Guppies=filter?

Question

I just bought 3 guppies. They were alright for the first day. Then the next day, one by one they all got sucked into the water filter. They were just laying up against it one by one till they all died. How do I prevent this in the future? It is just a 10 gal tank with a 10 gal whisper filter.

Answer 1

They are sick. Remove all but one of the dead fish and let it decompose in your tank for a few days. This will give your tank the ability to develop the beneficial bacteria necessary to convert fish waste into harmless nitrates. What happened in your tank, it that it is so new that none of the bacteria has had time to develop. Fish that were already stressed by being moved from the breeder to the pet store, and then to your tank, were quickly affect by the toxic amounts of ammonia that built up as they ate and pooped. Your tank needs at least a few days to weeks to build up this cycle. It has now started since you had fish in, but you will have to go more slowly, adding only one fish every few days so the bacteria has a chance to grow. Take a sample of water in to the fish store and have them test it before you buy each fish. They will be able to tell you how well your tank is cycling, and if it is safe to add fish. Remember, to change no more then 25% of your water each week with aged tap water to avoid stressing the cycle of your tank. With guppies, you can add freshwater salt to the tank to avoid a lot of health problems in stressed fish.
A

Answer 2

I doubt that it had anything to do with your filter.

Sick and/or severly stressed fish will sometimes be unable to resist the pull of the filter. A healthy fish should not have that problem.

It could be that they were sick when you got them, or your water chemistry may be out of whack.

Your local fish store should be able to test your water for you at no charge just to make sure everything is ok there.

Good luck!

Answer 3

is there any guage to lower the filtering pressure? I remember mine had a know where you could turn it down. the filter might be for a bigger tank, in that case you might have to get a smaller filter..sorry can't be of more help.