Dead guppies - curled up

Hey Guys,

I bought a second hand tank about 2 weeks ago. 768liters. It had to many guppies to count. I saved all the water it was running with. Set it up at home with the same water. I used the same gravel and everything the only change I made was adding two internal power filters to the tank as the previous owner used only an undergravel filter. The power filters was running in another tank so it should have all the bacteria needed. Then the guppies started dying. I did a water test NO3 - 100; NO2 - 1. I did a 50% waterchange and the NO`s came down. Problem is the guppies are still dying!!! I noticed that all the dead guppies are curled up. Is it some kind of disease I don`t know about? I googled it but can`t find anything helpfull........ Please help????

 

Ag shame man, poor guppies. Im guessing they are quite small so maybe the journey was alil stressful

 

I'm not sure what method or scale the NO3 is being measured with, but 100 sounds incredibly high! What is it reading after the water change?

I would suggest another 50% water change, then 33% every other day until that NO3 level is low!

Just to get more info, are there any other symptoms? Clamped fins? Swimming laboured? Spinning around?

When you say they are curled up in a ball, can you describe further? Perhaps even a pic?

Regards
G!

 

A very high NO3 causes permanent damage to the gills. Nothing you can do about it. I also want to know how you got a reading of 100! The scale does not go that high?

 

Gravel traps all kinds of things under it when in the tank and get released when stirred or disrupted. So there might have been loads and loads of NO3 trapped that you released and then put in your tank.
If not done fast enough or right the bacteria in the filters and gravel will die but his should cause a ammonia spike. Did you test for that?

 

I used sera quiktest. I know its not the best test kit available but it gives an indication of whats going on in the tank. The scale goes to 250mg/l. I did not test for ammonia. They swim to the top and try to breathe at the surface. No other symptoms.

 

I would go with a huge water change as fast as possible and increase the aeration. Also check that your temp is OK.

 

Thanks vis, will do so

 

What dechlorinating product are you using to get rid of the chlorine when you do your water changes?

andrew

 

My apologies! I read NO3, but my brain decoded NH3... Old age is catching up!

NO3's scale does go to 100mg/l. NH3 at that level and all the fish will be stone dead. Well, NO3 at those levels mean your filter(s) is cycled, and that is good news. So yes, Vis is right, try and dilute the NO3 as much as possible. You might save a few. But I am sure there will be permanent damage, which means any spike from here on, could have fatalities.

Bottom line, get the parameters right, wait it out and keep the parameters right! There is no reason to suspect other diseases, so do not over react.

 

Please keep us posted

 

Thanks Tom for your good advice.

Andrew, I don`t use dechlorinating products. I use RO water made from well water

 

hehe, see my disclaimer in my signature. Senior members are to pull me in line when I talk nonsense!