Guppy problems

Question
QUESTION: hi, my new guppies seem to be dying with great speed and recently one of the pregnant females died.A All the guppies that have died their tales were not colorful but a clear color and were shredded and stayed near the top of the tank. i heard salt did some good but i am not sure as this could do harm to my other fish which are discus,tetras,some African yellow fish with black tails and fins and some vacuuming fish and some other fish i am not sure off. is there a disease and can i cure it with out killing my fish and what should the temperature in degrees Celsius be for my tank?
ANSWER: Hello,

First I'll start with the temperature: your water should be between around 24 and 26 C.

Second, the guppy issue. First I recommend that you check both ammonia and nitrite levels in your tank, to make sure that water quality is not causing the problem. Since so many fish are dying at once, this seems like it may be a likely problem. Also make sure that your levels of chlorine are not to high and that your temperature is not too low, too high or fluctuating.

If it is not a water quality problem, but a disease, it sounds to me like its possibly a bacterial disease. If you would like a follow-up on this, please send me some more symptoms that your guppies are showing. If you would like to try treating for a bacterial disease, I recommend either Melafix or Maracyn-2. Neither will harm your other fish.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Stephanie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thankyou this has helped alot, the tempreatures of my tank are 27 C im not sure how to change as my dad has gone overseas.Also is the tempreature that u have indicated suitable for all my fish?
some of the symptoms are loss of colour staying near the filters or lights, not eating food, dying the day after tails are losing color,lack of movement, usually floating on the top and going with the current in fish tank.i was also wondering because  i dont, know how to check the ammonia and nitrite levels. being a kid aint easy -_-" and what are ph levels?

Answer
Hello,

All the symptoms you described sound very much like a water quality problem. In order to check your nirites and ammonia levels, you will need to purchase some test kits from a pet store. These come in either test strips or liquid test kits. I recommend avoiding test strips, if possible, because they can be very difficult to read and can give false readings. These test kits should have instructions specific to them, so make sure you read them carefully.

pH stands for 'power of hydrogen'. Simply put, it is a measure of the alkalinity or acidity of your water. Some fish prefer a specific pH, but for the most part- hardy fish can have a wide range of pH levels that they can tolerate. You probably do not need to worry about pH very much, but its ok to check it and monitor it to watch for any sudden changes which could indicate a problem in your tank.

As for the temperature, 27 C should be just fine for the fish you have. As with pH, most fish can tolerate certain ranges of temperature, and 27 C is fine for tropical fish.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Stephanie