# about to give up on livebearers



## gupsmith (Nov 6, 2009)

Well, I have posted about the troubles I am having with my guppies.They are still sick and dying off.They just can't seem to get rid of the fin rot problems and fungus problems.I poisoned them almost to death trying different meds.I killed off every albino guppy I had.The fry and adults I still have look horrible.Most have no tails or are so skinny.I decided to stop all meds and and do heavy water changes every other day with RO/DI water that has the minerals added back in with R/O right and PH adjusted.I added live plants to the tank.The guppies are still dying.I feel like giving up and just going back to my neons and tetras again.Why are livebearers considered easy fish? almost all the fry that I had born have died.Yet some people can raise literally hundreds of them with no problems.What in the world could I be doing wrong? I have a reef tank that thrives and hard to keep corals and animals that are thriving for crying out loud, and yet I cant keep a guppy?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I feel for you! I had the same problems with serpa tetras a while back. They are supposed to be hardy and yet I had 5 of them go belly up over 2 days. They were acclimated the same as any other fish I buy and they seemd very healthy when I bought them-- yet next morning they were floating-- all except 1 and I still have it.
I don't know if they were scared of the angel fish, if i had some unknown fish virus in my tank that killed them or what was the problem.
I do have problems when I buy guppies.
I have been breeding my own for the last 5-6 years and occasionally I get a new male from the pet store. I am very picky about which fish I bring home. Sometimes when it passes quarantine and goes into the main tank it dies within a few days. Sometimes it kills off a number of my fish. 
I think fish carry virus like the common cold is in people.
There is nothing you can do about it.I once bought a healthy looking male guppy and put it in quarantine with a couple of guppies and a betta that I had for some time. In the morning the new guppy was ok but my original fish were lying on the bottom gasping. The ammonia , nitrate and nitrite were all ok so I guess the new fish had something.
I kept him in Q for a number of weeks then added him in with my other females and he and they were all ok and I started a new color line for myself.
There is also something called guppy reovirus. I don't quite know where I picked that up but I can count on every batch of female fry having it to some degree. The females that survive it go on to be big strong girls about 2 1/2 inches. However they pass it on to the next generation.It seems to only affect females.
Some of the females that carry too much of the virus die when they get to about 6 months. They get swollen internal organs, turn blackish inside and die. All this happens within a few days.
have you tried stripping your tank down and starting again?
is your water hard enough for guppies? They like to be in hard waterand a higher ph and I have read that they have health problems if not kept in the hard water.


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## gupsmith (Nov 6, 2009)

Yes I totally agree, it all started when I had the albinos shipped in.I had 2 pet store gups originally and they were fine for months, then I got this trio in and they looked great, were eating and even had fry.In a matter of 2 days, they were sick, all got ick, which I never had in my tank, I used copper for that, and then they all ended up with fungus, used fungus cure for that, done a zillion water changes in meantime.Fussed over them constantly for weeks.All the fry died.Now I have 1 female and a male that looks emaciated even though he eats, all his fins are completely gone too.I have hard water here.I have tried my well water which is high alkaline and I have tried culligan machine water which is RO and none have made a difference.I think all I can do is wait it out, see who survives and let it be at that.I got some hornwort plants and they all died too.I have the 7 in 1 dip strip test and it shows normal ranges in everything.It is exasperating.Your tetras are supposed to be hardy too so maybe it is viral or something.


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## PaulLamb (Nov 15, 2009)

Definitely sounds like something that was introduced by those albinos. Considering how difficult/impossible it has been to treat, if it were me I would probably start over with a new batch of guppies after taking apart that aquarium, disinfecting everything with a chlorine solution, and letting it dry out.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

first off ; i would tear down the tank..clean it and set it back up..but forget about the RO/DI stuff...just straight tapwater...go to your LFS and get some "AQUARISOL"....treat your tank according to directions.
some fish don't like to be pampered or given special treatment..


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## gupsmith (Nov 6, 2009)

haha lohachata I like your signature, 10 gallon, nothing but more air, that is funny! I have a 5 and a 30 gal. in my garage, and they are full of more stale air too because I have run out of electrical outlets in my house! update: surviving guppies still alive, female about to give birth again, hopefully fry will live! got some more plants, all seem to be thriving, maybe I am out of the woods? I added a small mystery snail and 4 ghost shrimp.Crossing fingers


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