# Strange death to guppy



## ambchang (Apr 8, 2010)

Hi all:

I just started a tank, and everything was looking great. Equipment is an Eheim 2213, a CO2 canister, a T5HO dual (39W x 2) light, and a 200W heater.

It's a 30G tank, with 1 fancy guppy male, 1 female, and 1 baby for about 2 weeks.

Everything was fine, and then I added a bunch of dwarf hairgrass, 2 marimo balls, and 4 otos.

Things were still great for another week, the guppies colours were beautiful, all grew larger, the 4 otos slowly got used to the tank, and the grass was growing well (with new roots and modest blade growth).

Then one day, I came back home, and found the male guppy stuck underneath a piece of driftwood, I quick pulled him out, but it was too late. I had to reorganize the driftwood to reduce the possibility of more fish stuck underneath in the future, so I had to take all my fish into the quarantine tank for a few minutes (using water from the original tank).

Ever since, the female guppy has gone crazy, swimming up and down the tank, zipping around at light speed, and just acting erratically. Her gills were red, and two days ago, I found some white stuff at the tip of her mouth. Checked last night, and she seemed to be doing better, and the white stuff seemed to be gone. The otos and the baby guppy are doing fine.

My question is, what have I done wrong? What's wrong with the female guppy? Is she OK? Should I do something to help her out?


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

You have what sounds like an ammonia spike and mouth rot which is fairly common in guppies. The erraticness is likely the result of discomfort from both conditions. Once a guppy gets mouth rot its pretty difficult to treat. 
I've had some success with triple sulfa, but in most cases once they started to show signs it was already too far gone.

Edit: erratic swimming could also be a sign of her looking for a safe place to drop. If you only got a single fry its likely she just had a premature fry pop out due to the stess of the move. A quick way to check if she's almost at term is to look at the anal region. When they are extremely close to dropping it won't be rounded any longer. You'll get something much closer to a boxy square look.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

ambchang said:


> Hi all:
> 
> I just started a tank, and everything was looking great. Equipment is an Eheim 2213, a CO2 canister, a T5HO dual (39W x 2) light, and a 200W heater.
> 
> ...


Learn the nitrogen cycle. You can't just put fish in a box like a hamster. Certain preperations and understanding is required.


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## ryno1974 (Dec 6, 2009)

AquariAM said:


> Learn the nitrogen cycle. You can't just put fish in a box like a hamster. Certain preperations and understanding is required.


He didnt say he just dropped them in like a hamster in a box. He is asking for help. I am assuming you have never lacked knowledge of anything in the aquaria field?

And for the record, I have NEVER in 25 years cycled a tank "properly" including the 7 active tanks I have today. Should you do it? Yes, but believe it or not not everyone does. As long as you look after your tank properly everything will work out.


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## ambchang (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks guys, the female guppy is doing much better last night. Again, I am not sure why, but she is not swimming erratically anymore, and her mouth seems fine. That white patch on top of her mouth is gone, and she seems to have regained her appetite.

dchow, thanks for the tip, she may have dropped, as her belly is noticably smaller than before. I at first thought it was due to hunger as she wasn't eating much the last couple of days, but that doesn't explain that huge reduction in her size.

I think I cycled my tank to some degree. I let the tank run for about a week, checked my water parameters, then proceeded to slowly add fish (two adult guppies and 2 fry first, then 4 otos, dwarf hairgrass and marimo balls the 2nd week). I do about 15% to 20% water change every couple of days during the 1st week (when there was no fish), and is now doing 15% water change every week or so.

The water seems to be clear, especially after I started using a powerhead to add flow to the water.

The previous episode was definitely a lesson learned. I am still not 100% of the cause, but a combination of overfeeding, and me panicing when I saw the male guppy crushed may have attributed to the stress in the tank.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the whole tank is working out, I couldn't even sleep properly the last few days.


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## Sagittarius-Aquarius (Oct 30, 2009)

AquariAM said:


> Learn the nitrogen cycle. You can't just put fish in a box like a hamster. Certain preperations and understanding is required.


Please stop being rude to new people. I am pretty sure there was preparation in this tank. I understand why you might feel that way, but even if this were true how would this attitude help?

As for explanations, the spike in ammonia sounds plausible. Poor little guppy, I'm sorry for your loss.

I'd say keep an eye on the female. If she seems better, I think you'll be okay. Maybe try again with another male?


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

If you need cycled filter media to help out, post your location and maybe someone can help.

And maybe AM can calm down a bit.

W


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