Raised Gills...

[robbie90]

Hi,
Im not sure if im being a bit of a drama queen but i just want some advice... Firstly I have a juwel Rio 300ltr with a variety of fish (1 peppered catfish, 1 Plec, 1 Clown loach, 1 cherry barb, 6 platties, 8 neons and approx 18 Guppies ranging from fresh babies about 2mm long, established babies approx 1 cm long, average adult guppies approx 1 inch long to large guppies approx 2 inch long) and several shrimp.
The quality is good. ph 7.6, ammonia and nitrite 0, nitrate 5 and temp is currently 80of and salt level is at 0.1%. i do regular water changes of 15% per week
My main concern is one of my larger guppies. She gave birth to a large batch of babies yesterday (approx 40 babies) and it has left her thinner (obviously) but it now seems like her head, past the gills area is too big for her body! lookin at her head on it looks like she is wearing a helmet and to look at her from behind i can see straight into her gills. I cannot see any worms or anything, just the odd bit of gill tissue from inside. I don't know if this is just because of her decrease in body size or if this could be an illness. I have uploaded some pics to help diagnose... or tell me if im over reacting...
None of my other fish have any symptoms like this - only the odd flashing - flicking them selves off objects but im not sure if this is white spot as there are no white spots or missing bits of tails so im reluctant to treat with chemicals... only a raise in temp. Is there any other illness or cause that can cause flashing?
Cheers
Rob

 

[dkpate]

Well that does look a little weird! I hope me saying that will bump this thread to where someone will see it! I wish you luck!

 

[robbie90]

cheers.
i am hoping it is simply from being pregnant as she was HUGE and her gills looked fine.... it's only now she has the babies that i've noticed it but it does look like there is gill tissue slightly hanging out her left side.
she isn't acting any differently... she's eating, swimming with everyone, infact she chases others off if they go to any food she eats so she must be fine.... hopefully i am just worrying about nothing...

 

[dkpate]

I hope so too! One of my bettas gill plates sticks out further than the other one, because he got himself stuck once, but he is also fine. I wonder if the tissue hanging out of yours your girls' is from straining to give birth? And like you said, the plates are stiking out because they needed to accomodate her big belly.
How are the babies doing?

 

[robbie90]

As far as i can see they're all good. she had them in a birthing box and i put them in my baby tank.... i've been getting a batch a week tho since i had that terrible disease last month in the main tank so at least i know everything is fine now!!!!
I had a Platty give birth 2 weeks ago, then the other big guppy gave birth last week and now she gave birth this week!!!! got a tank full of what looks like water fleas!!! lol they're well cute.
got a few babies gettin their colours too... it's amazin to see what colours develop - i have a baby red mosaic tail who has developed an electric blue stripe up his back over the past few days!!! he looks boss!!!! he's not even an inch long and he's tryin his luck with a 2 inch female guppy!!!! crazy lol

 

[dkpate]

Sounds GREAT! I loved watching my little guppy hybrids too! One is now neon yellow and one is half swordtail and neon orange and they both have large black spots. And they make me laugh all day!
Sounds like you have your hand full with babies! LOL

 

[robbie90]

lol yeah. there's still 1 or 2 in the tank but they hide amongst the tree's... i've had quite a few survive in the big tank and it's only now they're big enough to come out and not get chased that i've noticed them! there's about 8 all just under an inch and i think i know who the momma is too as she dropped a batch when i had trouble with my tank and they've all grown up with her colours too! they're all green and yellow.

 

[BigJim]

I'll take a look when I get home to see if my big female has gills like that. I think I've seen her flare like that, but, for the life of me, I can't remember if she's always like that.

 

[robbie90]

ah cheers Jim if u don't mind. she seems ok so im tryin not to worry and hope it is just from giving birth and it'll go away in time....

 

[robbie90]

well she seems absolutely fine and has been. she's not diminished or stopped eating, nore is anyone else showing any simlar signs so i think it must've been due to her pregnancy but if anyone knows any different please let me know.
Cheers
Rob

 

[BigJim]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. AA was acting up for me this morning. My big female is massively pregnant and her gills look exactly like your pictures. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[robbie90]

ah cheers Jim. yeah i thought i better leave her to see how she is getting on... unfortunately i have another problem now.... i noticed a baby guppy with a slit tail (2 slits actually) now i read up on this and whilst it is a sign of bacterial infection it can also be absolutely nothing but upon taking a closer look in the tank i noticed 2 other guppies with splits in their tails which i know have only happened today.
I was tempted to leave them but after the last time i had guppies with split tails (see thread i made called 'sick guppies') i thought i can't ignore this so i did 15% water change and im treating with melafix and primafix... i already have salt in the water (0.1%) but im reluctant to raise the level as i have a plec, clown loach and catfish in there and i believe they don't like salt.... any further recommendations would be appreciated. cheers.

 

[robbie90]

well well sods law.... she died! not due to anything with the gills.... she found a space to swim in and got stuck and died! totally gutted but what can ya do. i've blocked that hole off now so hopefully nobody else can go up there! it is only guppies though that love to get into trouble! very mischevious.

 

[dkpate]

Yes they are!! Mine are also always trying to get into trouble! Which is probably why I think they are so funny!
Glad to hear the gills thing was "normal," sorry to hear about her passing.

 

[robbie90]

ah cheers. i just can't believe it.... was worried about her gills then she goes and gets stuck! im a nervous wreck with these fish! lol. they do have little personalities i think.... thats why i like them... not going to replace any other fish and just have guppies and platties only... they're nice and easy to look after.

 

[BigJim]

Sorry to hear about your fish. Haven't had any guppies get stuck, but my black khulis have this fascination with my AC70. They've been good this past week, but I've had to fish them out of the filter half a dozen times recently. I keep waiting to find my fish eating puréed loach.