Sick guppy - Need advice

[justin2442]

Hi,

This is my first time keeping fish and last night I noticed a discoloration on one of my female guppies who just gave birth. I could not find anything similar to it online except maybe a fungal or bacterial infection, although it is not slimy or fuzzy in appearance. It almost looked like she had been rubbing hard on her left side.

This morning the discoloration is still there and it looks like she is developing a small white spot on her left pectoral fin. It is small and not raised but I am still concerned. She has been breathing heavily and keeping mostly to the bottom of the tank. She is still active and is feeding, but less than the other guppies in the tank. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be and what the best course of action should be?

The 30g tank has been running for almost three weeks and I have checked the water parameters about every other day since I started. They are:

pH: 7.4
Temp: 78
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5 (it is heavily planted so I am thinking that is why there is no nitrate buildup).
kH: 4
gH: Unknown
water changes: 5-10g every 3 days

I have lots of plants in the aquarium and a total of 5 guppies (and 20 fry as of Friday) and 9 spotted blue-eyes. Since I added my first fish I have not had detectable levels of ammonia or nitrite, although the males are constantly chasing her around which may be stressing her out.

I appreciate any advice. Thanks

 

[johnlobo]

Hi Justin, I had a similar occurrence in my tank after one female dropped 27 fry. She exhibited symptoms similar to those in your pictures and passed away. In about 4 weeks, all remaining 4 adult guppies died. I suspected columnaris, and am down to 5 fry who seem healthy now (with frequent water changes).

Was wondering if you could provide an update, just so that I could use the information to avoid multiple deaths in the future.

 

[justin2442]

Thanks for the reply. I am sorry to hear about your guppies that did not make it.

A couple days after the post she developed the typical saddleback lesions that started showing blood and started developing fin rot. A second female guppy also started showing signs of coulamnaris so I quarentined them both. On Thursday I managed to get son Furan 2 and began treatment of both my main tank and the quarentine tank. By the next day both infected females were showing signs of improvement and there has still been no new cases in the main tank.
Yesterday morning the first female to be infected passed away though, even though the lesions were begining to heal. The second guppy is eating and looking well though. Today is the last day of treatment so I will post again once I am sure of the outcome of the treatment.

 

[johnlobo]

Yes, Furan-2 is known to remedy columnaris. Unfortunately, I do not have easy access to Furan-2, so I've ordered it off Amazon to keep it at hand in the future.

Good to know that your guppies showed signs of improvement, even though the first one passed away. The infection had probably caused irreparable damage.

Did you administer Furan-2 by mixing it with food, or did you dose it directly into the tank? I am asking because Furan-2 is known to discolour the water yellow. From what I have read, most aquarists dose the aquarium water with Kanaplex and mix Furan-2 in food, simultaneously.

I'd appreciate any feedback as it would be very valuable and helpful. Columnaris is known to be deadly, with most online recommendations advising to sterilize the tank and all accessories.