# Guppy floating at the top of tank?



## Proud Pastry

Hello 

This morning I noticed one of my guppies floating at the top of the tank. He still moves around a tiny bit... but not much.
He was fine yesterday, eating and swimming around. But now he's floating and not eating at all.
I didn't notice anything wrong with his body, he's not bloated and his fins are not clamped.

*Tank and water info:*
10 Gallon
1 air stone
Tetra Whisper in-tank filter

4 Male Guppies
4 Female Platies
2 Platy fry in breeding net

Nitrate: 5.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH: 6.8

Do you think he might have swim bladder?  Or could there be another problem?

I'd appreciate any help and advice anyone has to offer!
Thanks for reading!


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## gsneufeld

Livebearers don't appreciate soft acidic water... you need to raise your gh and kh


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## Proud Pastry

Thank you 
But that also doesn't really solve my problem, my other fish are swimming around normally and showing no sign of stress, it's just this one guppy that is floating at the top


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## ThePhoenix

I have found that some fish will do that before they die


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## Scherb

Proud Pastry said:


> Thank you
> But that also doesn't really solve my problem, my other fish are swimming around normally and showing no sign of stress, it's just this one guppy that is floating at the top


Unless you raise you gh and kh i am pretty sure the rest will follow. they need harder water. how often do you do water changes ? is this a new tank ? 5.0 nitrate is high imo.


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## Elle

Moved to Hospital forum, but definitely the GH/KH is low. Have you tried Equilibrium? It really helped with my guppies.


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## Diztrbd1

not a swim bladder problem IME if it were that ....it wouldn't be able to swim properly let alone just float at the top. Maybe not feeling good or constipated or something, A couple of my fish do that from time to time , but all are fine now. Definitely couldn't hurt to raise the hardness.


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## Proud Pastry

Elle said:


> Moved to Hospital forum, but definitely the GH/KH is low. Have you tried Equilibrium? It really helped with my guppies.


Oh thank you  I wasn't sure where to post this haha

No I haven't :O
I'll go to the fish store and pick something up to help increase the GH/KH 
Thanks! ^_^


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## Proud Pastry

Diztrbd1 said:


> not a swim bladder problem IME if it were that ....it wouldn't be able to swim properly let alone just float at the top. Maybe not feeling good or constipated or something, A couple of my fish do that from time to time , but all are fine now. Definitely couldn't hurt to raise the hardness.


Yeah I didn't think it was swim bladder... because he's just floating there any not making much effort to move around. He did move around for a bit though... but then he went back to floating lol
I'll try raising the hardness and feeding them some peas. I noticed one of my platies had some bad poop as well, so they all might need some peas haha


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## Lamplighter

I started out with guppies after a long hiatus from fish keeping. I lost them all one by one! I wish that I would have known about raising the GH/KH. 

On another topic ""You're a great digital artist."


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## Jasonator

Throw a frozen pea or 2 in there and do a 20% water change. Might help.
Good luck!


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## Proud Pastry

Lamplighter said:


> I started out with guppies after a long hiatus from fish keeping. I lost them all one by one! I wish that I would have known about raising the GH/KH.
> 
> On another topic ""You're a great digital artist."


Awh D: I'm sorry that happened to you!!

Oh thank you! haha 



Jasonator said:


> Throw a frozen pea or 2 in there and do a 20% water change. Might help.
> Good luck!


Thanks!  I'll try that! ^_^


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## neven

many of us have been through dying guppies before learning about vancouver's lack of any hardness in their water. I used equillibrium, RO Right, PH stable and baking soda on my tanks since i happened to have all the products 

Not quite the same but generally:
RO Right = seachem equillibrium .................................GH Booster
PH stable = seachem alkalinity = baking soda................KH Booster

ratio in which you add to the tanks changes as do chemical formulas, and there is some debate as to which is more effective than the other, RO Right complicates the matter because it hardens water in a way that test kits do not register the change.


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## Smallermouse

Jasonator said:


> Throw a frozen pea or 2 in there and do a 20% water change. Might help.
> Good luck!


When i had guppies they never ate the frozen peas....
Yup time for a water change!


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## Jasonator

Smallermouse said:


> When i had guppies they never ate the frozen peas....
> Yup time for a water change!


Good to know. I've only done that with cichlids.

Is the lil guy doing ok?


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## Proud Pastry

No  Unfortunately he passed away...
He was a fighter, he hung on for hours. He passed away really peacefully though, we made sure he was comfortable and not bothered by the other fish.
I'll miss him :'(


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## vancta

Proud Pastry said:


> No  Unfortunately he passed away...
> He was a fighter, he hung on for hours. He passed away really peacefully though, we made sure he was comfortable and not bothered by the other fish.
> I'll miss him :'(


Guppy's life is short,don't be sad...


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