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Some questions..
By punk4life2882 from the punk4life department, Section Diaries Posted on Wed Aug 29, 2007 at 01:10:07 PM PST Tags: (all tags)

I have a few questions that i would be happy if people would tell me what they thought.

I have a 10 gallon tank with 6 male guppies and they never seem to eat. I feed them in the morining and at night and alot of times they dont even eat, they just stay at the bottom of the tank. Some nights they come to the top and i see them eat, but not alot. Maybe that is how they are, but i am used to the 7 females and 3 babies in my other 10 gallon tank freaking out when i feed them. I am just worried that something is wrong with them. The other question i have is that i currently have a babie male guppie in the 10 gallon tank with the females. I know if i dont get him out soon he will be going after the females, and i dont need anymore babies. I am worried though that when i do put him in with the bigger males that they will pick on him. Should i wait a little longer until he gets bigger, or should i just put him in the male tank. Other then the few questions i have, everything is going good.

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Some questions.. | 7 comments (7 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Some questions.. (none / 0) (#1)
by James on Tue Sep 05, 2006 at 08:21:46 PM PST

I don't know that much about guppies in particular but I can tell you that none of the guppies I"ve rolled through my house in the past couple of weeks have been enthusiastic eaters... I can also tell you with a certainty that the last one of them is in the process of dying as I type. I haven't been able to figure out what killed mine off, I suspect they were sick upon purchase given that they all came from the same place and all died in a similiar manner... something resembling fin rot except only affecting the tail fin and showing no signs other than rapid deterioration.

In general though, stressed fish aren't hungry. If it's not some mystery disease it may be one of the common ailments of environmental stress. Is the aquarium the 6 males are in well established with sufficient biological filtration? Do you have something stimulating movement at the surface of the water to provide oxygenation? Have you checked the levels of amonia, nitrite and nitrate in the aquarium along with perhaps the PH (though guppies are supposedly pretty PH tolerant...)? Is the temperature in the aquarium in extreme ranges (outside 72-82 degrees) or fluctuating rapidly during the day/night due to placement near windows, air conditioning vents, etc?

There's prolly a million other things, but I'd start with those if you haven't already addressed them and see what you come up with. Hopefully you don't have whatever strange ailment wasted my guppies. They're supposed to be almost as hardy as platies, and rivaling mollies... yet somehow I can keep platies and mollies alive in overcrowded conditions and they display and behave wonderfully... can't keep two guppies in a ten gallon aquarium alive to save my life. Go figure.

In that 10, what is happening to the food that (none / 0) (#2)
by unclescott on Tue Sep 05, 2006 at 08:53:55 PM PST

the males aren't eating? :)

[ Parent ]

Re: In that 10, what is happening to the food that (none / 0) (#3)
by miskairal on Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 01:04:08 AM PST

If you can take the time to answer some more questions it would help us help you. <sigh>

What is your ammonia reading?
What is your nitrite reading?
How long has the tank been set up?
How long have you had the fish?
Where did you get the fish?
What is the tank temperature?
What is the pH of the water?
Do you have lights on the tank?
How did you cycle the tank?
Did you add those 7 fish all at once?

For all you fish to be sitting on the bottom and uninterested in food I would think they are sick. Being all sick at once makes me think water quality rather than disease as disease usually sweeps slowly over them affecting one fish, then another and so on.

Looking forward to some further info.
Cheers
miskairal
--
Repeat after me,
I will read the Immediate Help
[ Parent ]

Re: In that 10, what is happening to the food that (none / 0) (#6)
by punk4life2882 on Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 05:09:12 PM PST

I answerd the 10 questions.
1.Ammonia level: 0pm
2.nitrate level: 5.0ppm-10ppm(more towards the 5.0)
3.How long has the tank been setup: 6 months
4.How long have you had the fish: Drago for 10 months and the other four for 6 months
5.Where did you get the fish: I bought Wade from Petco who died of Dropsy about a month ago and Drago and the other four males were born in my tanks.
6.Tank Temperature: 75 degrees
7.pH of water: between 7.2 and 7.6
8.Is there lights on the tank: A florecent hood light.
9.How did you cycle tank: I just remeber that i did not really know what i was doing, but i just set the tank up and let it cycle for a few weeks until it was at the right levels.
10.Did you add all seven fish at once: I first added Wade and Drago who were previously in the females tank, then a few weeks later i added the 4 baby males. Wade died a month ago of dropsy but i put him in a quarintine tank when i saw that he was sick. I dont think he got the dropsy of poor water conditions because i had had him for 11 months and i dont know how old he was when i got him at the pet store. I think he got sick because he was older and was more susceptible to diseases. The 5 males remaining do not show signs of any disease....that i know of.
Thanks everyone for your help!

[ Parent ]

Re: In that 10, what is happening to the food that (none / 0) (#7)
by miskairal on Thu Sep 07, 2006 at 02:25:26 PM PST

Hmm, well that all looks ok providing that the nitrate is that and not nitrite. I don't expect you would have high nitrite after this long but I did ask for nitrIte and not nitrAte. You haven't done anything crazy lately like scrub out the filter or change the gravel have you?

Sounds more like some disease :(
I'm even wondering if it is age although I doubt it. The fact that Wade died from dropsy doesn't help us much because even old fish can die from dropsy as a result of old age and deteriorating immune system.
How long has this been going on? Is it just recent ?

If it is a disease then it must be one of those horrid lurking things like fish TB or hexamita, the sort of thing the fish can live with until something goes a little awry and it blows out.

If it were my fish I would increase water changes and wait and see if any disease symptoms show their ugly face. Not a lot else you can do apart from dumping heaps of chemicals and drugs into the water.

Good Luck!
--
Repeat after me,
I will read the Immediate Help
[ Parent ]

Re: In that 10, what is happening to the food (none / 0) (#4)
by angelhologram on Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 07:56:19 AM PST

I agree with misk, we really need more info.
As to the young male in the female tank, if he already has his "male parts" then he has probably already impregnated at least one of those girls. Females, in my experience, are more likely to pick on young fish than males are but I wouldn't put him in with the boys until you find out what is going on in the other tank. If it was a healthy tank I would say it's ok to put him in but not with the way things are going now.
*BEFORE you buy fish make sure you understand what "Cycling" a tank means <- quoted from miskaral* ~Trying to make a difference one fish at a time~
[ Parent ]

Re: In that 10, what is happening to the food (none / 0) (#5)
by miskairal on Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 01:50:19 PM PST

I got into bed last night and suddenly remembered about the baby and that I didn't answer that part. Onya angel!
--
Repeat after me,
I will read the Immediate Help
[ Parent ]

Some questions.. | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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