# disease?



## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

i bought some guppies the other day to help the cycling of the aquarium for my mudskippers(brackish water, the guy said guppies can live in brackish water) i also put some bio-spira in it as well. today i found one of the guppies swimming and flipping and turning everyway possible. the only thing i thought of doing was turning off the light. the fish improved greatly so i turned on the light and it started freaking out again. is this just a reaction ro the ammonia or is it a disease that i should be worried about?


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## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

In my experience and through my research, I can safely say that guppies aren't a brackish species. They like a little bit of salt in their water, but not brackish conditions. That may be your problem.

The ammonia could be the problem, but most fish don't calm down when it gets dark.

The fish could simply be stressed.

Not to get on a moral high horse, but you _can_ cycle a tank with bio-spira and a bottle of pure, unscented ammonia.

However, I think it would be a great help if you could post your water parameters - most important: ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate; secondary: pH, GH, and temperature.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

well the temp. is 80, the ammonia is 1.5


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

How did you acclimate the fish? You cannot take fish from freshwater and dump them into brackish water without slow and careful acclimation. Doing it too suddenly or fast will cause osmotic shock, killing the fish. And no, guppies are not one of the types of livebreeders that can survive long in brackish water.

When using Biospira, you add the fish immediately. No need to use ammonia.  But I agree, its unnecessarily cruel to cycle with fish.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

i didnt at all, the guy said if you want you could actually put them in a SW tank and they would do fine, now i feel bad. so maybe it wasnt a disease at all?


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Nope, it very likely was osmotic shock. Some livebearers such as mollies can go full saltwater if acclimated properly. Guppies cannot, and no fish can survive a sudden change very well.


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