# i'm losing my guppies, please help!



## acagedwhisper (Aug 13, 2010)

So, about 6 months ago, i started with two guppies in a little 1.5 gal tank, and soon that multiplied into around 30 guppies, who have now matured. I keep most of them in a 16 gal tank with one peaceful balloon molly and a few ghost shrimp. 

A few weeks ago, a friend bought me two pretty guppies from Petco, and we put them in the 16gal. The next day, they both died, without any symptoms other than stress, so we thought nothing of it. 

Soon after this, we started losing the guppies, one after the other. They hang out in the back of the tank, lethargic, they don't eat, and recently we've noticed that the females swell up and their scales start to stick out a little right before they die, similar to dropsy possibly but i'm not too sure. Last night, i lost my beautiful lyretail male, and i decided that was the last straw. 

I've checked the water in both tanks and they're normal, and we've done multiple water changes to both tanks since this started. Also, one of the females birthed fry yesterday, so i'm thinking that it's not a problem with the water. The fish don't seem to have any other symptoms, and I can't figure out what to do. Please help me. :[ I love my guppies!


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

well it sounds like your on the right track i would just keep with the water changes for the moment and keep testing your water.. have you had any sudden temp changes or any one being helpful and cleaning the tanks? perhaps a small amount of glass cleaner got in on accident? just tossing ideas out there for you.....

oh and WELCOME !!!!!!!!!


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## acagedwhisper (Aug 13, 2010)

Okay..the temperature in the smaller tank is about 73-75 degrees and my heater is off because it's summer, the temperature in the 16gal is around 80 degrees because the heater is adjustable, and both of these tanks have maintained roughly the same temperature. i will keep doing regular water changes, and i don't think any cleaner or anything has gotten into either tank. 
and thank you! [:


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

your very welcome..
just tossing ideas out as it seems from your description that all is fairly normal for your set up with the exception of the new fish but they are not showing any other signs of infection that may have come from the pet store.... hmmmm if at all possible perhaps a quarantine tank would serve you best in the future for new additions....
as for the current dilemma i will let other members chime in ans see if they can be of more help......


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## acagedwhisper (Aug 13, 2010)

I will most definitely use a quarantine tank next time we introduce new fish, they didn't seem to be sick but i cannot help but think that they introduced something to the tank, as before that, the fish were fine.

And yes, this was sort of a last resort because i've lost about 4 in the smaller tank, and probably 8 to 10 guppies in the larger, and i do think i made a mistake and may have transferred one male to the smaller tank, which is why both tanks are contaminated with whatever it may be that is killing the guppies. :/


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

i completely understand... we all make mistakes .. after all if we got everything right we would never learn and enjoy the adventure that comes with this hobby.....
i have crashed more than a few tanks on my journey.... it does not look like you are heading that way at all so relax and i am sure some of our great members will share some advice


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## acagedwhisper (Aug 13, 2010)

Okay haha thank you, hopefully we can nip it before i lose them all, and i'm pretty new to this hobby, my dad got me into it actually. Most of the fish ate this morning, which is always a good sign.


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## britnyjackson (Mar 10, 2010)

It may just be me, but that tank seems awfully small to have 30 guppies in it. Maybe their just over stressed due to the crowding?


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## acagedwhisper (Aug 13, 2010)

britnyjackson said:


> It may just be me, but that tank seems awfully small to have 30 guppies in it. Maybe their just over stressed due to the crowding?


We have one tank that is 16 gallons, which is where most of the guppies are, and one that is 1.5, which only has a couple. And now we've gone from around 30 to about 15 altogether, is that overcrowded though? They seem fine to me, but I'm not completely sure of anything...
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## acagedwhisper (Aug 13, 2010)

So today i was examining the fish in the smaller tank and the sicker females seem to have a white stripelike patch between their dorsal and tail fins. I'm thinking it's either a fungus or a parasite and i think i might lose my tank, but meanwhile i think we combatted the illness in the other tank, as the fish seem healthy, thank goodness. We used Tetra Lifeguard, and it seemed to help, yet i think i caught it too late to save the smaller tank. Thank you so much for your help though!


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

I hope you don't lose any more. Good luck.


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