08/12/2022
Care of New Guppies - by Bob Sturnfield
updated 12/8/2022
#1 Avoid Stress
Any fish tank is a slurry of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses. The fish in the tank have developed an immunity, especially thru the slime coat.
Virtually all fish diseases can be traced to stress, which weakens their immune systems.
Shipping / moving fish is stressful as is changes in water conditions.
Major causes of stress are water conditions (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, low pH, osmotic imbalance, and dissolved organic matter), lack of proper nutrition, and over crowding.
The goal of anti-pathogen treatments is to lower the count to a point where the fish's immune system can defend against it.
#2 Quarantine All New Fish for 2 to 3 weeks
I also Quarantine and Treat All New Plants and Mystery Snails.
Prophylactic treatment during quarantine even though no symptoms.
Need to for treat bacteria, external protozoa, internal protozoa, nematodes and fungus.
I treat every new fish with:
Levamisole
Praziquantel
Metronidazole
Kanamyacin
Acriflavine
Aquarium Co-op recommends "treating every new fish with:
Mardel Maracyn is one of the best fish antibiotics for bacterial infections,
Aquarium Solutions Ich-X is a highly effective ick treatment that also fights fish fungal infections,
Fritz ParaCleanse is an anti-parasitic drug for treating fish tank parasites and tapeworms."
Many guppy breeders use
SMZ-TMP (Sulfamethoxazole & Trimethoprim) antibiotic (960 mg/10 gal)
Seachem Paraguard (10 ml / 10 gal)
Safeguard - fenbendazole (200 mg/10 gal)
Salt 1/4 cup / 10 gal
Old Time Treatments (neither recommended for plants nor invertebrates)
Salt 1/2 cup / 10 gal
Methylene Blue 1 teaspoon / 10 gal
After 3 days do 50% water change then regular water changes
Salt 1/2 cup / 10 gal
Potassium Permanganate -- must stay purple for 6 hours, so keep repeating if turns brown
I make a stock solution
1/8 teaspoon Potassium Permanganate added to 1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon of stock solution in a 10 gallon tank
Repeat PP hourly "if tank is no longer pink" until pink for 3 hours, then repeat PP daily for 3 days
On 4th day do 50% water change then regular water changes
#3 Tap Water Quality
Know your water source. Does the quality change throughout the year?
Municipalities often flush with Chloramines in the Spring. Lakes get lawn and farm run off during summer with high nitrates and phosphates. Ground water wells may have a pH drop in fall from water filtering thru dead leaves. Deep wells will have high Carbonic Hardness which is good, but may also have heavy metals and radium. Filter and treat as needed.
#4 Make sure water has enough electrolytes to avoid osmotic imbalance.
Maintain a pH of 7.0 or higher and lots of minerals in the aquarium. Guppies love hard water. They do best in DH 100ppm to 300ppm.
Traditionally guppy breeders have added Marine Salt or Evaporated Sea water (sold as Aquarium Salt or Solar Salt), but aragonite, marble chips, crushed coral, Wonder Shell, or limestone may do a better job of boosting electrolyte levels and keeping pH from fluctuating.
#5 Proper Food
Sad to say, but many commercial fish food are not nutritionally balanced. A varied diet of more than one type is a good idea.
It is important you give your fish a vitamin-rich diet. Vitamin C deficiency leads to bent spines. Vitamin B-complex (thiamin, biotin, niacin, and pyridoxine) deficiency can cause brain, spinal cord and nerve disorders in fishes.
Guppies require both protein and phytosterols. Good foods are Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food, Zoo Med Spirulina 20, Fluval Bug Bites Spirulina Flakes.
Many breeders just select a fish food with "fish meal" as the first ingredient which is 40% protein and add 20% spirulina from a health food store.
Dry food should be frozen or stored in a cool, dry place and replaced after two months.
Destroy any moldy food. Aspergillus flavus mold in old food can be fatal.
