Guppies & Neons

brettmirl

Hi all,

Is it normal for guppys to eat neons?

I have a tank with 6 red guppys and I did have 4 blue and 4 black neons.

Now the neons are gone and there was a few bits of their bodies floating about the tank with the guppys nibbling on them?

The woman in the shop where I got them said they would get on fine together and said that the guppys would be the ones that couldn'g handle living with aggressive fish.

My brother has a similar combination of fish in his tank and all his neons are still in one piece.

cichlid child

If the neons are small enough the guppys would eat them check your water ph etc if your water not right fish can become more aggresive
If you only just put the neons in the tank in the last few days i would put any more new fish you have in with the lights out and move the tank habitat around a bit.

fred funk }{

Guppies dont eat neon's. Your neon's died and you saw the guppies eating the dead bodies. Neon's are very hard to keep and they are massively over bred so the result is very weak breeding strains.

Neon's need acidic soft water and dont like any sudden changes in their water. They are famous for dieing quickly in newly established tanks so its best to introduce them into a mature tank.

brettmirl

Ok - been speaking to a few people that have tanks and am getting 50/50 answers on if guppies eat neons or not.

They are gone anyways.

It's been suggested that I put in two angel fish as they are apparently "hardy" - is that right?

Since the neons died/were cannibalised - the water has gone cloudy (white). I bought some Filter Aid - will that fix it?

Is there a good book i can buy - something like "Fish Tanks for Dummies" that anyone would recommend?

fred funk }{

I think the cloudyness (sp?) in your water is a bacterial bloom which can happen in a tank during the cycling process, It will clear up with water changes and try not add to many chemicals to your tank and let the tank develope naturally if at all possible.

I dont think you should add Angle fish as they are not really that hardy, get some Tigar barbs or some platies as they are hardy enough.

Books are very expensive so dont go there unless you really have too, The internet is the best place for info. HERE is a great friendly forum where all you fish keeping questions can be answered, Also get some test kits and test your water to make sure it not polluted.

Just ask if you want some more questions answered.

brettmirl

Thanks for the help Silver Knight - its appreciated.

The tank is only about 4 weeks old to i am hoping it is just the water going through the bacterial changes.

It was suggested that I get one of them fish that cleans...not a big one...but apparently you can get a mini version - is that a good idea?

LegacyUser

mick_irl wrote:

It's been suggested that I put in two angel fish as they are apparently "hardy" - is that right?

I have a 35 litre tank (along with a 125 with ciclids). The 35 litre has 2 guppys and @ 6 neons. I have 1 angel, a parot fish, plecko, shrimp, 2 crabs, apple snail, black widow tetra in there along with several others. They are all only babies at this stage. When they get any bigger - I'll move to a bigger tank.

All has been well. The only time I have had dead bodies was when I used something for white spot and it should have been called "wipe out", lost 3 fish even though I followed the instructions.

I would check the PH of the water, get a kit and investigate. Also, are you sure you are feeding the fish enough? I find, especially with the ciclids that they are greedly ba*tards! I once went away for a weekend and left them with 2 weekend blocks and came home to find a fish dead and them all ready with the barbeque and steak trimmings.

cichlid child

I don,t think its a good idea to put tiger barbs in with your guppies the barbs will kill them.Platys are ok for a hardy fish . i would change some of the water and leave the tank for a fortnight before putting anything else in.
The cleaning fish(pleco)are very hardy but get very big

brettmirl

OK - everyone i am talking to about the tank is giving me completely different advice.

Not sure who to believe

LegacyUser

cichlid child wrote:

I don,t think its a good idea to put tiger barbs in with your guppies the barbs will kill them.

Well ,mine haven't yet and I've had them 5 months at this stage.

brettmirl

The water in my tank is still cloudy. I put in some Filter Aid on Thursday and today did a 30% water change. It still looks the same. I cleaned all the plants and the gravel too.

