Sick guppies

[FindingNemo]

Hello everyone, thanks for the help in advance.

i have a 45 gallon planted tank with 30 gallon sump with a diy wet/dry tower been up and running for almost a year with little to no problems.

the water quality  parameters  is 0 a cross the bored for ammonia  nitrate nitrite and at work at the moment so I don't remember the others. Tank temps normally at 24-25c. And I used test strips, master kit on order.

the tank started with 20 guppies after it was  cycled for about a month and a half (fishless cycle)

lost two males to my own stupidity ( got caught in the drain net , now fixed) 

one female to anal prolapse over breeding 

now to the problem I have two maybe 3 that are sitting on the bottom and decorations, having a hard time swimming (male and female so I don't think it's  birthing problems ) I know the tanks border line over stocked from the breeding, I do about 40-50%water change weekly. 

ive started to raise the temp slowly and going to stop at the store for a tray to put the sick guys/ gal in so they are now stuck so far down and have a better chance of eating.

Do you guys/ gals have any idears of what could be happening ? 

I probably left out info so just ask if I did. 

Oh the sick guppies have no signs of infection bacterial or fungual, no odd behaviour other than sitting and labour breathing, ones starting to lose Color 

 

thanks again hope we cN save them .

[FindingNemo]

We'll I have some bad news with this update. 2 of the 3 are dead with a forth now starting to sit at the bottom, but he looks like he was  nibbled on, so he might be unrelated to the problem.

water quality still showing perfect  ( still test strips , liquid test kit should be in tomorrow)  

[FunkSolid]

This is a long shot, and highly speculative, but what about dissolved oxygen? Most diseases present with some indication physically, and your group has been stable for quite some time. I’m assuming you have not added anything from another source (fish, décor, media, equipment) so disease is unlikely, or not obvious. Your chemistry seems stable (but a zero on nitrate is unusual), and the only real sign is inactivity and you observe their operculum moving possibly indicating labored breathing. I would ask what your water surface disruption is like? Try adding an airstone for a while and see if it resolves. Maybe as the colony grew their O2 demands have exceeded the tank in its current state? DO kits are expensive, and I don’t know anyone who uses them.

HTH

Andrew

[FindingNemo]

Thanks for the reply, I didn't even think of oxygen being the problem. I will a another line to the tank. If I recall right I didn't start having problems till I moved around some air lines.

and nope didnt add any new fish, decorations or plants real or fake, I haven't even add  fertilizers in a while. I'm still trying to find the right balance(new to real plants in the tank) 

I will post  results  of my water  parameters after work. And any updates on the guppies. 

 

Thanks again, 

[FindingNemo]

sorry i never came back with an update, I'm happy to say that i fixed the problem.

i don't remember what the problem was, but the fish are doing really well they have been moved from the 45 gallon to their new home, a 38 gallon.

ps i dont know how to mark this as solved,  and thanks again for helping.

Edited January 13, 2019 by FindingNemo