Live food that is infected with bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites can lead cause problem in your fishes. Be careful of your source.
Frozen foods that have been thawed and refrozen may also be spoiled.
There was an article on the Norton Aquatics site which went into some detail on the effects of malnutrition, but the page seems to have been taken down that stated the following as the Effects of Malnutrition on Fish.
"The effects of malnutrition are listed by the mineral/vitamin and what condition is caused when the substance is lacking in the diet.
Vitamin A – Eye problems, loss of appetite, impaired growth, intra-muscle and fin-base hemorrhage (internal bleeding), anemia, dropsy, weakened gills.
Vitamin B (complex) – Loss of appetite, poor growth, fragile blood vessels, poor growth, anemia, muscular wasting, convulsions, loss of equilibrium, cloudy eyes, poor vision, over-pigmentation, gasping and flaring of gill covers.
Vitamin C – Loss of appetite, over-pigmentation, eye hemorrhage, deformed cartilage and spine (commonly seen as a zig-zag shape from the dorsal to tail-fin – a ‘kink’ in the tail), intramuscular hemorrhage, anemia, fragile blood vessels.
Vitamin D – Poor growth.
Vitamin E – Muscular wasting and poor growth.
Biotin – Loss of appetite, poor growth, muscular wasting, convulsions, intestinal lesions and convulsions.
Choline – Poor growth, poor food conversion, fat collection in liver, kidney and liver hemorrhage.
Folic Acid – Poor growth, lethargy, fragile fins, over-pigmentation and anemia.
Inositol – Poor growth, distended stomach (dropsy – collection of fluid in the body cavity), skin lesions and increased stomach emptying time.
Niacin – Loss of appetite, re**al lesion, muscle spasm, skin hemorrhage, skin lesion and anemia."
#6 New Tank Syndrome
An aquarium has a number of cycles that need to be established.
The most talked about is the Nitrogen Cycle. Ammonia levels above 4ppm will kill your fish, but even above 1ppm will affect their disease resistance.
Daily water changes can keep the ammonia level low, plants can also absorb some, major aquariums use UV Purifiers (DIY by replacing the 254nm bulb in your UV Sterilizer with a 185nm bulb and lowering the rate of flow).
But, most depend on a Nitrogen Cycle -- Beneficial Bacteria (lithotrophic bacteria and archaea) in your filter and other surfaces are used to break down ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate.
If you have never had any problems with sick fish, you may simply use an old filter from another tank to kick start the Nitrogen Cycle. Do not use a filter from a tank that had sick fish in last 3 months.
Breeders that have experienced sick fish will either grow their Beneficial Bacteria on household ammonia or buy a product like API Quick Start, Seachem Stability, Fritz Aquatics FritzZyme 7, DrTim's Aquatics One and Only, or SR Aquaristik Beneficial Bacteria (Dry Concentrated).
There is also a Waste Break Down Cycle (heterotrophic bacteria) that needs to be established to break down sludge and prevent bacterial bloom cloudiness.
#7 Old Tank Syndrome
The aquarium environment has degraded over time, specifically the water chemistry.
Because all of this happens slowly, the fishes in the aquarium have time to adapt to the changes in the water chemistry. The weaker ones often die, but the stronger ones survive, although they are more susceptible to disease and will usually have shorter lifespans. Any newly added fish are likely to perish quickly, as they cannot adjust to the poor water chemistry.
A water change will then cause massive deaths because of the sudden change in water conditions.
If you do daily water changes, your fish can tolerate 100% changes, because there is little change in water chemistry.
But, if you are doing rare water changes or only 10% per week, even a 40% change can be a shock.
Still, the best solution is regular gravel vacs, weekly 20% water changes and occasional 60% water changes. But, build up slowly.
Breeders with "clay dirt bottom" planted tanks should instead avoid disturbing the mulm since that will disturb the heterotrophic bacteria that breaks down waste and make it available to the plants. Major water changes are still needed, but take the water from the top of the tank.
