Guppy tail edges look grey? Not sure why

[certified_lusor]

Hey everyone, this is my first time using this but anyway I’ll try to get straight into the context for my dilemma.
I recently got 2 guppies from my Environmental Science class since my other lab mates didn’t want them. I named the fish Dante and Fernando Currently they’re in a small 1 gallon container (eco column lab) I know they should be in a place bigger so I plan on moving them to my 5 gallon tank soon (it’s not set up it’s been empty for years) I’m saving up to buy a filter and heater (please give me recommendations on which is the best for them) Since my budget is tight right now and the weather is getting colder (it’s starting to get single digits almost negatives) im using a heated blanket to try and keep them somewhat warm since they’re tropical fish.
Now the problem at hand is Dante. His tail is noticeable orange colored and recently I’ve seen that his coloration is becoming this light and darkish grey around the edges and I think there is a tear (suspicious but can’t confirm) and I’m not sure if it’s because of the cold he’s been in or if it’s stress related I don’t know. I have a video of him chasing after Fernando and I’ll upload that soon so you can see it. (I’ll do my best to get a good quality picture) I hope I can help him

 

[Aiken Drum]

Please take a read through the "unhealthy fish" sticky and provide as much information as you are able. A clear photo would also help.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/before-posting-about-unhealthy-fish-read-this-32451.html

Im not sure what an eco column lab is. Ive done a google search and it throws up a science experiment for making a closed ecosystem from plastic bottles. Is this what your fish is in? Does this provide any filtration? A photo of this would be interesting as well.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The grey edge to the tail is excess mucous caused by something in the water irritating the fish. Most likely ammonia since the tank doesn't have a filter and the water volume is small.

Do a 50-75% water change every day to dilute anything in the water.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week. Don't worry the fish won't starve. Unlike birds and mammals that use most of the food they eat to keep warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. this means any food they eat is used to move and grow. When the fish are in a bigger tank with an established biological filter (takes about 4-6 weeks), then you can feed more often and do a 50-75% water change once or twice a week.

If the house is insulated and has central heating, the room temperature should remain warm enough for the guppies. In cooler water they don't eat as much so don't need feeding as often.

 

[certified_lusor]

Hey Aiken thanks for the quick reply
An eco column lab is creating a small ecosystem using plastic bottles. We have 3 layers, the first at the very top is our terrestrial plant (we had Bok Choy growing) second layer is our decomposition layer which had sand and some dirt with worms and pill bugs (got some decomposable stuff nearby our class for them and the layer was fine never had issues with it) and our bottom layer is where the fish are. I think we have about a months worth of information we wrote down on it. Each week we were required to write down observations and we took tests like pH.
I’ll reply again soon with pictures of the eco column lab (I think I have one in my camera roll before we each took a part) Also I’ll answer the questions from the forum you sent me soon too I just have to go look for my spread sheet after class (I want them to be exact and not estimations) oh and one more thing there isn’t any filtration the whole point was that when we’d water the plant the water would drip down the layers and end up at the aquatic layer looking crystal clear. Which was like that for like 2 weeks until one of our lab mates said the plant looked “too dry” and over watered it causing the water level in our aquatic layer to rise and end up submerging the decomposition drainage hole/cap. I’m suspecting this was the cause for the water to change and look yellow since after this our numbers for hardness ppm was taking a huge increase. We didn’t do much water changes since our professor said “it’s an ecosystem and they’ll either adapt or die it doesn’t matter” I was still worried so I’d do small water changes here and there when I could.
I’ll return back soon when my classes finish for today so I can show you the pictures and give the rest of the information.

 

[certified_lusor]

Hello Colin thanks for the welcome

For the water does it matter if it’s tap or bottled water? Like drinking water brand? Is that okay for them to be in? Also my house isn’t insulated it’s literally a layer of brick and bit of wood pieces and drywall :/ because of that I know how cold my house can get so that’s why I have the fish underneath a small heating pad (got it on a low level so they don’t overheat)

I’ll go and try that water changing and minimize feeding for them. I’ll upload pictures soon too if you want to check it out.

