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Post by sammigold on May 19, 2006 13:23:34 GMT 10
Well, a couple of days ago I noticed one of my young males hovering and not really moving around much... no other symptoms, he still ate... decided to dose the tank with pimafix in case he had some sort of bacterial thing... it didnt work and a few hours later he was dead!  this morning I got up and noticed that all my guppies are hovering up the top and although eating, not ravenous like normal.... just did a water change yesterday so felt that it wouldnt be water but checked anyway and guess what... PH had dropped to 6.8... did another water change and add some kh 7 which neutrilises the ph to 7.... anyway have been watching and they were still hovering so checked temp.... and temp had dropped to 21degrees!!!! (how much badluck can you have at one time!!?)   The heater is still working but am worried about thermostat.. so will be off to get new heater... anyway am hoping that these guys survive all the changes.. Is there anything I can do to help them out? I have noticed that a few of them are flicking around on the gravel.. do you think that might be due to scale irritation from the ph drop? Thats what I think.... they have no other symptoms of anything except a couple of them have clamped tails but I really think that is because of the drop in temp.... I suppose I just have to cross my fingers that they all survive... noticed a couple of newborn dead frys as well looks like they were born overnight I think one of the females may have aborted as they didnt look right.... wish me luck..... do you think I should put some salt in to relax them or just leave it and hope for the best... don t want to stress them anymore than they have been!!!  bye.... going back to check temp ....it was back to 23 last time I looked... |
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Post by dillen on May 19, 2006 13:36:25 GMT 10
Personally I’d be putting some salt in as the stress and temp drop may bring on white spot, classic signs are scraping against things and clamped fins…. If you have any shell grit you should put that in the tank as well. Shell grit acts as a very good PH buffer. I make plaster fish and any rejects just get dropped in my tanks. It’s good for the snails as well as they need the calcium to build their shells thick and strong.
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Post by sammigold on May 19, 2006 19:32:36 GMT 10
Thanks, Dillen.... I am having major issues... they are all hovering up in one corner of the tank...and the ones that arent are on the ground just laying there gasping.... I am at my wits end..... how could this happen... they have all been so healthy!!! No new fish without quarantine.... but The heater and the ph drop are enough I suppose. :-(
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Post by Bumblebee on May 22, 2006 15:03:25 GMT 10
Sounds like they are very stressed. salt, raising temp, as dillan suggested will hopefully help, so would adding the shell grit. sounds like a classic case of acidosis unfortunatly, which irritates gills, skin and fins, often burning them a little. may take them a while to get over it though.
the only other thing I could suggest is checking co2 levels in the morning if your tank is heavily planted (ph lowering due to plants releasing c02 at night) or cleaning out excess mulm.
how are they doing now? hope they pulled through.
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Post by sammigold on May 23, 2006 21:34:39 GMT 10
Hi ;D Well after a pretty stressful weekend (not only the guppies who were sick!! I had a bout of food poison same day as them being sick) all seems to be back to normal....to follow up on what happened as I felt so crud on Friday night that I couldnt do anything but try and get water conditions back to "right" and then get myself into bed to get myself back to "right".  After I bought new heater and had temp issues sorted... started working on water issues as the gups were acting very very strangely.... we tested all the water parameters and found that the ph was back but the KH was astronomical at 8... the GH normal, no ammonia, no nitrites and nitrates on about 40... so we did another water change this time about 50 percent trying to bring KH down and also nitrates down abit... at this time I noticed a couple of my males were lying on the bottom of the tank whilst the rest were all gathered up in one corner almost on top of each other it was crazy... at this stage I decided to take the two males out and put them in my qt tank which I knew had all the right parameters..