# please help me!



## guppybreeder! (Sep 22, 2007)

hey! i have a 5 gallon tank with 2 guppys 1 male/1 female and a algae eating fish(not sure what kind). i have had them for 2 days and my male has been acting funny.:| at first he stayed at the very top of the water and swam towards the light in my tank. now he is hiding behind the filter and kind of laying on the bottom. my guess is he is dying. what do you guys think? also what are the best signs to look for to know when to transfer femal guppys to breeding traps? i don't want to have her in there for very long and i know she is pregnet but i don't really know what signs i am looking for. my last question is what is easyer for beginners to breed? platies or swoardtails? my brother wants to try to breed something but he is only 9 and needs something easy to start with.( i will be helping him a little too) thanks for reading i know it was a lot.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> male has been acting funny


At 2 days you could have ammonia in the water, if you don't have a test kit, change 50% or more of the water ASAP (be sure to use dechlor and match the temp when you fill it up) and add 1 tsp/gallon of aquarium or sea salt. Forgive my for assuming you're also a beginner, since you didn't list test results. There are other things that can cause those symptoms such as "swim bladder issues", but in a brand new tank alway check the water quality first. Poisoning is much faster than disease. If you haven't already, read everything you can about the "nitrogen cycle" and "cycling a tank", there are good stickies on this forum. Either buy an ammonia (and later nitrite & nitrate) test kit or plan on changing water every day. Please post more details-water temp., kind of filter, how long the tank has been set up, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and hardness would be nice. If money is tight get an ammonia test kit at wal-mart. Many pet stores will test water for free, but you should check ammonia twice daily for a while. For a new aquarium or new fish, ammonia is the most urgent concern. 



> transfer female guppys to breeding traps?


 Unless you have additional tanks for the guppy fry, I would suggest just getting a lot of floating plants (live or plastic) and letting the fry take there chances. Even this way you will most likely get more babies than you really have room for. 



> platies or swordtails?


 Both breed readily in almost any tank. Swordtails tend to be larger than platies and so should have a larger tank, also in my experience swordtails seem more likely to jump out tanks than platies. Slightly larger fry may give swordtail babies an edge, but its not really important as platy fry are easy to care for.


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## guppybreeder! (Sep 22, 2007)

thanks for your answers!i just tested the ph with 2 different tests. one said 7.8 and the other said 8.6. i don't have kits to test the others but i do have some stuff to treat ammonia. the tank has been set up for at least 6 mo. but has gone through several different fish. it has had 2 compleat water changes and tons of small changes since it has been set up. the water is in the upper 70's. probably like 79- 80. i don't have a heater running in it. i just did a 50% water change when i got the new fish like 2 days ago. should i do it again? why arn't any of the other fish being affected if it is the water? do you think i should just treat the water for ammonia? i have a tank for the fry. i also have tons of plants in the tank just in case she drops befor i transfer her. but i don't know what to look for to know when to transfer her. as for my brother i think he decided to go with platies. he has a 10 gallon tank and likes it fuller so they allow him to have more in there. what do you think is the max # of platies he can put in a 10 gallon?


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## guppybreeder! (Sep 22, 2007)

i just looked at my female and i can see some eye spots and she keeps hideing behind the breeding trap, filter, in the plants and anywere she can find. do you think she needs to be put in the breeding trap? i was think about just puting her in the trap for the night and takeing her back out ing the morning. i was just going to put her in there when im not home and can't moniter her and keep her out when i can. do you think this sounds like a good idea or not?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you have a new tank for the fry, I'd put the female in it. Its less stress than a breeder trap. Let her eat for a week after she drops and then put her back.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Bad water will often affect one fish before others or stress some fish to the point of catching something while others will resist. Since most medicines reduce oxygen in the water, adding them to a tank with high ammonia or nitrite could kill all your fish, so we always want to know the water is clean before recommending any treatment. How long was the tank without fish before the guppies and was the filter running? If it was empty for a while you may have a "mini-cycle", if the filter was off, you may be have to cycle like a new tank. If your ammonia stuff is Prime or Amquel or something that says it "detoxifies" ammonia than use it, it won't affect the cycle. If its something like ammocarb that takes ammonia out of water thats a harder call. If it is ammonia hurting your fish, it could save them. But it will also starve the ammonia to nitrite bacteria and when its used up, you will have an ammonia surge and have to recycle the tank. Do the fish have any other ammonia poisoning symptoms like red gills, breathing heavy, sitting in the filter outflow?


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## guppybreeder! (Sep 22, 2007)

no they are all fine but the one fish. the tank had one small fish in it befor the guppys. i gave the fish to my brother after getting my guppys. should i take them out and put them in a bowl and let my tank cycle for a while? if so how long?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

No. Your guppies have enough problems already without adding the stress of putting them into a bowl. You said you have some ammonia remover? Great. Use that, and if you have an airpump, put an airstone in the tank. 2 teaspoons of salt would also be a help.


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## guppybreeder! (Sep 22, 2007)

ok thanks! i will try it! he is getting better too so it might have just been alot of stress for him.


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