ledges that hold the cover.

Cheers
miskairal
--
Repeat after me,
I will read the Immediate Help
[ Parent ]

Re: Lochness tank huh? (none / 0) (#1)
by Angelee on Wed Sep 15, 2004 at 07:23:40 AM PST

Okay, I'm going to start with a no brainer. Have you checked your tank light top lately?? (I know, I know, sounds like a DUH factor but,...just in case.) Algae can accumulate underneath the light on the glass, causing a lovely lochness look to the tank. Not your tank you say? Okay, well all of us eventually have to deal with an algae bloom of some sort. It sounds like you were doing the right things, except I don't like the chemistry set method much. Maybe your problem lies in the plants you are pulling out of the local water. If any dumpage is possible, chances are that this would have eventually become a problem anyway. (Yes, hold out your hands. (smack) BAD AQUARIST!! BAD!!) I suggest not adding any more chemicals, it does sound like your fish are extremely stressed. All of your levels may register normal,...however. Keep in mind that every time you add a chemical you are also changing the osmotic pressure in your tank (think scuba diving and the reasons for not going faster than the bubbles). It is more noticeable in the smaller fish because they are much more sensitive to changes in their environments than the adults. Such stress can make your fish more susceptible to diseases and bacteria.
Keep up the low ligh but can the chemicals. Also, have you checked or changed your filters? You may have removed too much of the 'good' bacteria, leaving the colonies in short supply. In other words, they are overwhelmed with food and need time to multiply to stabilize your tank. Good luck.
"The Rocky Mountain Gupster" ANGELEE

Re: Lochness tank huh? (none / 0) (#3)
by maggie1270 on Wed Sep 15, 2004 at 10:57:04 AM PST

That is so true Angelee! For a couple weeks I thought my water was just funky even though I was doing water changes every week so I upped it to every 4-5 days and it was still a darker color than I would have liked. Luckily I had to pick up the top to put the fry net on the side of the tank and I found where the dark green & brown were coming from.

I have also noticed that sometimes after treatment (especially with Levamisole) my gups were very "low key" I guess you could call it. Soon after a few more water changes they picked up and were back to normal.
Maggie
[ Parent ]

I don't know if they are stressed Angelee. (none / 0) (#2)
by unclescott on Wed Sep 15, 2004 at 08:16:21 AM PST

Certainly enough algae killer can stress. As a matter of fact simazine, found in some algae destroyers, has been blamed for birth defects in fish.

I really like your advice of checking the surface of the light cover. Who thinks to look at the tank cover or the underside of the light? (Unplug that baby for cleaning.)

In the meantime, listen carefully at the side of the tank. If little, high voices are singing "Scotch and Soda", "Feeling Groovy" or "Come On, Get Happy" then they are fine. ;) Sometimes fish relax if they just have their own grotto to hang out in.

All the best,
unc;e

[ Parent ]

Guppies gone Quiet | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

create account | faq | search