afoultz Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 Has anyone ever seen just 1 species struggling for oxygen? All of my water parameter seem ok. Temp is around 76F right now. Guppies seem to be the only ones gasping. I have shrimp, panda garras, otocinclus, and galaxy danios in the tank with the guppies… Not sure if I should be concerned or if there is a problem….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWilk Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 Are you sure they’re not hungry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 On 9/29/2024 at 10:32 PM, afoultz said: Has anyone ever seen just 1 species struggling for oxygen Keep a close eye on the tank. If you’re having a problem, it may show up in one type first. The one that uses the most oxygen. If the problem continues, it may start to show up in the others, and then you could really be in trouble. If you have an extra air stone, I’d for sure add that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 How long have you had the guppies. That is a sign there is something wrong with that species. Guppies are notorious for bacterial infections and gill damage due to ammonia burn in transport. The oxygen could be low but only guppies are showing stress due to underlying conditions. Add air. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoultz Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 Update….. I don’t think them being hungry is the problem - there was food in the tank when they were at the top. I’ve had 1 of the guppies for over 2 months, the other about a month. I had just been treating them for an infection. A few weeks ago, I had turned the temp up in the tank because I thought it was ick. I added 2 air stones at that time. It was not ick but an infection - so I brought the temp back down about 4 or 5 days later. This past weekend, I was changing water & cleaning the tank after finishing treatment, so I took the air stones out because the temp was back down. I don’t remember ever seeing them gasp before treating & adding the stones. In any case…..I watched some videos one of which suggested that there is some benefit to having an airstone in the tank out side of oxygenation, so I’ve decided to go ahead and add the stones back in. I’m not sure what’s going on with the guppies, but hopefully leaving the air stones in will resolve the problem. I had wanted to observe and see if I could determine if there was any pattern, but I think I was going to add the air stones either way after learning a little more. I’ll monitor for the time being….. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 (edited) If you are still seeing issues with your guppies and you think it's a bacterial infection, you could run a course of maracyn2. Following directions closely. Your lfs or Amazon is the easiest way. to get it. It's invertebrate safe if you have snails or shrimp. For ich, ich looks like somebody salted your fish. tiny white dots. relatively uniform and not clumping. Edited October 1 by Tony s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWilk Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 Leave the air stones in for several weeks after medicating. What does your tank look like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanisag Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 Id recommend keeping an air stone in all Aquariums all of the time. I almost always do and the few times I get lazy with it I see problems. 😕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoultz Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 (edited) I’ve already treated with maracyn from aquarium co-op. Tank is 29 gallon. I have driftwood, rock, plants - 1 artificial decoration for fish to swim through. This is the thread I originally posted: I have lost the guppy I originally posted about. There was a separate guppy I had been concerned about, so I completed a treatment with ich-x and maracyn. I think she’s ok now, but I also think with her coloring it’s a little tricky to tell if she’s miscolored or not. I will attach a picture for review. I also have a new question……I’ve seen things crawling in my substrate. I thought they were baby shrimp, but after looking around and seeing they should be miniature versions of adult shrimp - I think not. These things are shrimp-like. I haven’t seen them swim or anything, just crawling. I did some research, I think these are scuds? I’ve seen mixed information on whether they are of no concern (even beneficial?) or not. I will post the best pictures I was able to get of those…. Curious what community thoughts are on that…All the advice is appreciated!! Edited October 1 by afoultz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 Definitely scuds what are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate pH KH GH temperature as low KH can cause a lot of health issues with guppies that wouldn't affect your other fish species you have @afoultz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoultz Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 There is no problem with ammonia per API Master Freshwater Test Kit. Latest (last night) parameter results (Tetra “EasyStrips”): Nitrate - somewhere between 0 & 20 Nitrite - safe 0 Total hardness gH - about 150 Chlorine - safe 0 Total alkalinity kH - about 180 pH - I think about 7.8 I just now redid, picture of strip results attached…. I will also redo per API Master Test Kit in a little bit and post those results when I have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoultz Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 According to API, Nitrate - between 0-5 ppm Nitrite - about 0.25 ppm Ammonia - 0 ppm pH - about 7.4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quikv6 Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 Looks like you found the culprit: Nitrite, and probably a bit of ammonia at times as well. Your biological filter may have taken a hit from the Maracyn. (Maracyn2 shouldn't harm your beneficial bacteria...but Maracyn can, and often does.) Feel less, up the waterchanges, and allow the tank to "catch up". You could also add bottled beneficial bacteria as a booster. Usually mature tanks will recover very fast. If the tank is only a month or two old...it may take longer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoultz Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 (edited) On 10/1/2024 at 1:09 PM, quikv6 said: Looks like you found the culprit: Nitrite, and probably a bit of ammonia at times as well. Your biological filter may have taken a hit from the Maracyn. (Maracyn2 shouldn't harm your beneficial bacteria...but Maracyn can, and often does.) Feel less, up the waterchanges, and allow the tank to "catch up". You could also add bottled beneficial bacteria as a booster. Usually mature tanks will recover very fast. If the tank is only a month or two old...it may take longer. Hmm. That sure doesn’t make sense to me that Maracyn2 doesn’t harm beneficial bacteria. From what I read, Maracyn only treats gram negative or gram positive bacteria (forget which), and Maracyn2 treats both. Curious that Maracyn2 doesn’t harm beneficial bacteria. Yeah, based on the delta changes from last night, I think I will do another water change tonight. I’m getting frustrated, though - it seems with the treatments and everything, I’m changing the water pretty frequently. I like the idea of adding beneficial bacteria, will try that as well - I have the fritz product for that. What about the scruds? Any feedback? Edited October 1 by afoultz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 On 10/1/2024 at 4:05 PM, afoultz said: What about the scruds? Any feedback? Scuds = live food and excellent clean up crew. All good. I buy them and culture to add to my tanks…. My fish chow down faster than they reproduce though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quikv6 Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 From what I have read, Maracyn primarily targets gram positive and Maracyn 2 primarily targets gram negative. Something like Kanaplex is a bit more broad spectrum, treating some of both. With that said....I have just read the above, and have no idea if it is accurate. But I did speak eaarlier from my personal experience....whereby a regimen of Maracyn did indeed cause a cycle bump for me in a non-mature tank, and Maracyn 2 did not. (Even in a non-mature tank) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 On 10/1/2024 at 5:27 PM, quikv6 said: Something like Kanaplex is a bit more broad spectrum, Careful with the kanaplex if there are snails shrimp or plants. It's not safe for invertebrates. or plants. Maracyn2 is still a very broad range antibiotic. just usually gentler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quikv6 Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 From Fritz's website: Maracyn® targets gram-positive bacteria and Maracyn® 2 targets mostly gram-negative bacteria. They may be used in conjunction with one another. However, in doing so, the balance of beneficial bacteria in your aquarium, including nitrifying bacteria to remove ammonia and nitrite will be adversely impacted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoultz Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 Thanks. Will keep all of that in mind. Doing a water change tonight and adding beneficial bacteria. Will leave the air stones in. I’ll update as needed.😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted October 1 Share Posted October 1 On 10/1/2024 at 7:37 PM, quikv6 said: They may be used in conjunction with one another. Be very careful with this combo. I completely crashed a 75g tank with it. Water turned milky white, and the fish were all up gasping for air. It was too much for my system, even with a couple of added airstones. luckily for me, once I saw what was happening, I had a small amount of room to move fish around. I still lost 6+ out of the tank. The cycle was actually fine. But there must have been an extreme amount of bioload in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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