my male guppy -Umpa?

Question

I change the water once a week, feed him everyday, put in the anti-chlorine liquid. I make sure he's alive every day but this didn't seem to be enough for my other fish. 4 fish have died this year. One commited suicide (jumped out while i wasn't home), another i'm guessing didn't have enough oxygen (betta), and the other died while traveling in a plane for 6 hours. The recent fish that died was Umpa's brother, loompa. I'm guessing he didn't have enough oxygen or umpa took it. So now, my guess is that whats missing is oxygen. Umpa has been alive for almost 2 months now without any kind of aeration other than changing the water often. Do you think he will last? It sits at the bottom of the tank most of the time...and goes up to check for food... Should i buy an air stone? (air stone/ air rock/ oxygen rock/ oxygen stone).... how do they work anyway? do i just put the stone in the water and hope it lasts a month...i don't want to hear a machine at night....

by the way i didn't have all of them at the same time....they died at diff. time periods....the only two that were together were the two guppies

Answer 1

Air stones themself wont do a thing, you have to attach them to an air pump which pumps the air through the tubing and out the air stone. They do sell tablets, I think they are called air buddies, but they are for when you are traveling with them to add oxygen to the bag they are in.

While oxygen is important so are the water params, if the water params are bad (ie high ammonia) then it doesn't matter how much oxygen is in the water. A filter is a must to cycle the tank, which is what will keep the params safe. A good filter is usually good enough to add the oxygen and you may not even need an air pump. You also need a tank that is big enough, if they don't have enough space for themself they can become aggressive and attack each other. A bigger tank also helps the water params, in a cycled tank there should be no ammonia or nitrite but there will be nitrate and in smaller tanks water changes need to be done more often to take that out.

Not having a suitable tank can cause them stress which lowers their immune system and makes them more susceptible to disease. Look up what guppies need like the size of tank, how much filtration, what ph they need, what temp and things like that. Also look up what fish can go with guppies, most people would advise not to keep bettas with them since bettas like to fight and will kill them.

Answer 2

I have about 75 guppies. Some of the things I have learned is there will be trail and error, but if they are laying on bottom they usually have a disease. If they have a disease their scales start sticking out and you will see them. I bet if you put fish salt in the water you will see a big change in your male guppies. They need the salt. You can get this at any pet store, just ask them where you can get aquarium salt. An if you get a bubble system it doesn't make a lot of noise and will help put oxygen in the water. Don't change the water every week they need the bacteria. I change our tank water maybe once a month. And I have a 55 gallon tank. If you need more information here is a very good website my husband and I use when we have questions about our fish. http://www.wikipedia.org/ Just type in guppy and you can read all kinds of information about them.

Answer 3

it takes a while to learn how to correctly take care of fish, but it really is easy if you are really into it. yes buy an air stone, fish need 1 gallon of water per inch of fish, so you may need a bigger bowl or tank if you have more than 1 fish,.

Answer 4

I have a fish tank next to my bed with a filter and heater in and they are completely silent. I do not have a problem with it. Maybe you could turn it off at night anyway?

Answer 5

Bettas hate being with other fish, hello!! Didn't the person who sold it to you tell you that?? No wonder the others died.