Last Chance to Save Female Guppy

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Kilgore

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
147
Location
Portland, OR
This is my last ditch effort to save this fish. Since the day I brought her home about one month ago she has been wasting away in spite of a normal appetite. She frequently has long stringy feces (white and sometimes a mix of other colors depending on what she has eaten). I know that she is in bad shape now because she has become very thin and appears to have absorbed her own eggs/young (her gravid spot is all but gone).

I have treated the entire tank twice with Praz Tastic (praziquantel) to deworm all the guppies (got a bad batch from the LFS) but she is the only one who has not recovered. Since then I removed her to a hospital tank and treated her twice with JungleLabs "Parasite Clear" which contains Praziquantel, Metronidazole and something else I can't think of at the moment. No results. Finally, I have also tried the Jungle Labs Anti-Parasite food but it is in pellet form and she won't touch it, even when I soak it in garlic and mash it up.

So I have the powdered form of the Praziquantel and I could mix it with frozen or flake food but do not know how to measure a proper dose. I have also read that tuberculosis can sometimes be treated with Erythromycin and I have Maracyn 1 so was considering that. Can they be used together? Or maybe TB doesn't have the stringy feces symptom.

I need the hospital tank for other fishes now (quarantine), so I am ready to give up. I am not ready for euthanasia, however, so does she have to be kept in isolation, or can I return her to the main tank and let nature take its course?

Please help! Thanks.
 
If it were me, I would not add her back in. If she is still infected and she dies, the other fish may pick at her and become infected all over again. Is there any way you can get another tank for qt, or put off the new fish for a bit?
 
Well, I would love to put off the QT fishes but this tank is the one I use for newborn guppies. Can't put off the birth, so.... :(

Guess I will see if the M1 works, try feeding her nothing but the anti-parasite food, and see what happens. Babies aren't due for two weeks so I have some time.
 
I'm betting on an internal bacterial issue here now, seeing as none of the very good anti-parasitic medications worked. Could be TB, or some other systemic infection. In addition to the Maracyn 1, I'd grab some Maracyn 2, minocycline, and treat with that in conjunction. And, trying not to be grim, but if it is TB she will most likely not recover from it. How is the spine looking? Deformed at all? Are her colors good, or is she getting pale? Guppies can last months and months with these symtpoms before they succumb.

Sorry to hear about the poor guppy.
 
Thanks for the reply, Devilishturtles. I think you are right on the money with the TB. Her spine is not quite normal (not totally disfigured as pictures of fishes afflicted with TB show, but not normal, either). She is definitely pale. And she does seem to be lingering. So sad.

I read online that fish TB is not particularly infectious. Must not be because she had been in with other guppies before being isolated and none of them are showing symptoms.

On the other hand, she is not showing other TB symptoms such as lack of appetite and bulging eyes. And with the stringy poop thing, I just don't know.

I will do the M1/M2 combination and see it how it goes. Thans again.
 
Well, no luck. She died while I was out of town for one night. Go figure. The funny thing is, she never lost her appetite - which seems odd for a fish with either TB or internal parasites. It's a mystery to me. Sadly, one of the 2-month old fry from another batch is showing the exact same symptoms, without the skeletal deformity, though. I wonder if maybe the internal parasites cause a vitamin C deficiency which leads to the skeletal abnormality?

Guess I will try the Praziquantel on the little one and see what happens. :(
 
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