Tailess guppy

[joyaust]

Have a guppy that over the course of 24 hours has has most of her tail eaten, is it cruel for me to keep her alive or should I get rid of her and should I try and source the problem fish too. Thanks joy

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Have a guppy that over the course of 24 hours has has most of her tail eaten, is it cruel for me to keep her alive or should I get rid of her and should I try and source the problem fish too. Thanks joy

Hi and welcome to AA!
Is the guppy have issues swimming or staying upright? If its still swimming ok and only the tail fin has been bitten off it can grow back/recover with clean fresh water. Can I ask how many guppies you have and what volume the tank is? Also what is your water change schedule? Do you know your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? It also could be suffering from fin rot.

 

[joyaust]

My litres according to mathematics rather than actual measuring are approx 125lt, will do a water check as soon as I put little miss 3yo to sleep, I have 4 adult guppies and approx 40 fry ranging from 1cm nose to tail to 2cm nose to ends of tail. How would I tell if it's tail rot, I am doing about 30% water change weekly. Thanks will post the rest of the info shortly

 

[joyaust]

Ok my ph is 6.8, nitrite 0, nitrate 40, no idea ok ammonia

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok my ph is 6.8, nitrite 0, nitrate 40, no idea ok ammonia

Ok nitrates are a touch high. The cleaner you can get the water the better/faster he will heal. Can you post a picture? Is the tail shredded or clean cuts? Does it have a clean edge or a blackish edge? Have you seen any other fish picking on him at all? Fin rot literally looks like the fin is rotting off.

 

[joyaust]

Bear in mind my other adult female in te sane section of tank, is just as she always has been

 

[Mumma.of.two]

To me it looks like its been nipped off but I could be wrong. Is that blood or his coloring on the top of the tail? Is he swimming about ok and still eating? It should grow back with clean water. You can add some aquarium salt to the tank to help. Half a dose if there is fry, a full dose if you can put him in a hospital tank.

 

[joyaust]

I can put her in a separate tank I think that's what I'll do, thanks soo much for your help I thought I was going to lose her

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I can put her in a separate tank I think that's what I'll do, thanks soo much for your help I thought I was going to lose her

Glad to help Will the other tank be cycled? If not (depending on the tanks size, if it's large every two days will be ok) daily water changes will be needed. Keep the ammonia and nitrite at 0 and the nitrate as close to 0 as you can.

 

[Koikid88]

That's nothing. I forgot to feed my yoyo loaches a while back, and they went after the guppies. They left most alone, but loved the snow guppy fins.
1 was shredded worse than yours, not 1 piece of fin remaining, but he was still keeping up with the school. So I put all the guppies in quarantine, treated with antibacterial melafix, within 24hrs I saw improvement, 2 weeks later the fin is about half grown back, and he is healthy, aswell as the others with badly nipped fins.

Just keep it and let it heal. If you get rid of it, it's just going to happen to another guppy. