What is killing our guppies.

So we started of with guppies in my son's 2ft breeding tank, after introducing new guppies there was a power outage some adult guppies died. I originally suspected the outage was to blame, but now I am not sure? The babies in the tank all survived, but they grew up and then died... All other fish in the tank - danios and shrimp are doing well and I haven't lost any... Water test is normal, but any guppies we introduce dies within a week... Is there a disease that only effects guppies?

 

ive had the same problem, no idea tho

 

I've said it today in another thread...but I'll post again:

I'm very skeptical about buying guppies from pet stores. In my mind...they the biggest carrier of disease because of mass production. Fish farms pump the holding containers full of anti-biotics and have them breed at very high temperatures. High temps speed up their metabolism so they grow quicker...but in doing so...they grow fragile as well, susceptible to a variety of diseases.

For mass producers it's all about quantity...not quality. Some pet stores buy from private breeders (higher quality, but at higher prices). So when the public starts bitching about the price...the LFS goes back to their mass supplier.

 

Is this not the case with most lfs they are there for profit so it all about quantity and the biggest markup. Most of the public are ignorant and just want that pretty fish.

 

I'm with JAX on this one, I believe we are literally (over) breeding guppies to an early death

 

DONT BUY GUPPIES FROM ANY STORE , they are weak , dirty and low budget , will die mostly within a week , fry might survive but they don't live that long . Guppies in stores is money waste , sad to see so many people still buy them .

 

I have Guppies. Bought them privately and from lfs. Had them for 6 MONTHS already and they are even spawning. NO deaths. different types and even endler guppies. They are beautiful and very easy to keep and breed.

 

My first time around in this hobby 12 years ago, we started off with a 2ft and some guppies. We did everything wrong, not cycling the tank and overcrowding... The guppies servived all this and even a bout with white spot and still bread like rabbits...

This time around we cycled the tank, kept the tank lightly stocked, did our weekly water changes and kept an eye on the water test results... But the guppies are still not surviving. It is a big negative of what greed can do to this hobby, how quantity has taken the place of quality... I wonder just how many people give up on keeping fish because they can't keep them alive..

 

I have 3rd generation guppies from a few that I bought 6 months ago from an lfs. Bulletproof! They live in a 2ft tank and in an outdoor pond. The outdoor ones don't even get fed, yet the fry grow as quickly as their indoor cousins. Any locals who want... Do me a favour and come and get some.

 

@Caz ... when your tank is ready and you wanna come buy some galaxies, I'll give you some true endlers (do not mix with guppies)

 

@Broder that's the best fish to get that's raised like that . I had issues with guppies long ago , I culled 300-400 guppies that had some sort of weakness . I had about 5 guppies left that I used in a tank for only showoff . After that I never bought a guppy again and never had issues ever again . Did get some atfg that is a pretty but very low budget fish imo , gave most away , kept 5 that was thrown in the tub , their growth was soooo poor and they could not compete with my guppies ( yes none left ). My tub I hardly changed water , topped up weekly . @Reedfish I agree , their quality is really bad even if some is super great looking , its just not worth paying R15-R26 for them . I sold some a few days ago as I emptied the tub , I sold 5 males , 5 females , R5 each , gave them another 5 free , cheap but I can promise you they are much stronger than the ones bred in mass production . Here is the fish I removed from the tub , also the ones ill keep till spring arrives .

 

Thanks Jax, my tank seems to stable. I have some bristlenose pleco's in it now. I am working the next 2 weekends and can come and collect the fish either this Friday after work or the weekend of the 4th... Is there a brand of food you recommend?

 

So we bought 3 female and 1 male Guppy a week back (1 female was already pregnant and there is about 30 fry now in the tank.) - But yet again the guppies are dying, the gills are red and inflamed but the water is testing OK. Other fish in the tank (Shrimp / Pleco's) are not showing any signs of illness? The fry is also very active and seems to be doing well...

 

Pleco might accidentally swallow fry as it will fit in their mouth.

 

It is a bristle nose, not to worried about him swallowing the fry - more worried why adult guppies not surviving...

 

Quick q: will my fry be safe with a bristle nose?

 

Yeah...fry is fine with a bristlenose. Eggs....not so much...

 

Do you have another tank you could run just for the guppies to see if the same thing happen if they are not in that tank. Just trying to eliminate where the problem lies one step at a time.