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Post by MadMatt on Mar 10, 2020 15:50:26 GMT -5
After spending 6 years plus attempting a full blown discus breeding program I have concluded it’s simply not conducive to the Windsor water. I strongly believe it’s important to raise the type of fish that can thrive in the water that is supplied locally, with minimal treatment needed. 6 months ago my last discus passed away, he was 6 years old and was one of my first, (the life expectancy is 15 years), but in a continual state of stress from Windsor water, it drastically reduces the life span of the fish, plus they are prone to all kinds of illnesses that our water can give them. Again May talked me into getting a small 10 gallon tank (that we already had put away in storage down stairs, we set it up and threw a few guppies in it, it wasn’t long till they started having groups of fry and then more fry then more. I decided to acquire a large tank to let them grow out and see them thrive. 40 gallon Breeder, some hornwart, two XY 380 sponge filter, and do they ever keep the water clear. I seeded those XY380’s off another seasoned filter from another tank that’s been fully cycled for a few years. My lights are three 18inch Chinese full spectrum LED’s, and do they throw the light, I think all the fish will have Cataracs in a few months....lol... but the hornwart seems to like it. I still vacuum daily and do my daily water changes of 40-50% (old habits die hard), but cleanliness of the tank has allowed the little guys to thrive, I think we must have around 70 fry already in just a few short  months, hoping for a explosion of fancy tails. Cheers,     |
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Post by lesfromlakeshore on Mar 10, 2020 18:15:02 GMT -5
Love in new tank . You will soon be overrun with guppies .
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Post by MadMatt on Mar 10, 2020 18:21:28 GMT -5
Love in new tank . You will soon be overrun with guppies . That’s the point, nuclear guppy explosion...lol |
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Post by MadMatt on May 16, 2020 8:05:18 GMT -5
Love in new tank . You will soon be overrun with guppies . Not over runned yet, actually 30% of the adult guppies have died off, I have a fry tank with about 50 fry. For one of the easiest fish to keep and breed it appears good stock is needed as well...lol |
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Post by christopher on May 16, 2020 19:15:45 GMT -5
Daily water changes might have something to do with the demise of the adults.
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Post by gabor129 on May 17, 2020 7:46:19 GMT -5
Definitely need a good stock. I find that if you get fry from the adults they will be a lot hardier than the original stock. I’m not sure the water changes is a problem since I know a few commercial breeders ( Garry Musso) changes 100% of the water daily.
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Post by MadMatt on May 17, 2020 10:49:55 GMT -5
Definitely need a good stock. I find that if you get fry from the adults they will be a lot hardier than the original stock. I’m not sure the water changes is a problem since I know a few commercial breeders ( Garry Musso) changes 100% of the water daily. I have been doing water changes 50% every other day, some times it’s 50% daily but that’s only about 2-3 times a week. The Windsor water is buffered to 7.2 and creeps slowly to 8.2 over the course of 48hrs, this would hardly effect a guppy, especially when it’s only a 50% water change. The water temp on the change is measured with a digital surface meter, so the temp is essential the same, with the tank drain to half in 10 mins then filled over the course of 30-45mins, I highly doubt they are experiencing any shock. Especially that I use the python and the water trickles in using an end I made from pex, it’s almost like a light rain, so it’s as natural for the fish as it could get. They do tend to flick quite a bit, this goes back to the stock of fish and where they came from and before that as well, who knows what we are ever really getting. I have a separate fry tank now (5gallon), they get crushed up flake food in the morning and two feedings of BBS at 5pm then 8pm, they seem to be growing well, a few dead ones here and there, but not as much as I would have thought, over the course of 2 weeks 5 deaths in the fry tank, I noticed those were the ones not eating like the rest, but who knows. Fry tank gets 50% water change every other day. These are all bare bottom tanks and pretty clean, vacuum every other day with a quick wipe down and each week the sponge gets squeezed in the bucket from the tank water. With guppies being so cost effective, I may just wipe the tank, and start over with a fresh clean bunch of Breaders and see how it goes. Like I said before I don’t have much faith in the source from where the fish came from, no reason to have 50% death rate in a tank with adult guppies in a month. I started with a trio, they made all kinds of fry over the course of 3 months (no adult deaths), the fry couldn’t eat that well being on only adult food, so I leveled up to a 50 gallon Breeder and got more trios (from another source), then the count down happened of adult deaths in 2-3 weeks, month later we are at 50% mortality in the adult tank. It’s ok, doesn’t break my heart, guppies are $4-$6 each, better then $200 each like the fish (pancakes) I was breeding before....lol     |
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Post by MadMatt on May 17, 2020 10:51:12 GMT -5
I think this will be the next one to die, not eating, all bent back and hiding.... again to the question of stock quality.  |
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Post by gabor129 on May 17, 2020 12:24:46 GMT -5
Yup that one is done. Once that happens I was never able to get the fish back to normal and within a week it was dead. It is frustrating, since it is not known what will cause this. I suspect old age is the culprit, but can not be sure. Your water quality is a lot more stable than mine and you have the same issue. Interesting to know. Any idea how old is that female?