 

[Aiken Drum]

What do you understand about the nitrogen cycle? This is part of an ecosystem but takes weeks to establish and until it does an aquarium needs a helping hand by changing out water that is full of fish waste (ammonia) for clean water. Your professor is only right. Its not adjust or die, fish will just die. Once your cycle is established, there will be bacteria that consumes ammonia and turns it into less harmful nitrate, but with no cycle the ammonia just builds up and is toxic for fish so you need to manually change it.

I would also be concerned about fish being in the bottom layer as the water wont be able to oxygenate. Unless something is going on in the upper layers that would provide oxygen input to the bottom layer?

Getting your aquarium set up, fish introduced, and then cycled ASAP would be the best for them.

 

[certified_lusor]

I would say I have beginner’s knowledge on the nitrogen cycle. Also pretty sure there isn’t anything that oxygenates the water unless it’s the one plant we got with the fish but I think that’s for soft algae to grow on and they’d eat off of it (I was sick the week they added the plant so this is what my lab mates told me it’s for not sure if it’s accurate)

So the plan so far is just keeping up with water changes to keep ammonia down and set up my aquarium soon.

Also I’ll post the test information soon when I get to class should be in about 6 hours maybe.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Take a sample of water to test before you do your water change. You should be testing for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. How are you testing the water?

To answer some of your queries to Colin. Spring water should be ok for water changes as long as its not carbonated or flavoured in any way. Unless there is something wrong with your tap water then tap water is good. If your tap water is chlorine or chloramine treated you need a water conditioner like seachem prime to remove the water treatment used. Avoid any type of distilled water or water that's gone through a water softener. If its just filtered through a carbon filter like a brita filter or the ones you sometimes get on fridges that should be ok.

 

[Aiken Drum]

The nitrogen cycle is the natural processes that go on in your tank that convert ammonia into less harmful substances.

Ammonia gets into your tank through various pathways. Fish waste, decaying uneaten food, and dead, decaying plants are common ammonia sources in an aquarium. Its also possible your tap water is an ammonia source. Chloramine is a common water treatment and when treated with most water conditioners the bond in the chloramine breaks and releases ammonia into the water.

Ammonia can be toxic to fish, depending on how much there is, and what the pH and temperature of your tank water is.

The first stage of the nitrogen cycle is the removal of ammonia. If you have real plants in your tank some of this ammonia will be absorbed as part of their natural growth. Generally though ammonia is consumed by denitrifying bacteria that lives mostly on your filter media. These bacteria consume the ammonia and produce nitrite. Unfortunately nitrite is pretty much as toxic to fish as ammonia.

The second stage of the nitrogen cycle is the removal of nitrite. A different denitrifying bacteria will consume the nitrite and produce nitrate. Nitrate is much less harmful than ammonia and nitrite, and for most aquariums the nitrogen cycle ends there. Excess nitrate is removed through your regular water changes.

A further stage of the nitrogen cycle can also happen, but its difficult to remove all the nitrate from a typical freshwater aquarium. Plants will absorb some nitrate in a similar manner to how it absorbs ammonia to grow. There are also nitrifying bacteria that consumes nitrate and gives off nitrogen gas which will simply offgas from your aquarium. This nitrifying bacteria is difficult to grow in freshwater aquarium.

“Cycling” a tank is the process you go through to grow denitrifying bacteria in your aquarium to consume ammonia and nitrite. You are said to be “cycled” when you have enough bacteria to consume all the ammonia and nitrite that your tank produces and turns all of it into nitrate. If you test the water of a cycled tank you should see 0 ammonia and nitrite and some nitrate.

 

[certified_lusor]

In class we used the same containers and pills this YouTube video did
https://youtu.be/wEJMVR9yIts
Pretty sure we didn’t test for the things you listed besides pH.

I have a home test called Freshwater Master Test Kit from API. It says it tests pH, High range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

Also should I warm up the water so it’s somewhat close to the temperature the fish are in? You know so they don’t get like a sudden shock from the change in temperature or does it not matter?

 

[Aiken Drum]

If the bottom part of your eco column provided sufficient space to accommodate fish it would be a really cool experiment to see if the processes could keep fish healthy or not. If the terrestrial plants roots got down into the water column would they be enough to remove all the ammonia and nitrate and reduce (or eliminate) the need for water changes. Would there be sufficient oxygenation of the water etc. Unfortunately 1g of water wont provide a healthy environment for fish.

You water testing will be interesting. If they show zero ammonia, nitrite and nitrate it will tell us the ecosystem is removing waste from the water somehow.

