Please help! Guppies dying... somethings wrong... need serious help! Please try to answer for 2 points!?

Question

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm spazzing... but, I almost am.

I've had a guppy tank for about a month; and as far as I knew it was pretty cycled before I added fish. I had 4 adult fancy guppies (2 females and 2 males) in a 5 gallon aquarium, which I'll be upgrading soon.
After a weekend gone and unable to feed them, I came back to find both males dead. The females were very pregnant and the next day, one had babies. A few days later the other one did as well. However... on my blue and orange one, I noticed a red-ish stain around her abdomen (her butt area, I guess.) It definantly didn't look normal... but she was acting fine. It seemed to get a little bigger and I noticed it slightly around the gills. Then, my second female got it and died that night (yesterday.) The blue and orange slowly began to die so I euthanized her.

Now, I'm very nervous for the lives of the remaining fish. SOMETHING happened and is in the water... though its very hard to tell what. How do I fix it?

Aquarium Stats:

3-6 baby fancy guppies in a 5 gallon aquarium. Light is kept on about 12 hours a day. Has a running filter.
Current temperature: 86 degrees F
Ammonia levels: 1.0 - 3.0 (I'm guessing around 2.0)
Nitrate levels: 0 (5 at the most)
Nitrite levels: 0
Hardness: 250
pH: About 8.2
Alkalinity/ Buffering Capacity: 180 - 200

The tests were done about 10 minutes ago. I think only one of the fry have died; though I'm not sure how. They're about a week old.

I've heard you cannot do water changes while they're this young. Is this true? How can I help them in the mean time?
I'm going up to the store later. Do I need medications? Treatments? What about an oxygenator/bubbler? If I'm to treat the water... I only have one tank and theres no possible way for me to buy another at the moment. Where will the fry be kept?

I have a test kit. Please see my results above.

If possible, can you please edit your answers to help me? 10 points for the best answer and anything else I can give you.

What do I need to buy from the pet store today?
Will a heater help? A bubbler? Any sort of chemicals that can help them? I think my ammonia is too high as well... and after doing research, I have suspicion it was ammonia poisoning that killed them.

Please... I've never had this happen in my years of fish-keeping. I don't know how to help them or what to buy!
Will a water change affect the babies?

Answer 1

What you need to do right now is doing a 50 % waterchange right away, because your ammonia is way of the chart
It's suppose to be at '0'

As for what you should get right now?
Get at least a 10 gallon tank with heater and a sponge filter right away
Fill it up with water and add conditioner as recommended, and let it sit for at least 2-3 hours
Also add 10 tablespoons of aquarium salt to the new tank when you set it up
After that scoop all your fish out of the old tank and acclimate them to the new water, but don't add the old tank water to your new tank

Also for bacteria just take the gravel from the old tank and put it in there, as well as squeezing out the carbon cartridge,that will help to jumpstart the cycle in it
There is also bacteria you can buy for the tank

You might still loose fish, since they have been to long in the old tank, but if you're lucky you can save some with that setup

Do partial waterchanges of at least 10-15% daily on the new tank to control the ammonia

The red you see on your guppy's is ammonia poisening

That's actually how i was able to save some fish, when I didn't know anything about ammonia and stuff


hope that helps
Good luck


EB


for livehelp, follow the link in my profile

Answer 2

Ok, test the water. Chances are something is bad with the water quality. An ammonia spike, maybe? If your water is bad, quickly remove 25% of the water and replace with room-temp, de-cholrinated (sorry I can't spell that) water. This should help the levels go down.

If you don't have a test kit, bring a sample of your water to your local pet store. They usually provide free water tests to customers. If not, buy a test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and possibly pH. If they do provide a test and something is wrong, they should be able to give you a product to use or atleast advice! Either way, BUY A TEST KIT!

If your water is fine, then one of your fishes must of caught an illness and made the others sick. I am sorry I don't know what else could be wrong, I hope I helped!

Big Hug,
FishieFin ♥

READ THIS: Your temp is too high! Guppies like a temp of 68 degrees faren. to 79 degrees faren. Also, your pH is too high! Guppies prefer a pH of 7.0-7.4!!!

Answer 3

It my recent experiences with pet store guppies most of them died a few days after purchase.

I set up a 55g tank with guppies and mollies, bought a good chunk of 4 males and 9 females. After the 1st 4 days all the males were dead and 2 of the females were dead.

I talked to a guy who breeds show guppies and he told me that the fancy guppy line is basically played out and is a weak easily killed fish. It is so inbreed that the fabled toughness of the guppy is gone and is now just a myth. They need to be treated very delicately.

I did find that by keeping 1 male to a 5gtank and feeding him top quality frozen and flake food I could toughen them up and keep them alive in a community tank. So I have 2 fancy guppy males that thrive in my 55g, a yellow cobra and a sunset guppy. They love life with their 9 females. hehe

Answer 4

It might be a bacterial infection caused by a build up of waste or something else in the water. Try using Melafix, which is an antibacterial remedy commonly sold in stores like PetsMart or Petco. It says it treats open red sores, fin and tail rot, eye cloud, pop eye, body slime, mouth fungus, and open body wounds.

I hope the babies are okay....

Answer 5

I'd talk to an aquarium person, or fish-vet (if there is one)
maybe try getting another kind of fish? I'm sorry. Or you could get a new tank or filter, and be careful, and moniter the water.

Good luck!!! :( And I'm sorry for your loss.

Answer 6

have you checked the levels in your tank,nitrite amonia and nitrate,if your levels are high this could of resulted in your fishes deaths.
it sounds like they had a disease,check your levels with a test kit and then if possible post the results

Answer 7

You might want to purchase a test kit to test the water and maybe talk to an associate at pet smart or pet co.

Answer 8

the males just die after mating
i dont know what was wrong with the females
that is wierd
i hope the other guppies are okay!!

Answer 9

Call your vet, or whereever you bought the fish.