why do our guppies and gold fish keep dying in our tank?

Question

The tank is clean and has a filter. We use distilled water. We also put in extra water conditioner.

Answer 1

check the ph

Answer 2

A fish's stomach is the size of their eyeball, which should give you a rough estimate of how much food they actually need. Remember that fish, like other animals including humans, need time for their stomachs to actually fill up and for them to realize it, (It takes humans approxiamtely 20 minutes after their last bite to know when they are full). But also, fish, like all animals, will gorge themselves when good food is available. Don't overfeed your fish or they will die!! A good motto to have, though mean, is that it's better to have a skinny, active fish, than a fat, lethargic one. They won't die just because they aren't fed twice a day. They are pets too (You wouldn't keep feeding your dog just because he ate all the food in his bowl, right?). As far as the murkiness, food really shouldn't be giving you that problem if they are eating it all. If you leave a light on your aquarium, it could be causing algae growth, which leads to many cleaning problems with the tank. Leave the light off whenever you can awoid using it, but keep the tank in some semblance of light; you don't want your fish to be blind either! Also, goldfish generally aren't very hardy, so it might be better to try yourself on some cheaper schooling fish of a stronger nature. Ask the guy at your local pet store for advice. That way you can get a better fell for fish care, and yuo can move up to larger, more exotic fish, like a beta. Good luck.

Answer 3

How big is the tank? How many fish are in it? How much water conditioner are you putting in? Don't use "extra"... it won't make anything better. Are you letting any bad chemicals get into the water... things like soap or bleach? How long have you had the fish in this tank? If they're new... did you cycle the tank first? How often do you do water changes?

So many factors could be the cause! Get a test kit and check the water for pH, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia. Some pet shops will test the water for you and direct you from there.

As for keeping goldfish and guppies... it's fine while the goldfish is small, but when it gets bigger it can eat the guppies.

Answer 4

Probably because there is a fungus or bacteria you do not see. Goldfish and guppies are among the hardiest fish. They tolerate heat and cold well. If you are using the same tank, don't replace the fish until you empty the tank, throw away all plants, even plastic and get rid of the gravel. Trash everything. Scrub the tank well and put it out in the sunshine for a couple of days to dry. Then, refill with water and treat the water with a chorine/ammonia removal formula. Buy your fish from a new store and that is the best you can do. If that doesn't work, try a green plant an work up from there. Good luck:)

Answer 5

If there are many fish, you will need a big enough tank, 5 gallons at least, preferably more. Also, do you have an aeration system? Another factor is that temperature variations can hurt fish. PH is something you do want to keep an eye on also. I wouldn't think that distilled water would be a problem, but I also wouldn't think that you would need water conditioner with it, especially extra conditioner. Usually you want to use it with tap water to help control chlorine levels. Goldfish and guppies are among the most hardy of pet fish, so they shouldn't be dying off like that, and since it is both croaking not just one type, it does sound like an environmental problem. BTW, you can keep guppies and goldfish together with no problem.

Answer 6

First, never use distilled water, use tap water and a dechlorinator to remove toxins.All the good stuff in the water is removed in distilles water.Second, don't keep guppies with goldfish. Goldfish can only live with other goldfish. If you are keeping them together it will cause a lot of problems. If your tank is heated it is bad for the goldfish - they need cool water, if the tank is not heated it's bad for the guppies, they need warm water. The dirt and slime excreted by goldfish is also bad for tropical fish. Third, you didn't say how big your tank is, or if it's filtered. Goldfish need a lot of room and filtration. Lastly, look at your water changes. When you do regular water changes remember to never remove the fish from the tank. Leave them in while you siphon and never remove more than 1/2 of the water in the tank.

Answer 7

Well #1 don't use distilled water. Sure it's pure, but it's too pure. Fish need the disolved minerals the are removed from distilled water. It's far too acidic, and soft. If your local water is too hard you could mix the tap water with distilled water.

#2 why are you putting in extra conditioner? (What sort of conditioner?) It's not always wrong to put in more conditioner, but it should be based on real needs. You may very well be throwing your water chemisty radically out of balance.

#3 How many fish in what sized tank? Gold fish are messy large bodied fish, and really need at least 2 gallons per inch of length. (Also realize that gold fish grow quickly so in a year or 2 you'll need about 10 gallons per fish.) Guppies can be put in a tank with about 1 inch of fish per gallon. Going beyound this limit will require a fair bit of knowledge about water chemistry, a test kit, and a more powerful filter.

#4 Are you putting in all of your fish at once? You shouldn't be putting in more than 2 fish per week at most. Ideally only fish per week.

Answer 8

There are a lot of factors that can make your fish die. First you need to get a PH kit and check to make sure that its neutral. You also should be doing partial water changes on it monthly usinga gravel cleaner to get rid of extra waste on the bottom of the tank. Also you must use chlorine remover when you add the new water. Go to a local pet or fish store that has been around for a while. Not a Walmart or department store that sells them as an after thought. Your not going to get a professional. Your going to get a kid that makes minumum wage giving you bad advice. Also, while your there get a basic book that tells you about how to do the basics on a fresh water tank. If you need any more advice, email me. I know what Im talking about because my brother and sister in law owned a fish only pet store & tank cleaning business!! [e-mail]

Answer 9

Part of your problem may be the fact that you don't use tap water. Distilled water lacks important nutrients and elements that healthy fish require.

You don't mention how big the tank is, but if you have multiple goldfish and guppies together, it should be at least 55-gallons.

How long has the tank been up and running for? It may still be going through the nitrogen cycle. If you don't have the test kits to do it yourself, take a cup-sized sample of your water to you local pet store, and have it tested for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH. Ammonia and nitrites should be at 0ppm, nitrates at less than 40ppm (less than 20ppm is best), and pH at around 7.0. If your anything measures higher than what I told you, you need to do at least a 20% water change, but no more than 40%.

Also, guppies are warm-water fish, and goldfish are cold-water fish. I don't see the two of them getting along temperature wise.

When was your last water change? You should be doing weekly changes of 20%.

Good luck.

Answer 10

Here are the things I add to my tank:
1) tap water, let it sit in bucket o/n before adding
2) Cycle (Bacteria)
3) Amquel
4) Tetra EasyBalance
5) Algae killer

I have had goldfish living in my tank for over 1 year with no problems. You haven't said how old your tank is, you have to let the tank "cycle" before putting in the fish, otherwise you will have ammonia build up before the nitrogen fixing bacteria have taken hold. Excess ammonia will kill your fish in no time. You can buy an inexpensive ammonia detector that sticks onto the inside of the tank that changes color. Also an air pump is very helpful to create proper aeration and water circulation. Read the very intelligent advice given by the other Yahoo answerers here. I've learned a lot from them and I'm sure you will too. Good luck!

Answer 11

A lot of things could be the problem, have you tried something called a water conditioner, also overfeeding may be a problem, check around on websites and you'll find some useful tips like:

How to pick a healty fish, how to tell when your fish is overweight, etc.