# cheap but efficient water test kit? does brand matter or are they all the same



## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

my tequila sunrise guppy is looking bloated? im not sure but i only started staring him down recently because of reduced activity
he likes to stay in a corner and not move but all my other fish are fine

im hoping hes bloated from over feeding vs sickness, but im gona test my water now in case i have to buy medicine for him, i think hes opening his mouth alot but i checked all my other fish and they arent doing so, so i dont think its oxygen

i noticed he stopped moving when i had a growth of snails, right now i only see 2 snails vs the 6 i found yesterday, could he of eaten them? they were pretty small 

the 2 ones i see are bigger than the mouths tho


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i showed a pic to my friend and he said its a female guppy and its prob preggo, it does look a lot larger than the other guppies but the person who sold it to me said they are all male
P1090258.jpg picture by pairenoid - Photobucket
P1090253.jpg picture by pairenoid - Photobucket
P1090255.jpg picture by pairenoid - Photobucket


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

foster and smith has the API liquid test kit for $19.19. even with shipping it is cheaper than most anywhere.

heres the link,

Aquarium Water Testing: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Your friend doesn't know Gups very well. All 3 of those are male. A general rule of thumb for fish...the more colorful they are, the more likely they are male. I didn't see anything wrong with the fish you posted.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

k, ya i figured it was male 

but it is prob 2x bigger than the other 2 fish, also the side pic doesnt justify his fatness lol

i cant get a pic of him to face me tho :/ but his behavior of not swiming is worrying me

i think im gona go buy a cheap test kit just to make sure its not the water which i highly doubt since my other fish are fine

it says a one month supply but it only comes with 4? so is it safe to use once a week..i thought u use one every time u add a chemical to test the difference


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

ok so i actually got it tested free and said everything comes out perfect except the ammonia wasnt exactly where it wanted to be but still safe

i pointed out an exact guppy taht looked like mine and she said it was female and pregnant

so im still thinking maybe i got a female because the tail is more round than pointed but the guppies at petsmart were alot easier to tell the diff for some reason

to me all my fish look like they have rounded tails but i dont know, she said to do a water change 10-25% once a week

can i get more input on whether its female or not?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You mean somebody else....? They're all male by what I can tell from your pics, which aren't the best.

The best advice I could give you is to STOP listening to people in the stores. You can check google images if you like.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Your Sunrise Guppy looks like my 2 bloated guppies. (Every guppy I've ever had seems to get really bloated and then die). So far though, these 2 have gotten bloated, but keep on living. It looks like a male to me. Females have a lot less colouring. Males have a longer dorsal fin too and more red on the tail. Atlas of Aquarium Fish: Guppy

What kind of food are you feeding? Guppies need a more veggie based diet, and can get bloated and constipated with too much protein. (That's what happened to mine. I'm currently trying to de-bloat them). I was advised by many people on this site to try feeding them peas to help with the bloating. Thaw out a couple of frozen peas, pop them out of their skin, chop them up and feed. It's supposed to help. (Mine don't swim around much since they're bloated. I mean, the do swim around, but not very fast.)

Everyone has also been saying that liquid test kits are better than the strips. (I have strips and am going with the liquid tests when the strips run out). Apparently the liquid tests are way more accurate and you get 100x more tests in the liquid ones than you do with the strips.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i have been feeding them gold fish flakes and tropical fish flakes that came with my tank

in the past 2 days i barely fed them 1 pinch 

i noticed the guppy that was bloated was uninterested so im gona let him wait a bit longer for food :/


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i was inspecting my tequila sunrise while i fed another super tiny fish of food and i noticed his anus was red

a while ago he pooped a weird poop that was pink/white/brown

im only assuming the worst now, that he has a disease or parasite and that it will spread :/

shud i remove him from the tank? my other fish look healthy but i dont want to take that chance


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Is the anus swollen? Does it have a worm or barb like thing coming out of it? (You would only see this when the fish is still, the worm/parasite goes back into the body when the fish swims).

_If_ it is this then it's called Camallanus. You would need to treat with a Parasitic medication and feed with medicated food. It's contagious so I would treat the tank like it's been exposed.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i dont have anything to put him in unless a cup will suffice..lol

i dont know if its swollen but when he turned away from me i instnatnly noticed red on his anus area

and ive read taht is a really hard to cure disease that is contagious


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

It can be hard to cure because it's become resistant to some medications. Keep an eye on him. Check for swelling or the barb like worm. If you notice this you can either treat the tank, or you may have to put the fish down. (Humane way is to put some tank water in a ziplock bag with the fish in it, then put the fish in the freezer. It will just go to sleep).

If you're not noticing the swelling or worm, it could be something else. I'm googling, but not much is coming up.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i just remember reading red means coll..something and its really bad

i will keep note of the ziplock, if he gets worse i will not bother with medicine because i cant afford it and i just dont want to risk the other fish


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

You can sex a guppy by the gonopodium.The fin of the female is an actual fin,but its not the same on the males as the female.Look up on google,gonopodium,and then you can sex the guppy.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

ok now im 100% sure its male as i looked up anatomies 
as of today the guppie is more bloated
i looked closely at the anus and noticed the scales protruding

googled

im 100% sure its dropsy in the late stages (incurable?) i think im just going to take him out and put him in a bagy and in the freezer

how long should i leave it in the freezer..i feel bad for it but i dont want him dieing in my tank especially when all my other fish seem fine.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

hes in the freezer now :<

is it true that if it is unfrozen they will still live? in that case..what do i do with it? flush the bag down the toilet?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Freezer takes too long for my taste. Next time take a small cup and fill it with ice and add water. Let it get very cold. Place the fish in there and they are dead in 3-4 seconds. Sometimes near instant.


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i feel alot better that hes out of my tank now
he looked like a freaking infected zombie if you know what i mean
my other guppies are actually swimming more happily

im gona have to go buy another one later though because i think they are more happy with 3


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Sorry to hear he died. 

As for the length of time, I've heard people say they can come back alive after you take them out of the freezer, so to leave him in there for a few days to be sure.... (not sure if they actually can come back alive though or if that's a horror story).

Yeah, spikey scales is dropsy and it's pretty much incurable at that stage.

Did you decide on a test kit?


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

i dont think i need a test kit, they come with a "1 month" supply which is 4 or 5 which is once a week

i can save a lot of money by just bringing a sample to petsmart 

i bought a vacuum for 6 bux and did a 10-15 % water change today though


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Great! How are the other fish looking? (Is the poop back to normal?)


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## pairenoid (May 20, 2011)

right now my red poly is looking bloated but his activity is fine in terms of swimming and eating

im kind of not surprised because he eats more than any of my fish, in the past 3 days i barely fed them to clean the tank and just stop over feeding but hell peck at every rock, every plant

i think he poops at least 6 times a day its unbelievable


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