Sick female Guppy

[Ollie]

1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
I have a female guppy that sinks to the bottom and sometimes falling over on her side and breathing heavily

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
I dont have my own test kit, but i took a sample to the pet shop last saturday after one of my male guppies died and everything was fine except my water was too "soft", it was around 4. the man gave me 2 different kinds of salts, Aquarium salt and one called "GH-salt" to increase mineral levels.

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
its a 40 liter tank

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
i use an Eheim aquaball 2208 Pump output: 56-172 gph

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
I have one 2 inch goldfish, 2 neon tetras, one algea eating black fish thing lol (i havent found out what type of species in google yet) and 4 guppies, one male 3 females

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
I changed the water 25% this wednesday, 4 days ago, after i spilled too much flake food in the tank, but i do 25% every sunday. And i use a vacuum gravel yes, but i can only vacumm like 25% of the gravel areas until the 10 liter bucket gets full.

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
Ive had the fish for 3 months.

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.? Nothing, just the salts, and i followed the instructions carefully

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? I feed them mostly flakes, but i give them frozen fish food once or twice a week

 

[Ollie]

Additional info! I put her in her own tank now and added a bit of salt to see if that helps. And i gave her one flake and she ate it. Shes thinner than the other 2 females i have, almost as skinny as the male.

i dont know if this helps but 3 weeks ago one of the females gave birth to 7 babies but she died after, i just figured it was stress so i didnt take a water sample to the petshop. then a week ago one of my males died so i took a sample to the petshop as i mentioned earlier. Now another one might die and idk what else to do now.

But the other fish seems to be healthy, the goldfish got his orange color back in his fins now that i added the salts and he seems to be more active and naughtier.

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Ollie and welcome to Aquarium Advice!

Can you test your water parameters? It's often better to get your own test kits. Water testing is an important part of this hobby. If you get the LFS to test for you, ask them for the numerical reading and not just "your parameters are fine".

The guppy breathing heavily, and possibly the deaths of the others, may signal the presence of some ammonia in the water. You've had the fish for three months. Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? Do you know if your tank has cycled?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/24/1/Nitrogen-Cycle-/Page1.html

Also, for a small tank, I think you have too many fish. If you do have an ammonia reading from your test kit (anything more than 0), the tank isn't cycled. If you have a nitrate reading of more than 40-50 ppm, the tank is overcrowded, or you need to do a water change. Fish can adapt gradually to high nitrate levels but it isn't healthy. If you have trouble keeping your nitrates between 10-20 ppm between water changes, then that's a sign that your tank is too crowded.

You have also put together species that usually aren't recommended together. A goldfish is not a tropical fish. It's not recommended to mix goldfish with tropical fish like neons and guppies. Goldfish will eventually get too large for a 40 liter tank. Your algae-eating black fish is probably a pleco, and most plecos also get much too large eventually for a 40 liter (10 gallon).

Goldfish and plecos also are heavy waste producers. If your ammonia levels are high, it is probably due to these fish producing a lot of waste in too small of a tank. Goldfish and plecos are kept in much larger tanks - I would at least suggest a 55 galllon - with heavy filtration to keep up with the waste they produce.

These fish are probably responsible for a heavy ammonia load in your aquarium, which is making the other fish ill.

About your water softness - again, ask for a specific numerical reading before adding any type of salt. The pleco in particular won't appreciate salt in the water. You can buy a GH/KH water testing kit.

 

[Ollie]

According to the petshop owner, the tank has cycled, i asked about the ammonia stuff and he said theres none, also no nitrite, i dont know about nitrate. I live in norway and cant find any water test kits. Does anyone know an online store that delivers internationaly? and what is the best/complete test kit out there?

 

[Ollie]

Is this Tetra Analyset good?
Tetra Germany - Products - Goldfish - Care & Remedy - Care & Medicinal Products - Tetra Water Tests - Tetra AnalySet

 

[Ollie]

She's still alive, but after reading up on the internet, i think she might be constipated or having a swim bladder disorder. i put her in a separate tank with no gravel on the bottom and i see some mucus'y stuff she might have pooped out. Or maybe i broke her swim bladders for having the fish tank beside the pc speaker? now shes deaf or something she keeps trying to swim and her head part is always higher than the tail part then falls to the bottom sideways, upside down and other positions possible

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, that looks like a good test kit. I have never tested the oxygen content of my water but all the other tests available with the kit are good ones to have.

I don't think you broke the guppy's swim bladder. Since she's in her own tank now, try dosing some antibiotics. That can sometimes help the swim bladder. If the mucus-y stuff continues, try to observe where it's coming from. If it is white and stringy poop, then that may indicate an internal parasite infection. There are meds for that too. I would try first with some antibiotics.