Guppy, headed downhill fast

[Homedog98]

I got a guppy a week ago, and he was fine for a few days, but now he isn't looking too hot. He started off hiding, which I knew wasn't right, and when he came out today, he zoomed out and started flipping around and doing corkscrews around my ten gallon. At first I cracked up, but then he stopped, and just floated vertically and sunk to the bottom. Now he just sits there, floating with the current, and wiggles and spazes out every once in a while. His only roomies are one other guppy, and three black skirt tetras. I don't have much hope for him, but I'd kind of like to know what was wrong. He's still aware of what's going on around him, and his gills seem a bit red. Only thing chemically I have in there is water conditioner, stress coat, and ich attack. (since one looks like he has ich, so as a precaution I put some in) no clue what my water levels are, because I have a faulty ammonia test kit, but am getting a API master kit this week. I probably will replace him, or at least get my money back. Any clues or advice? At first I thought ammonia poisoning, because of the gills, but wouldn't the other fish be suffering too?

 

[OhNeil1969]

I got a guppy a week ago, and he was fine for a few days, but now he isn't looking too hot. He started off hiding, which I knew wasn't right, and when he came out today, he zoomed out and started flipping around and doing corkscrews around my ten gallon. At first I cracked up, but then he stopped, and just floated vertically and sunk to the bottom. Now he just sits there, floating with the current, and wiggles and spazes out every once in a while. His only roomies are one other guppy, and three black skirt tetras. I don't have much hope for him, but I'd kind of like to know what was wrong. He's still aware of what's going on around him, and his gills seem a bit red. Only thing chemically I have in there is water conditioner, stress coat, and ich attack. (since one looks like he has ich, so as a precaution I put some in) no clue what my water levels are, because I have a faulty ammonia test kit, but am getting a API master kit this week. I probably will replace him, or at least get my money back. Any clues or advice? At first I thought ammonia poisoning, because of the gills, but wouldn't the other fish be suffering too?

A stressed fish will suffer from poor water quality before a healthy fish even though both are being harmed. Since you don't know what your water parameters are at this moment I would perform a 50% water change now and keep performing them until you get your test kit. This will help if water parameters may be contributing to your guppy's problem. Unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly what is ailing your fish. From my experience though, when a fish starts acting the way you described it's usually fatal

 

[Homedog98]

But I got three others when I got that guy! All of them look great! And the other guppy is out there fighting for food like everybody else! I think he was sick when I got him though, cause I know guppies aren't supposed to hide like that. I kind of think my tank is cycled, because it's been running with fish for over two months now, with fish. I'm still doing daily pwcs though.

 

[OhNeil1969]

If you're doing daily water changes then the chances that your water condition is contributing to it's illness is unlikely. I was worried that you may have nitrAte poisoning. Even though your other fish are OK if the sick one's immune system was already compromised then it would succumb to a new illness sooner than the others. Like I said, if I understand the behavior you've described, it's usually fatal in a short period of time. How long has this fish been acting like this? Have you seen any change in it's behavior since you first noticed this behavior? Are there any other symptoms that might lead to a diagnosis? The one thing that comes to my mind is that it may be swim bladder disease. It may also be some other type of neurological infection.

 

[Homedog98]

He just started acting like this. At first he spent his days hiding, and in the past few days, he's been swimming right up at the top of the tank. I saw him before dinner and he was fine, but when I lifted up a cave to find him afterwords he zoomed out and flipped like, 5 times, then he started zooming again and doing corkscrews around the tank. Then he went still and vertical and started swimming almost upside-down! Then he sunk, and drifted with the current just wiggling his back fins, and then swam awkwardly around the tank, taking a break to drift. Is he contagious? Should I isolate him?

 

[OhNeil1969]

If you have a quarantine tank then I would definitely isolate that fish. If it is a bacterial infection that affects the nervous system then you would want to keep it away from your other fish.

 

[Homedog98]

No qt, but I can scoop it into a one gallon bucket with some tank water. No heater or filter though, but since I doubt he'll make it through the night, it's worth a shot.

 

[Homedog98]

Well, I couldn't find him when I went to look the next morning. I'm guessing he's dead, but his body is nowhere in site. Kind of nervous that another fish ate it...