WHY?-thoughts or suggestions?

[Wicked]

hi guys, i was wondering if you had any thoughts for my water:
the ammonia is 0
the nitirates is 0
the nitrates is 0
the ph is 7 or just (i have crushed seashells in there atm)
the hardness is 150ish ppm
temp is 26-28
tank is 4foot by 18" by 14"
has 3x drift wood
some corkscrew val and some ricca and some java moss (and of course some slimy little snails)
apparently according to the lfs my water is ok, i have cycled for the 4 weeks and tested a few times........
i bought some frendly little guppies and guess what?http://www.melbourneguppyclub.com/components/com_fireboard/template/default/images/english/emoticons/sad.png
two have died already i dont understand
any suggestions??
cheers Liz

[Woodsy]

How did you acclimatise them to your tank?

[Wicked]

i put the bag in from the lfs turned out the lights left them there for about half an hour, got rid of there water and put them into my water...via the way of net

[joz]

Quite possble that the guppies original water was very very different to your own as far as PH went.
Temp is not the only thing to acclimatise for.
I always add small incriments of water to my bag bit by bit over a longer period.
No ph shock for the fish this way.
If any guppies survive try adding a few more but add them slowly..

[lil_fuzzy]

Is your tank cycled?

If nitrate is at 0, most likely it's not, or the cycle isn't working properly. In a cycled tank there will always be a small amount of nitrate because that is the end product of the processes which neutralise ammonia and nitrite.

So, if your tank is not cycled, you need to cycle it. Let it sit without fish but with the filter running for at least a month, no water changes. During that month test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. First you'll get an ammonia peak, then as you get bacteria which neutralise ammonia you'll get a nitrite peak. Then you'll get bacteria which neutralise nitrite, and the end product of this is nitrate. When you have no ammonia or nitrite but have a small amount of nitrate, you are ready for fish. Do a water change, and then acclimatise the fish to your water.

[Wicked]

hey lil fuzzy, it has been cycling with goldfish for over the period and when tested by lfs they said it was fine...
thanks for your feedback and advise guys, maybe i shocked them :(

[Woodsy]

I would say so. As Joz has stated, it's best to add water from your tank in increments so that they fish are actually acclimatising to your tank, itself. This is where a lot of beginners get frustrated when there LFS won't refund dead fish - They usually have an acclimatisation policy, and if you don't follow it, or if your water isn't up to scratch, they won't refund them. Some of the more strict ones would have told you that your pH isn't right for guppies either...

[lil_fuzzy]

When there are no nitrates there's something wrong with your cycle, simple as that.

How was your water tested? Did they use strips or liquid tests? Strips are not nearly as accurate as liquid tests, so if they used strips you can't trust them.

[Wicked]

I would say so. As Joz has stated, it's best to add water from your tank in increments so that they fish are actually acclimatising to your tank, itself. This is where a lot of beginners get frustrated when there LFS won't refund dead fish - They usually have an acclimatisation policy, and if you don't follow it, or if your water isn't up to scratch, they won't refund them. Some of the more strict ones would have told you that your pH isn't right for guppies either...
The lfs here wouldnt refund you even if your water was an replica of theres once they leave the shop thats it they are yours if they die-its my-your bad luck:(
all 3 lfs shops told me that my ph was ok, what would you suggest as a ph to aim for?
Lil Fuzzy
i have tested and retested my water both liquid and test strips (strips at the lfs) and they say its fine apparently they dont much care about the fact that there is almost no nitrates for the guppies... i total hear what your saying about the nitrates and i have read and become fimular with the concept: cycling= ammonia>nitrite>nitrate mine is just low atm so im keeping a good eye on it.
atm i havn't lost another so im hoping they are ok and the other 2 that i lost were just weak...
thanks for your replies and help

[GoGuppy]

When there are no nitrates there's something wrong with your cycle, simple as that.

Not necessarily so...:).

I have a planted tank and had zero readings for a long time. Finally I twigged on that I needed to remove a large portion of biological media from my filter and dose nitrates as well to keep UP the nitrate levels for plant growth, but well below the danger level for fish.

Now I'm NOT saying this is what 112xx (!!@xx) should be doing, but I did notice the tank is planted AND some LITTLE guppies have been added....maybe the biological loading (fancy words for fish poo...) is not high enough to register yet??

Still this doen't explain why the fish are dying. I suspect it is something to do with the cycling process, but it may just be that the fish were from a batch of weaker fish?? :confused:
Anyway, let us know how you go.
Cheers

[Woodsy]

How can it be a problem with the cycling process if there are no ammonia or nitrite readings? You guys aren't making any sense. Anaerobic bacteria will break nitrate down into nitrogen gas, and are encouraged in most aquariums. Products such as Stability (Seachem), as stated before, use these bacteria for this exact purpose.

Some test strips are great, and will yield the same readings as liquids repeatedly.

A pH of 7.0 is fine, but where they are naturally found it is slightly alkaline, say 7.2 - 7.4 (sometimes even higher). I was just using that example as an illustration of how some retailers behave when it comes to replacing fish, as you are basically costing them money when they do.

[Wicked]

thanks Woodsy i was getting rather lost,-i have crushed seashells in the tank atm to bring up the ph