(they are currently still in there one is back to normal and the other still alive but still on bottom of tank, he is upright and not gasping, tail nice and open not clamped but he is not able to rise up as yet...hoping that this changes) In desperation and feeling sick as myself I got on the net and tried to find a few solutions.. what I decided was that I must of had an ammonia spike that had resulted in nitrite poisoning but because it was a spike it didnt show up on tests... Did one final 50% water change (so basically fully fresh water) waited an hour did tests... KH back to 4 Gh 14 PH 7 no nitrites.. I added an airstone for extra aeration and 1 teaspoon of cooking salt... at this stage they were all still in the corner opposite to the one they usually come to and they looked like they were trying to get away from something and I decided to turn off the light (probably should have done that at the start. DOH!) As soon as I turned off the light they all separated from the corner and looked a little more "normal".... Now I couldnt stand up any longer so after putting my 2 year old to bed, I quickly followed suit, leaving my gups to the hands of the gup god..... next morning.... got up long enough to look and see that all my gups were still alive... then back to bed for the weekend... finally today I felt like I was alive enough to give an update.... and lucky for me so are my gups.... Im just worried about the one little male who seems to be having difficulty... but I am not giving up as he isnt.... Anyway it was a bit long winded...but all seems now to be well..... oh and final diagnosis... only change in my tank is new "real" plants so I am thinking the carbon dioxide exchange did lower the ph and trigger some issues ... hopefully addition of airstone should fix this issue..... bye....   |
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Post by sassybees on May 24, 2006 6:49:09 GMT 10
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Post by Bumblebee on May 24, 2006 22:53:41 GMT 10
Good to hear all is well. For some reason mine seem to always get sick just hours before going on holliday. They seem to have a sixth sense for getting ill at the worst times, not that any are good |
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Post by sammigold on May 25, 2006 14:54:51 GMT 10
Thanks guys...
Sassy, yes I use cooking salt... not table salt.... I buy a big bag of the stuff at the supermarket for a few bucks.... It isnt iodised and doesnt have anti caking agents... have always used it... its cheaper than aquarium salt and rock salt with the same effect....
Feeling heaps better today.. finally... after a yuk week....
Little male is still alive but still not swimming around... dont know what to do?? but he doesnt look distressed and he is moving around the bottom so I am going to wait it out a little, I had another boy like this ages ago and it took his a week but he did get better so heres hoping the same goes for this little guy....
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Post by Bumblebee on May 25, 2006 17:10:43 GMT 10
Possibly the same salt I use for brine shrimp hatching. It is about $1.75 a KG, just says 'salt' in the ingredients. I dont think it really matters unless the stuff is iodised or has anti-caking agents. I have seen another called 'water softener salt'. I have no real idea what it is used for. looks like plain salt but I guess it 'softens water' :S
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Post by sassybees on May 25, 2006 19:33:03 GMT 10
Bumblebee....are you finding that you are not getting many hatchings from your BS???
I use the right salt...the hatcher is in the guppy tank, so its in warm temps with good airation, but Im not getting a good result.
Any ideas what Im doing wrong ( The salt is aquarioum salt...which I paid $16 a kilo for)
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Post by Bumblebee on May 25, 2006 22:05:44 GMT 10
I am getting fairly good results. using decapsulated eggs though. I was having a lot of trouble hatching 'normal' eggs using exactly the same method. I am using 35gm salt per LT of water. I hear if you are using 'sea' salt you may need to use less. how much do you use?
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Post by sassybees on May 26, 2006 7:47:35 GMT 10
Not sure on the salt, hubby does it.. i THINK its a teaspoon... I cant even tell you the size of the hatcher...It looks like a rocket, white/clear plastic that attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Its the only ones Ive ever seen for sale up here. Not much help I know. I think I will get some new decapsulated eggs on the weekend.
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Post by sammigold on May 26, 2006 11:48:44 GMT 10
Bumblebee the "water softener" salt could be Epsom salts which is magnesium sulphate as Epsom salts are commonly used as a water softener maybe it is the generic brand...?? just an idea....
Sassy, I'd be rethinking on the aquariumsalt thing.... but then again by the sounds of it you are going to be keeping some brackish bubs so you may find it worth it after all...(16 bucks a kilo!!!! OUCH)
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Post by dillen on May 26, 2006 15:47:36 GMT 10
I use plain old pool salt, in the fish tanks and for hatching brineshrimp. Never had a problem with it and its cheep.
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Post by sassybees on May 26, 2006 17:05:34 GMT 10
Dillan....where do you get pool salt from cheap? ? Brand and place please |
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The heater is still working but am worried about thermostat.. so will be off to get new heater... anyway am hoping that these guys survive all the changes..