If i test the water - what should i be on the lookout for?

fred funk }{

A new tank goes through a process called cycling. This basicly is as follows.......Your fish produce Ammonia, This Ammonia is highly toxic to fish and will kill them very quickly, Bacteria develope in the tank mainly in the filter which turn Ammonia into Nitrite which is also very toxic and will kill fish. Nitrite is then turned into Nitrate which is harmless to fish at low levels and is kept low by water changes.



When changing water it is vital that you use chlorine remover or Stress coat because Chlorine will kill the bacteria you are trying to harmest.

Go down to your Fish or pet shop and get an Ammonia test and a Nitrite test.

When a tank is in the first stage of cycling you should get high Nitrite levels and some Ammonia levels and when the cycling process is finished you should have no Ammonia or Nitrite at all.

You should tast your water every so often or when something goes wrong in the tank and if you get a reading of either Ammonia or Nitrite.

brettmirl

But should the water look brownish?

I ran the tank fish-free for three weeks. It was fine and clear till about a week ago. Well it was till the neons died. its not in direct sunlight.

revo

tbh with you i am in the same boat mick no one on here knows what there talkin about. send joe a email on joefish@indigo.ie and he will sort you out

LegacyUser

revo wrote:

tbh with you i am in the same boat mick no one on here knows what there talkin about. send joe a email on joefish@indigo.ie and he will sort you out

Actually - I take offense to that comment!! I have fish .. I gave advise .. on my experience - so to turn around and say "no one on here knows what there talkin about" is a load of arse! If you're looking for an answer from an expert then feck off and hire one, but don't come in here with "no one on here knows what there talkin about" Obviously you don't either! And .. I wonder how Joe feels about you posting his email address like that for every spambot to pick up.

fred funk }{

yo guys looks like you were right but they werent to oexpensive anyway. all my fish are dead bar the siamese one. woke up this morning and they were all in the corner near the filter soem stuck in the filter. local fish guy says could have been shock doesnt reckon it was the tank . what do use think.. ill listen too use now haha

You have changed your tune Revo!!!!!!!! ha ha ha!

fightin irish

revo wrote:

tbh with you i am in the same boat mick no one on here knows what there talkin about. send joe a email on joefish@indigo.ie and he will sort you out

Nasty comment m8, If im not mistaking you just chucked your fish straight in on the first few days after been ADVISED HERE not to do that and what happened...Your fish died, I got great, friendly advice here and ppl here are talking from expierence so its you that doesn't know what he's talking about.

Me walks away tutting and rolling eyes.....

Duras

The big fish eat the small fish... Guppies eat their own offspring when the babies are small... So if your neons were very small (baby neons) and your guppies mature I think there is a good chance that the guppies got them. Otherwise something else may have happened... As the lady from the shop said... when is fish trouble, usually the guppies are the first to get it

revo

hey guys im sorry to say it but use dont know what use are talking about . why is everyone contradicting each other? use gave out to me to say that my fish died because of the water cycle which was bull as i found out the batch i bought first had some kind of a disease. and its amazing since ive followed this guys advice that i buy the fish from all my fish are alive and well and the tnak has never been cleaner. and even this ph and all tat stuff you dont need to check that. its just a waist of money as it is just a con for sellers to blame it on that rather then there product. if you know what your doing you dont have to do any of that.

peace :cool:

revo

fightin irish wrote:

Nasty comment m8, If im not mistaking you just chucked your fish straight in on the first few days after been ADVISED HERE not to do that and what happened...Your fish died, I got great, friendly advice here and ppl here are talking from expierence so its you that doesn't know what he's talking about.

Me walks away tutting and rolling eyes.....

read above..

brettmirl

Duras wrote:

The big fish eat the small fish... Guppies eat their own offspring when the babies are small... So if your neons were very small (baby neons) and your guppies mature I think there is a good chance that the guppies got them. Otherwise something else may have happened... As the lady from the shop said... when is fish trouble, usually the guppies are the first to get it

Hmmmm...so with 6 guppys in the tank now, what would be good to put in with them?

fred funk }{

and even this ph and all tat stuff you dont need to check that. its just a waist of money as it is just a con for sellers to blame it on that rather then there product. if you know what your doing you dont have to do any of that.

