HELP save my guppy

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

I got them yesterday (4) the nitrites where high this morning (1ppm no ammonia) did about 10% change Noticed what i believe was ich gave them coppersomething and now one is Crashed on the bottom and freaking about swimming around frantically then putting its head under the gravel then laying down!!!!! PLEASE tell me what to do!

I noticed when he is swimming he is sideways and posibly upside down sometimes

 

[AndrewH]

What is the exact medicine you gave them and the ingredients if possible.

 

[AndrewH]

It's better to treat ich with heat and salt rather then medication unless the fish are cold water fish.

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

the meds are mardel coppersafe w/ chelated copper sulphate it was the one recomended on some other fish website

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

how much salt - and my tank is already pretty warm it fluxes between 80 and 82 durning the day

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

this other site seem to be describing it with swim bladder desease and it said to feed it a thawed pea!?

 

[AndrewH]

At the moment my RTS has ich. His tank is at 87 degrees currently and it will stay that way for 2 weeks. Ich has to go through a cycle and at a higher temperature this quickens the cycle greatly. After 2 weeks at 86 degrees the ich should be completely destroyed. If you plan on raising the temperature do it 1.5 degrees per 24 hours if more severe do 1 degree per 12 hours (What I did). In my case is not severe however. This is my first time with ich btw. It is also extremely important to increase aeration because the warmer the water gets the less oxygen. So what you want to do is lower the water level and turn on any airstone that you have.

Because I have invertebrates in my my tank I have not applied any salt. But from what I read, Use Aquarium Salt only and one table spoon per 5 gallons. Dilute it in water and then add it to the tank very slowley over time. If fish come in any direct contact with salt it will burn them badly. Only add salt if ich is in the fish's gills and is making it hard to breath it wont really help if it's not a severe case of ich from what I've been told.

Make sure the fish are on a healthy diet and do not overfeed.

For swim bladder a peeled pea will do the trick. Getting them to eat it is the tricky part. My gf's sister had a black moor with swim bladder and when it ate the pea it moved his digestion right a long and got rid of it's constipation.

Also do 10-25% water changes daily and especially gravel vac well to pick up fallen cysts and parasites in the water. When you do the changes make sure the water you put in is the same temperature as the tank. After two weeks of heat treatment ich should be all gone.

Again this is my first time with ich so stand by for more experience. Hope this helped a bit.
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[Alaris]

the meds are mardel coppersafe w/ chelated copper sulphate it was the one recomended on some other fish website

Now that you've added copper to your tank you'll never be able to keep snails or any other inverts.

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

Now that you've added copper to your tank you'll never be able to keep snails or any other inverts.

really, never- even after a few monthes of water changes extra

- also i found this coppersafe may kill my plants Should i put the plants in a QT


My guppy won't eat the pea-Any thought on how i get him to eat???
He does seems a lot less frantic today (maybe exausted from not eating ect.) All the other fish are leaving him alone and he really freaked out when i put him in QT even after a few hours--so i put him back and he seems calmer but he swims up and down the height of the tank doing swirls and a few flips---

My other fish have been very nice since he started witht he equilibrium trouble - this seems wierd since they were busy sorting out the pecking order berfore -

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

My guppies would eat peas. I took 3 frozen peas, you only need 1. Put it in a dish/bowl with just enough water to cover the pea or slightly less. Stick it in the microwave for 10 seconds on high(I guess this depends on how many watt or powerful microwave you have. Mine is powerful and heats up fast.

Then pop the pea out of its shell. Your going to have to cut it into tiny almost pureed since they have tiny mouths. It should eat it, for my gold fish I had to cut the peas in 1/2, but guppies could not get that into there mouth, so try very very small pieces, smaller then you think

 

[AndrewH]

The problem with copper is it seeps into the sealings of the tank and is extremely hard to rid of. Most people won't even buy used tanks that have had copper used in them.

It's also good to give fish a fasting period of 3-4 days . To us it may seem harsh but it is actually healthy for the fish. I feed my fish very little everyday and skip one day a week. I used to have an overfeeding problem when I started the hobby because my fish would just eat and eat and eat.. until I started having an ammonia problem. Remember more fish die from overfeeding then underfeeding

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

This doesn't seem to be going well --- he still ignored the food- i guess i'll try fasting aand adding salt. But he also seems to have white swollen lips? is that mouth fungus too?!? more ick? What the heck am i doing so wrong?

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

Well, today I saw him (now called Rocky) swimming upright (maybe off just a little). So maybe that's a good sign but he spends a fair amount of time laying on the bottom wiggling his fins. I have not seen him eat any of the peas I've offered but he nibbles on the rocks at times. He seems weaker . Is he going to live? What do I do now- keep offering peas and then cleaning up 90% of it?

 

[Alaris]

Have you tried mashing up the peas?

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

I cut them up really small and some of the pieces broke up when in the water