 

[certified_lusor]

Thanks for the deep dive information
This has been very helpful for me and I’ll post pictures soon.

 

[certified_lusor]

I’ll keep you updated on how testing goes. When I return home I’ll release more info on how they’re doing. I left the heated blanket on for them and it’ll automatically turn off on its own.
By the way the rest of the eco column isn’t with me, I only have the aquatic layer. Another person in my group has the terrestrial plant and its roots only were confined to its container and didn’t grow out the holes we drilled in the cap. No one wanted the decomposition layer so we just released and buried them back into the school garden.

 

[Aiken Drum]

In class we used the same containers and pills this YouTube video did
https://youtu.be/wEJMVR9yIts
Pretty sure we didn’t test for the things you listed besides pH.

I have a home test called Freshwater Master Test Kit from API. It says it tests pH, High range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

Also should I warm up the water so it’s somewhat close to the temperature the fish are in? You know so they don’t get like a sudden shock from the change in temperature or does it not matter?

Thats the same test kit i use.

Try and temperature match the new water to water in the tank. If its within a couple of degrees that should be fine, doesnt need to be exact. Going by touch will be ok.

 

[certified_lusor]

Hey I’m back home now
Here’s the update
I did the pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate Tests

pH is a dark blue so to me it looks definitely like 7.6 or more.
Ammonia is yellow still so 0 ppm
Nitrite looks to be about 0.25 ppm (slightly blue purple look)
Nitrate has an orange reddish color looks to be around 20 ppm (depends on lighting for this one)

Also I have these in my cart and was wondering if they’re good or not. I read the reviews and some are mixed. I’ve had the Aqueon Quietflow filter before and it worked well for me but I’m getting a new one since I don’t have the old one anymore.

Here’s the links to the 2 I have
(If I should use something better pls tell me)
https://a.co/d/5YqN9P2

https://a.co/d/cDAGPFs

 

[certified_lusor]

Quick question should I do a 50% water change or 25%? The container btw is literally half of a Crystal Geyser jugs (just found out the brand name on my search for stuff)

Edit- forgot to mention but I’m doing all of this on my phone and turns out it won’t let me send images from my camera roll since it doesn’t have a url :/

 

[Aiken Drum]

Your water parameters arent too bad. Ordinarily while cycling a target for combined ammonia + nitrite no higher than 0.5ppm is considered safe. Given you have a sick fish and arent trying to cycle your container i would be changing daily regardless of your water parameters. Change half the water.

Im not really the right person to ask about your filter and heater. Im from UK and we have different equipment here. Hang on back filters arent common here so i have no experience of them. It looks a little bit big for a 5g tank, might be too much flow in a small tank unless you can adjust flow rate. Maybe someone from US can chip in. The heater also looks a bit big. 4 watts/gallon is usual. So a 25w heater for 5g would be better.

When you get your 5g set up we can give some guidance on cycling it if you need that.

 

[certified_lusor]

Alright thanks
I’ll continue with updates whenever something new happens.
I might have the 5g up and running by next week or hopefully this week. I’ll continue on researching better filters. I know the one I mentioned before worked well but your right about it being big I forgot that the previous tank I used to have was a 10g tank and not a 5g like the one I have currently (didn’t notice the size difference). Also I heard that putting a sponge or something where the water comes out from could help keep the flow from being too rough on the fish but I’m not sure if it’ll help much so I’m looking for an adjustable flow filter.
Out of curiosity how are the filters and heaters like in the UK?

 

[Colin_T]

Quick question should I do a 50% water change or 25%? The container btw is literally half of a Crystal Geyser jugs (just found out the brand name on my search for stuff)

Bigger water changes are better for diluting things.
eg:
If you do a 25% water change you leave behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate seem ok but there could be other things in the water that are coming from things in the container. Water changes should dilute these and the grey edging to the tail should clear up after a few water changes if it's a water quality issue. If it doesn't get some pictures of the fish and set up on here asap.

 

[certified_lusor]

I ended up doing a 75% water change today and the water definitely looks much clearer. Still has a bit of yellow hue but not as concentrated as it used to look. I also snipped off some parts of the plant that were dead. I’ll give an update on my fish at the end of the week or sooner depending if there is a sudden drastic change.