Sick Guppy

[flames9]

Hello. I have a 10 gallon tank. Water levels are fine. Have 3 female adult guppies, 3 male guppies that are 4-5 months old, and a few fry and 1 otto.

One of my adult female guppies has been swimming rather slowly, swimming more vertical as she swims around slowly. Her rear tail seems to be rotting away as well. All other fish seem normal.

I had a case of ick a few weeks ago. Treated that with med, increased temp and salt, and it all cleared up (belive ick was intoduced by two fish I bought from petsmart)

I am wondering whats wrong with my female adult guppy?? Any ideas?? Thanks. scott

 

[An t-iasg]

Swimming more vertically could indicate a swimbladder problem. Sometimes this goes away on its own, with extra water changes to keep the water conditions pristine. I have also read that it can be treated with antibiotics. Since the guppy's fins are "rotting", I would go ahead and isolate this guppy into a QT tank, or a Rubbermaid container will work if it's about 5 gallons. Use an antibiotic as the directions state, and the guppy should show some improvement. If the fins are eroded a lot, it may take a few months for the fins to get back to the original length. Some antibiotics I have used are Maracyn 1 and 2 (they can be used together for stubborn cases), Seachem Kanaplex, or Jungle Fungus Eliminator (despite the name, it's a good antibiotic as well as fungal med). BettaMax used to be a great med for bettas and fancy-finned fish like guppies, but I don't think it's available anymore.

Can you post your exact water parameters?

 

[flames9]

Nitrate 0, nitrite 0, ph 7.1 ammonia barely a trace

If I QT the fish in a tupperware container (al I have) Should I take some of the water from the tank and use it?? How long would I QT? Thanks

 

[FawnN]

Did you cycle your tank yet, because with those readings, it looks like you are just beginning??? How old is your set up?

Or it could be that your guppy just wasn't able to fully recover from the ich. IMO, most guppies don't last very long by the time the consumers purchases them.

 

[flames9]

Tank was set up in March 2005. Been cycled. Have had like 3 corys die since set up. Gave up on them!! nitrite and nitrate may not be zero, but pretty close. Isn't that where they should be?

 

[Tiffi]

Yes, the best would be to use water from the tank and since you don't have a filter on it, change 50% of it every day. That way you won't stress the guppy any further, because it has to sit in it's own gunk. You should leave it in the quarantine tank until it is recognizably better/healthy.

Fin rot is caused by bacteria (you could also google for it, to get pictures and compare these). You have to be very hygenic (50% water change daily in OT tank) with this illness. Fishes can get that since they might be stressed (transport, bad water quality, secondary infection). I would get some medicaments against bacterial infestation - fin rot - from your lfs. It can be cured, but it can also go on until the fish starts rotting at the end.

 

[An t-iasg]

A cycled tank will read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 20-40ppm nitrates. Cories like nitrates below 20, I believe.

The med you used for ich may have disrupted your biological filter, killing off some of the good bacteria that keep the ammonia in check. You'll have to do partial water changes daily (or every other day, depending on the ammonia level) to keep the ammonia at 0 until the bacteria catches up again. Parasite meds, like those used for ich, don't usually disrupt the biological filter. Antibiotics do, and that's why you should use them in QT, as you are doing. Your parasite med may have had another ingredient in it that disrupted the biological filter.

I would also start the QT tank with water from the main tank, and then re-fill the main tank like you would after a water change. Keep the fish in QT for as long as you are treating them - whatever the directions on the antibiotic package say - and then observe them to see if they are healthy and ready to go back to the main tank. Like Tiffi says, I would do a water change in QT every day before adding that day's dose of medicine.

 

[flamingonhot]

Dont worry i dont have any luck with guppies either lol.
my males always survive forever even when i had it with a black ghost knife when i got my first take a long time ago but my females always (ecspecially the ones with yellow fins for some reason) get a white fungus like growth by their tales.

Ive been able to keep alive almost every fish ive ever had for a long time but i still cant keep guppies that good. I just started up a guppy breeding tank about over a month ago and there still alive and ive gotten 5 babies so far but im worried about them still~!

 

[flames9]

Update:
Well I sent the fish to fish heaven. She didnt seem to be doing that well, and I didnt want to take any chance she could spread the disease. My Nitrite level may not be zero, its not a "dark" blue which would indicate a zero according to the testing kit, so maybe its between 5-10!!

I do weekly water changes, about 40% each time, lately have been doing it twice a week. Each time I realy get down into the gravel to pick up the junk!!!

Felt bad for flushing the gal, but I think it was for the best. Many Thanks

 

[Acer]

you flushed him live??

 

[FawnN]

Next time, I suggest you put her in a glass of water and put her in freezer. Nothing wrong with flushing, but it is more humane to wait for them to die before you flush.

 

[flames9]

Ok, will do. I truly felt bad for doing it. Thanks for the advice

 

[Acer]

guess she wont be seeing the light at the end of that tunnel huh...
i've been unfortunate enough to try the method described above and i looks like they dont suffer tooo much.. slowly shuts down and goes to sleep.. permanently..