Why do my fish keep dying!? (Guppies,neons and gouramis) PLEASE HELP! 10 points for best answer!?

I think all the previous answers are off the mark. Fact is you have different species of fish in the same tank all affected in the same way. The common demoninator is the water. Firstly the tempeture of the water is a little on the high side. 25 degrees should be about right for a mixed aquarium. Secondly, the fact that you need to change the water so often could be a clue. I have a 180 litre tank that has water changes once every 6 months!!! If when you change the water you use too much dechlorinator or dont leave the fresh water settle for long enough before adding it to the the tank, then some chlorine could still be in the water would could kill the good bacteria in the filter. By doing this every week you may not be giving the filter a chance to colonise properly so leaving you with an ineffective filter.

If you are testing the water after a water change then you will always get good test results. If you are testing before a water change and are getting good results then dont change the water.

Also by changing water every week the chlorine which may still be present could be poisoning the fish. Now and again this may not be a problem, but exposure to chlorine every week would be fatal.

You didnt mention how much water you change. If changing every week, then you should not be changing more than 10% unless you have detected high levels of nitrates or nitrites, or other toxins.

To summerise, only change water when you detect rising levels of nitrites and nitrates. The fish you have are quite tolerent to ph changes, and only change a maximum of 20%. Change up to 50% if a seriously high level of toxins are present. Allow the dechlorinated water to stand for at least 15 minutes before adding to the tank.

I hope this is of some help. btw my tank only gets water changes so i can clean the filter when it blocks!!!!

You say your water conditions are perfect, but what is your Ph ?

Remember Guppies from the wild like a high Ph while the Neon's like it more acidic at a lower Ph, how ever I don't think that is your problem unless they are wild caught, and your Ph is at extremes.

Both of the species you have said are bred in high numbers ( farm bred ), the good thing about this is that farm bred fish are acclimatised to your average tap water the down side is they are bred in high such high numbers and in bred they become weak. and susceptible to parasites and bacterium.

Another thing you should look at is, just how many fish did you introduce at the same time, you need to keep an eye on the ammonia levels, always after you add fish as the filter may not have adequate bacteria.

How long after you introduced them did they die ? Did you acclimatise them to your tank before releasing them ?

One other thing do you keep the babies in the same tank, did you put the female and babies in a breeding net ? Don't over feed them as you will just pollute the water

The Gouramis need floating cover as they are anabantoids and breath atmospheric air, they need floating cover or they are stressed every time they go to the surface for air, and they are not happy in fast moving water, they struggle and believe it or not but they drown

I would take a sample of the water to the shop you bought your fish from, here in the UK most shops will test the water for free.

The biggest killer of fish is shock and stress,

Liquifry is better for egg layers as the fry are smaller, Livebearer fry are bigger, try Tetra mini flake, your fry will do much better, or crush your own flake to a powder

Are you sure that your selection of fish are compatible? The size of tank?

A fish tank is really a small ecosystem, and you need to know how every living thing can function together. You have to look at all the elements in your tank. You don't want to do too much mixing, each fish has separate needs.

You need to do a lot of research if you want to mix species. All the variety may look pretty, but if they can't live together, there's not much point in having a fish tank. Myself, have had a mass fish die-off and it's quite distressing.

Human beings can adapt to just about anything, because we're smart. Well, most of us. Fish can't - because they're not the brightest animals on the planet. You have a computer, use it. I bet you will have far less problems with your fish tank if you spend some time doing research.

Good luck :)

Sorry can't answer your question too specifically i can only only say that i used to keep fish years ago ( different much bigger fish from yours though) and had lots of success I had an 120 litre Aquarium and kept a smaller 'back up' aquarium running that was for any 'ill' fish to separate them from my big tank and that seemed to minimise losses. One thing I'm sure you know is to be extra careful about water changes paying particular attention to the water temperature and pouring in only very very slowly and carefully I only did mine every 3 weeks or when needed I wonder why your changing the water so often? Have you perhaps too many fish ? Is your Filter powerful enough or up to the job? Sorry if that's no help. only suggestions Good luck with the fish.

Did you quarentine your new fish in a separate tank for 2-4 weeks? If not then there is the answer - new fish infected existing fish - deaths occured.

You also do have quite a small tank so adding so many new fish may have disrupted your water for a while.

Maybe white spot, also guppies and neons die alot!

Get some black mollies, as they are good for detecting white spot and other deseises! And if you get white/silver mollies, they breed and make a mixture :)

Try cleaning the tank more often?

And babie fish have a little chance of surviving if not in a hatchery/other tank from other fish

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

If you are a member of this site, you can get free advise from experts. They have been very helpful to me and also asking in at aquarium shops with a water sample etc. wish I could be more help. It's always upsetting losing fish. fingers crossed you don't lose anymore in fixing the problem.

Sounds like they all got fin rot, keep treating for fin rot and reduce the stress levels, don't add anymore fish until the disease has done its damage.

Sorry for your losses!

My fiance and I agree. You might have too many fish in the tank. We had too many fish in ours, and they just kept dying until the population was able to be stable. Experts suggest 1 gallon for every "inch" of fish. Seeing that you use metrics... well, sorry, but I have no knowledge of conversion. : / Hope that this helps.

Community tank, these are not aggressive but do travel in schools so you need at least 3.