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Post by MadMatt on May 17, 2020 13:23:21 GMT -5
Yup that one is done. Once that happens I was never able to get the fish back to normal and within a week it was dead. It is frustrating, since it is not known what will cause this. I suspect old age is the culprit, but can not be sure. Your water quality is a lot more stable than mine and you have the same issue. Interesting to know. Any idea how old is that female? No idea, bought from store 8-9 weeks ago, but the fish did grow a bit, I’ve read most bent backs are genetic as they hit adulthood. Again here we go with poor stock theory...lol |
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Post by MadMatt on May 17, 2020 13:26:56 GMT -5
After spending 6 years plus attempting a full blown discus breeding program I have concluded it’s simply not conducive to the Windsor water. I strongly believe it’s important to raise the type of fish that can thrive in the water that is supplied locally, with minimal treatment needed. 6 months ago my last discus passed away, he was 6 years old and was one of my first, (the life expectancy is 15 years), but in a continual state of stress from Windsor water, it drastically reduces the life span of the fish, plus they are prone to all kinds of illnesses that our water can give them. Again May talked me into getting a small 10 gallon tank (that we already had put away in storage down stairs, we set it up and threw a few guppies in it, it wasn’t long till they started having groups of fry and then more fry then more. I decided to acquire a large tank to let them grow out and see them thrive. 40 gallon Breeder, some hornwart, two XY 380 sponge filter, and do they ever keep the water clear. I seeded those XY380’s off another seasoned filter from another tank that’s been fully cycled for a few years. My lights are three 18inch Chinese full spectrum LED’s, and do they throw the light, I think all the fish will have Cataracs in a few months....lol... but the hornwart seems to like it. I still vacuum daily and do my daily water changes of 40-50% (old habits die hard), but cleanliness of the tank has allowed the little guys to thrive, I think we must have around 70 fry already in just a few short months, hoping for a explosion of fancy tails. Cheers, Well |
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Post by NoodleAquatics on May 20, 2020 19:44:23 GMT -5
Its interesting to see someone else struggling with guppies for no explained reason.
I bought 10 total. I got 2 that survived that. All from different sources, all just dropped within days.
Ive been reading guppies need a very high gH, which windsor water still falls short of this unless the water is buffered more with crushed corals and cichlid sand (i use this in my livebearer tank). Since increasing my gH in my livebearer tank, ive not had any losses.
I have a mix of play sand and carribsea cichlid sand, plus some freshwater shells mixed in.
Id wonder how it would work for you as well.
You arent alone with the guppy struggles. I personally love my guppy girls i have, and platies seem to thrive better for me of the "common" livebearers. But it would be nice to have more success with guppies because theyre so darn cute.
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Post by MadMatt on May 20, 2020 20:18:05 GMT -5
I’m not sure if it’s the ph, our water in Windsor comes from lake st. Claire off of the Detroit river.
The city buffers ph to 7.2-7.6 (depending on the day), but over 48hrs it will creep to the natural ph of the lake at 8.3.
I would push towards several batches of fish from several sources, it usually ends poorly.
Every batch of fish carry their own bacteria and bacteria they are immune to. But when you mix them you create an environment where they can all get sick and threw my experience I’m never that lucky, they usually all get super sick and ends in 60-100% mortality.
On the bright side the fish aren’t that expensive.
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Post by NoodleAquatics on May 20, 2020 21:29:14 GMT -5
I’m not sure if it’s the ph, our water in Windsor comes from lake st. Claire off of the Detroit river. The city buffers ph to 7.2-7.6 (depending on the day), but over 48hrs it will creep to the natural ph of the lake at 8.3. I would push towards several batches of fish from several sources, it usually ends poorly. Every batch of fish carry their own bacteria and bacteria they are immune to. But when you mix them you create an environment where they can all get sick and threw my experience I’m never that lucky, they usually all get super sick and ends in 60-100% mortality. On the bright side the fish aren’t that expensive. Oh they werent all 10 at once from different sources. I tried a couple from one source. They died within days. Fine one minute, dead the next. No ammonia, nitrite, nitrates low. Water changes weekly. Tried another source, same thing. They all die. The last 2 i have are from 2 different sources and theyre the only ones that make it. And from what im learning, kH is more important with livebearers than pH is. |
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Post by MadMatt on May 28, 2020 10:20:27 GMT -5
I’m not sure if it’s the ph, our water in Windsor comes from lake st. Claire off of the Detroit river. The city buffers ph to 7.2-7.6 (depending on the day), but over 48hrs it will creep to the natural ph of the lake at 8.3. I would push towards several batches of fish from several sources, it usually ends poorly. Every batch of fish carry their own bacteria and bacteria they are immune to. But when you mix them you create an environment where they can all get sick and threw my experience I’m never that lucky, they usually all get super sick and ends in 60-100% mortality. On the bright side the fish aren’t that expensive. Oh they werent all 10 at once from different sources. I tried a couple from one source. They died within days. Fine one minute, dead the next. No ammonia, nitrite, nitrates low. Water changes weekly. Tried another source, same thing. They all die. The last 2 i have are from 2 different sources and theyre the only ones that make it. And from what im learning, kH is more important with livebearers than pH is. Why do you only change water once a week?  ..... I do 50%-75% 4-5 times a week (depending on how busy I am with work. But once a week @25% always seemed like nothing to me. But again I only have bare bottom tanks, and some people think I’m weird, mostly because I am...lol |
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