Anyone with any sort of basic knowledge of fish keeping will tell you that that is bull.

You are obviously a flammer and please stop **** stirring. :mad:

fightin irish

Good oul boards...full of **** stirrers............

Duras

mick_irl wrote:

Hmmmm...so with 6 guppys in the tank now, what would be good to put in with them?

I think for a begginer viviparous fishes will be the best to start with. So near your guppies you can add some mollies, swordfish and/or platy. They are not very difficult to keep, also, you can breed them easily if you have a pretty thik amount of plants in some corner of your tank. They all feel well at around 22-23 Celsius.

Many say that they feel excelent if you add a small spoon of salt ( the normal one - without iodine) at every 10 litres of water. I never tried this thingy cos I had lots of other species in my tank, and still they were doing fine.

LegacyUser

Actually .. here is a question for you guys.
I was feeding the fish lastnight and noticed something odd at the bottom of the tank. This actually looks like the skin off a fish!! Looks orange in colour, but not unlike rolled up paper. At first I thought a fish had been killed and they had completely devoured its tail and head/ insides :eek: yuck. I didn't take it out of the tank yet .. but does anyone know .. do shrimp shed their skin? I know cray fish do, what about crabs?

B

brettmirl

Duras wrote:

I think for a begginer viviparous fishes will be the best to start with. So near your guppies you can add some mollies, swordfish and/or platy. They are not very difficult to keep, also, you can breed them easily if you have a pretty thik amount of plants in some corner of your tank. They all feel well at around 22-23 Celsius.

Many say that they feel excelent if you add a small spoon of salt ( the normal one - without iodine) at every 10 litres of water. I never tried this thingy cos I had lots of other species in my tank, and still they were doing fine.

Thanks Duras - am gonna leave it a week or two before adding anything else.

Mate of mine said i should replace the fabric plants I have with real ones.

The tank i have is an AquaEl Hexaset 15 ltr one... so it's quite small comapred to the ones most of the user here have.

revo

Silver Knight wrote:

Anyone with any sort of basic knowledge of fish keeping will tell you that that is bull.

You are obviously a flammer and please stop **** stirring. :mad:

how come all my fish are still alive and i havent done one of those test ???? your the flammer

brettmirl

Quick Update!

Rang the shop where I got the tank and fish. They suggested that I am over feeding and possibly do not have enough fish in the tank. Used to have 14, now have 5.

Got myself a test kit (Interpet New Aquarium Care Kit) this morning. The ph is 8.5.
Did a nitrate test also which was pink and according to the instructions: "This indicates your aquarium filter is still in the process of maturing. Add Trizyme"

Is the ph a bit on the high side or should i just leave it for another week and monitor it again then?

Will the Trizyme help the filter mature? Should this help reduce the brownish cloud in the water? Filter Aid made no difference.

Fuzzie Bear

I have both guppies and neons in the tank and they are all like happy families !

My dad has 30 years experience in fish, so why not drop him an email :
malcolm@fishkeepingsupplies.com

I'm sure he would have some kind of article hes written at some stage about what fish you can keep together in an aquarium

brettmirl

Well my remaining guppies died. So now I have no fish

Going to try again. Have taken out all the old water, cleaned the gravel and run through a fresh load of water. Cleaned out all that water and cleaned the gravel again as well as the tank filter sponge and ornaments; and now have a fresh water load in.

Is there anything else I need to do before adding the fish? Obviously I'll let the water/filter mature before adding the fish. Am taking the water from a different tap source this time just in case that was the problem last time.

fightin irish

Did you clean the filter media in tank water? Hopefully you did.