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Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone of you could help me i.d. what is wrong with one of my guppies. He kinda stay to himself and doesn't do much but swim in one area of the tank. He also has a greenish-yellow tint going around him from one fin to the other going around the top of his head. I checked the aquarium and everything is fine:
ph: 7.2
alkalinity: 120
hardness: 75
no2: 0
no3: 40 (This is slightly higher then I want)
ammonia: 0

Heres two pics. of him, it's the best ones I could get of him:



and



If you need anymore info. let me know and I'll post it right away.

Hi, and Welcome to Fish Profiles!

From your pictures, I see a healthy, well fed, male
guppy. Yes, the nitrate is too high, and should be down
at 10 or below, so some good tank maintenance would be
a good idea. What else is in the tank with him, and how
big is the tank?

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

It is a 75 gallon tank with some other guppies and 5 neon tetras. Unfortunately though the little guy died. After I made this post I went to check on him and his tail was raveled real bad so I put him in the hospital tank with some melafix. About 30 mins later he started to go belly up and about 10 mins after that he was dead =/

Hi,
I'm very sorry to learn of its death. Unless others in
the tank are ill, it was probably just its time.

A 75G tank, with "some other guppies and 5 neon tetras"
would seem a very sparsely populated tank. For you to
have a nitrate reading of 40 would mean that either
you are over feeding them, or have not done any "real"
tank maintenance in a while.

You should be changing out around 20% of the tank water
once a week, and at the same time, vacuuming the gravel
in the tank as well. Mentally divide the open areas
(non planted) of the tank into quarters and with
each weekly water change vacuum a different quarter.
If you have any ornaments in the quarter of the tank being
cleaned, lift them up and vacuum under them as well.
That way, over a four week period, you will have
changed out the water and vacuumed the whole tank.
If you do that religiously your nitrate should come
down to normal which is 0-10.

Many of us use the "Python" brand vacuum for our water
changes. It is readily available in darned near any
petshop.

If you have live plants in the tank, that will/would
help control the nitrate as well. As the plants
grow, they take up the nitrate out of the water.
Use stem type plants or plants such as wisteria.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I believe the nitrate levels where high because (shame to say =/) I was over feeding them. I was feeding them once a day and a little much because I had just gotten some apple snail and was trying to make sure they had enough food as well. Now I have cut back to once every other day and am only putting a small amount of food in the tank. I am putting some veggies in the tank for the snails. I have to admit, I am a novice at fish tanks so any advice is appreciated (and don't hold back, I can take harsh comments ) We are planning on having a heavy planted tank and adding some more fish, we are just slowly adding to it so that we make sure we do it right. I have made me a python type vacuum and used it yesterday to do a 50% water change. I do have some questions, what is the best food for apple snails? also do you know any way to get rid of a pest snail? We had some physa specs get introduced into our tank and now we are having the hardest time getting rid of them. Anyway, thats my story, any advice or comments would be helpful. I would like to learn as much as I can about aquariums (thats how I came across this site) so I'll will be around a lot reading and learning as much as I can!

p.s. I will put some pics of my tank up tonight and as it progresses to let everyone see.

It is possible it was just the guppy's time. They have fairly short life spans.

You can feed daily, but you'll have to step up water changes and maintenance to offset it. Just make sure you aren't giving so much that there are leftovers on the gravel. And if you feed veggies, net out any extras after a few hours so they don't break down and pollute the tank.

What is your filtration?

What is your water change and maintenance schedule?

Adding fish gradually is a good idea. However, I would encourage you to add the plants all at once, fill the tank as full as you can afford. Once you have plants you will need to start running lights and fertilizers. If you only have a few plants in the tank you will have problems with algae for sure. Pack the tank with plants, do it right. Use lots of fast growing plants, even if you don't plan on keeping those ones forever. They will soak up nutrients while your other plants are getting established. That way they will be able to outcompete the algae.

For snails, pick out as many as you see. I have heard it recommend to put a piece of lettuce or something on the bottom of the tank while the light is out. The snails will come out of hiding to feed on it. Check back in a couple hours and remove the food, there should be many snails on it. You can also control snails with fish, loaches will eat snails. I've also had luck with cherry barbs. Just persist in removing as many as you can, and don't overfeed.

Looking forward to your pics updates!