HELP,JUST LOST THREE NEW GUPPIES

Hello Paul,
Firstly, you're most welcome to the Forum...we were all very new to this at some time or another (for some of us it was a VERY long time back...).

A couple of questions:
How are the rest of your fish? If they are all well and swimming and feeding naturally then the finger could be pointed at the Guppies themselves.

Did you happen to notice when you returned to your LFS (no name, please) if the remainder of the Guppies were OK?

As to your 'lost' Guppy this is a bit of a mystery...plecos will eat, quite quickly too, dead fish - but I have never seen one attempt a live one, this being the case it's a bit strange how your first and third casualties were found but not your second...you might have to put this one down to one of 'life's little mysteries' - we all have them from time to time.

When you say you cleaned ornaments and plants can I assume you have artificial plants? - If they're natural ones it would be a mistake to take them out to clean them - the roots would become exposed and any growth would be curtailed - do it too often and they would die (but you probably know this already).

Just in case you are cleaning the media in the filter too regularly I would suggest that this only be cleaned once the flow out of it has appreciably diminished - up to a 30% reduction in flow is acceptable.

As you've been bringing your water to the LFS for testing I would suggest your next purchase would be a semi-comprehensive Test Kit, I can recommend the API one but most of the others are fine too. I'm glad you're maintaining a 20% weekly water change regime - this is almost mandatory. Presumably you are treating the new tap water before adding it?
When you get your Testing Kit please test the water and post back to us the findings, these are always the best indicator (other than fishes' actual behaviour) of how things are progressing within your tank.

There are lots of hints and tips in the 'Beginner's Haven' section of the Forum, you'll find them interesting reading too.

Cheers,

John

Paul,
A couple of further issues,

Gavin is right - a quarantine tank is a must...I just didn't want to confuse you further from the outset, it needn't be a large tank, so long as any new fish you might buy will only be smaller one.

As you're in Galway you might want to consider joining the CFKS - they meet near the City and the next meeting - if you can make it - is tomorrow evening.
From the members I've met they're a very sound bunch and very welcoming. Give it a try, go to a meeting (they meet monthly in case tomorrow's meeting is 'out') and see what you think - then you can decide either to join or not, but at least you'll have seen what it's all about.

Aquapaws at Barna are a good shop, they're getting in a new batch of fish and both Gavin and Peter are very helpful knowledgeable people who are more than happy to help out newcomers...and what's more they are Forum sponsors and CFKS members too.
Right, plug over...

From what I know of them Juwel heaters aren't the most dependable of heaters - you might want to think of getting a new more reliable one. There have been many many words written about Juwel heaters - and, sadly, not too much of those words were saying good things about them.
Now, it could just be the extra warmth we are experiencing just at the moment (hope this warm spell doesn't turn out to be the Summer - like the warm spell last April did!!!) so you might want to monitor this, your heater may be fine - just keep an eye on it to be on the safe side.

One last thing...gravid (pregnant) female livebearers do not take kindly to being moved too soon before birth, this can lead to miscarriages and at worst death of the actual females so try to avoid moving them if at all possible close to birth time - for some reason this is especially so of both Platies and Mollies although I've had the same happen with female swordtails so you could really say all of them can be prone.

Try the meeting - if you can - I know you'll be made most welcome.

John