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Hi,

I've got a new 20G tall tank. I set it up with 5 plants and did a fishless cycle for 6 weeks. I added 5 guppies 3 days ago. One male died today, and a female looks the same way.

He started resting at the bottom, and the base of his tail turned white. The scales around there looked kind of poking out but that could be false.

The ph is 7.9, ammonia and nitrite are 0. I added 4 table spoons of aquarium salt. The temp is 23'C. I assume it is stress from the move? I moved them in a picnic cooler and drove straight home, and floated the bag for 50 min adding water to it gradually.

Thanks if you have anything to add.

It sounds like a bacterial infection, which farm-raised guppies are highly susceptible to due to them being grossly inbred. A good antibiotic like Maracyn Plus should clear it up, but you might not be able to save all of them.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Thx for that Nat. I took some pictures of her. She normally has solid coloured fins.

http://members.shaw.ca/pizpot/pics/IMGP2882.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/pizpot/pics/IMGP2880.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/pizpot/pics/IMGP2879.JPG

This is probably the usual causes of tank instability that causes this. The guppies has showed symptoms of osmotic shock and perhaps that is the result of a small post-cycle nitrite spike. A few warning symptoms of dropsy, (not neccesarily associated with bacteria) and you get a dead fish, there isnt always anything you can do.

The first 3 -4 months of tanks life can always be a bit dodgy, a lot of crap is talked about cycling, a lot of people spout that is can be done in 2 weeks but despite this being possible only in the most lucky of situations, usually it takes around 21 days, and even then it may experience fluctuations in the bacterial colony ration vs present ammonia levels for many weeks after.

You may have lost a fish, but this is simply the cycle and the legacy of stress from a tankmove from store to home claiming a victim. It happens and its not always unavoidable. Its just fishkeeping. If there is one message I would give to the fish buying public, its that despite all the smooth talk about ways to get the cycle running quicky, and using fishless cycling or not, and using extra bacteria or ammonia or not, a cycled tank is still a long way from a stable tank.

A truly stable tank takes months. Unless you have teflon tough species of fish there may always still be a few acclimation and chemical problems for weeks, even months after the "official cycle" is over.

Sorry to hear about the fish, it probably just bad luck.You are correct that stress can last days or weeks before it claims the victim.Thats why most fish shop guarantees arent worth the paper theyre printed on. 5 days to a week is nothing when stress can be involved.

Cest la vie, it doesnt sound like you did anything wrong, quite the reverse. Its bad luck. Happens sometimes.At least it was only a guppy, that most replaceable of fish.

In this case id only pre-emptively treat for bacterial infections if I could find a brand that is proven not to harm the bacterial colony in the filter.Watch for symptoms like raised veins in the skin, clouded eyes and increased respiritory rates , and get back to us asap if they start to happen.

Guppies are usually bred in chemically controlled conditions, and under pretty standard water qualities, and you can mirror that in your tank by using products like tetrabalance, and that may be worth a go.

She lived the night! It is morning now, and the pictures above were posted at 10pm last night. And her swelling is gone down, but she is still pale and at the bottom with the plants. I would say she is panting slightly fast, but not sucking her lips much--same as yesterday. I will be home all day at least.

Edit, she is quick to feed, but goes back to resting. Her tail is lumpy, actually.

Interesting, id like to see that lumpiness, it could be signs of a problem in itself. Can you post a sharp macro shot of the aforementioned lumpiness? If I can see it close up theres a good chance I can assess it.

Shoot, I saw your request too late. She bit the dust and is gone already. I did a little exam. There was a red vien going down her tail, the tail was pale, and a patch of scales about 1/4 cm^2 missing on one side. I doubt the other fish ate them but can't say.