Guppies keep dying

[bKillion]

Two weeks ago, I bought 8 female guppies, 10 rasbora hets, and 10 cherry shrimp. Since then, I have lost 5 of the 8 female guppies to a fungal infection, but this morning I found a male guppy that had died, however he was purchased many weeks prior to the new fish arriving. I’m thinking that maybe the females died from something like a parasite, but were then attacked by the fungal infection once they were dead. I have treated 1 week with a packet of Maracyn and ParaCleanse along with a teaspoon of Ich-X, then I treated the fungal infection for five days with a packet of Maracyn and a teaspoon of Ich-X every morning. Any ideas what it could be? I know the nitrites are a little high, however there is a tablespoon of salt so the nitrite should bond with the salt instead of the red blood cells in the fish. I have these fish in a 10 gallon tank, and the water parameters are as follows:

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 10 ppm

Nitrite: 1 ppm

GH: 150 ppm

KH: 40 ppm

pH: 7.2

Thanks for your help!

[Cory]

I'd say the culprit is the nitrites. Even small amounts are quite bad. Guppies can be in rough shape at a pet store, using the meds when you got them is a good step to start recovering them, however with the nitrite in the water recovery probably wasn't possible. I'd get your tank to stabilize further, and if you'd like guppies try again. It appears the tank wasn't ready to handle adding the 28 new inhabitants.  For now I'd cut back feeding by at least 50% while the tank is playing catch up.

[Kat_Rigel]

I have never heard of salt binding the nitrate in the aquarium; they are both totally soluble in water. Salt has a lot of benefits, but I don't think it prevents nitrite poisoning.

[Marnol D]

 

11 hours ago, Kat_Rigel said:

I have never heard of salt binding the nitrate in the aquarium; they are both totally soluble in water. Salt has a lot of benefits, but I don't think it prevents nitrite poisoning.

I think it stops the gills from absorbing the nitrites. However seachem prime claims to detoxify nitrites. Im currently using it until my nitrites read 0. Im struggling with something similar with my guppies. Ive boosted my ph/kh/gh with equilibrium and baking soda to add minerals into the water and so far it looks like its making my guppies recover. I have slight nitrite readings (0 ammonia my cycle crashed or couldnt keep up when my mystery snails hatched) and it looks like some of my guppies (who were already weak from mineral deficiency probably) got nitrite poisoning.  

[Antichton]

Another option is methylene blue. Nitrites react with oxygenated blood to form methemoglobin, which stops the blood from absorbing more oxygen, suffocating the fish. Not sure what the effective dose is for fish, but the lethal concentration of methylene blue is quite high.