We bought our daughter a 10 gallon tank at the end of October... three guppies and three neons. Since then we lost three neons and replaced them and those three died also. We lost two guppies and replaced them, and those were doing fine until a couple weeks ago. First one seemed sick. Her tail droops terribly and she wasn't swimming at all, just laying at the bottom. At the same time, the other two females apparently came home from the store pregnant and had babies. Now a second female is the same as the other sick one, except she spends more time bobbing at the to of the tank, barely able to swim with her droopy tail. I am concerned they are diseased and the babies will be next to be sick. Can any one help? I haven't had fish since I was a teenager, so I have no idea what to do next. Thanks for reading!
please help! guppies very sick.
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Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Welcome to AA! First I must ask do you have a water test kit and if so water are your specific ammonia, nitrite and nitrate parameters? How often do you do water changes and how much each time. Without a lot of information, I am guessing you may have an ammonia or nitrite problem, both of which can be very lethal to fish.
A few more questions if you don't mind though to help. Did you cycle the tank? What do you feed and how often? How many fish including the babies in total?
A few more questions if you don't mind though to help. Did you cycle the tank? What do you feed and how often? How many fish including the babies in total?
bluerose
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Also, what is your PWC (Partial Water Change) schedule and is your tank filtered?
I don't have a water test kit. I don't think I can get one until Wednesday... we are at the beginning of a big snow/ice storm. We have only had the tank up for a little over a month. It has a filter system on it and I just changed the filter yesterday. I haven't changed any water out, but I did add a gallon this past weekend because the water level seemed to have dropped about an inch in the past month. When I set up the tank I treated it with something to take out the chlorine and then it ran for more than three days before we added the fish. We feed them morning and night... Top Fin tropical color-enhancing flakes. There are currently three adult female guppies (two sick with the droopy, condensed tails) and I think a total of 13 babies. 11 of the babies are in a maternity tank and the other two are swimming free. The only other thing I added to the tank was a little aquarium salt to condition the water and some Cycle.
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
OK your tank is most likely not cycled. You need to do a water change and add dechlorinator, 50% today and 50% tomorrow for sure. You likely have high ammonia and nitrite which will cause the symptoms you are describing. Don't waste your time with Cycle, it will not help. Do you have dechlorinator? Prime? Amquel?
bluerose
Aquarium Advice FINatic
OK then. (Oops... too slow! Zags beat me to the post!)
1- don't change your filter media... your tank is almost certainly still cycling and the filter pads hold all of the beneficial bacteria that keeps your tank healthy. (more on this in a moment.)
2- do PWCs-- for a healthy tank, a weekly PWC of ~20% is warranted... I would do a 50% change immediately, as your fish seem to be showing signs of poisoning. When you add water back in, first treat it with dechlorinator. The temperature of the water to be added needs to be very close to the tank temperature to avoid temperature shock for the fish. (Speaking of which, is the tank heated? If not, does the room where the tank is have large temperature swings? This stresses the fish and can contribute to disease.)
Cycling and beneficial bacteria: In your filter media and gravel will develop a few different kinds of bacteria that convert fish wastes (toxic ammonia) into nitrite, which is also toxic, and then to nitrate, which is not as toxic and safe into the ~40ppm range. We then remove the nitrate with PWCs to keep the tank in balance and healthy. A cycled tank should have levels of ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm and nitrates up to 40ppm. Ammonia and nitrite are 'acceptable' up to .25-.5ppm; at .5ppm, a 25% water change is a good idea, and above .5ppm, a 50% change is a VERY good idea.
This process of developing bacteria takes time, and a product like Cycle, while claiming to develop this bacteria, doesn't really do much if anything. Aquarium salt is also not necessary, although it can 'soften the blow' of nitrite poisoning, so to speak.
You'd do fine with feeding the big fish once daily with only the amount of food that they will clean up in 2-3 minutes; not sure about the fry, probably smaller amounts more often than that, but you'll also need to be performing frequent PWCs on the 'maternity tank', especially if it's not filtered.
1- don't change your filter media... your tank is almost certainly still cycling and the filter pads hold all of the beneficial bacteria that keeps your tank healthy. (more on this in a moment.)
2- do PWCs-- for a healthy tank, a weekly PWC of ~20% is warranted... I would do a 50% change immediately, as your fish seem to be showing signs of poisoning. When you add water back in, first treat it with dechlorinator. The temperature of the water to be added needs to be very close to the tank temperature to avoid temperature shock for the fish. (Speaking of which, is the tank heated? If not, does the room where the tank is have large temperature swings? This stresses the fish and can contribute to disease.)
Cycling and beneficial bacteria: In your filter media and gravel will develop a few different kinds of bacteria that convert fish wastes (toxic ammonia) into nitrite, which is also toxic, and then to nitrate, which is not as toxic and safe into the ~40ppm range. We then remove the nitrate with PWCs to keep the tank in balance and healthy. A cycled tank should have levels of ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm and nitrates up to 40ppm. Ammonia and nitrite are 'acceptable' up to .25-.5ppm; at .5ppm, a 25% water change is a good idea, and above .5ppm, a 50% change is a VERY good idea.
This process of developing bacteria takes time, and a product like Cycle, while claiming to develop this bacteria, doesn't really do much if anything. Aquarium salt is also not necessary, although it can 'soften the blow' of nitrite poisoning, so to speak.
You'd do fine with feeding the big fish once daily with only the amount of food that they will clean up in 2-3 minutes; not sure about the fry, probably smaller amounts more often than that, but you'll also need to be performing frequent PWCs on the 'maternity tank', especially if it's not filtered.
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes the aqua safe will work, no you don't want to use the filter on your tap.
Ok. I did the PWC. I don't know that I have enough dechlorinater to do another 50% tomorrow. So that might have to wait until Wednesday when the roads are clearer. If this was the problem, how long do you think it will be until I see an improvement in the two sick looking fish? Is it too late for them? Also, I noticed that their excrement is very long and almost clear. Does that mean anything?
Thanks so much for the advice so far!
Thanks so much for the advice so far!
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
It is hard to say not being able to see them. They may also have an internal parasite from the description of their poo. When you go to your lfs, get some medicated food for parasites. As long as they are eating this should help that problem.
status - no change -- and new question
Maybe droopy tail wasn't the best way to describe the guppies. Their tails are closed up tight and the backend curves downward instead of being straight. No change as of this morning. Is the food to treat parasites the best next step to take?
Maybe droopy tail wasn't the best way to describe the guppies. Their tails are closed up tight and the backend curves downward instead of being straight. No change as of this morning. Is the food to treat parasites the best next step to take?
All three of our adults in the tank are females. Yes... at least one of the two had babies. It is possible that both did because it looks like there are three sizes of babies in the tank. If they have been this way for more than two weeks, is there even a chance they will get better? One stays at the bottom all the time and we haven't even seen her eat.
Sometimes the stress of having a drop can kill a female guppy, the reason i asked is my "big momma" guppy showed the same signs as yours are a week after havinga drop of 50+ she has bread true for me at least 10 other times... This time though she had a clear stingy poo and then a white cloud at her anal vent, then she began to flash and have clamped fins and a couple days later we lost her. It could have been from a parasite that killed her so give zags suggestion a try. If it works let us know!! Good Luck again
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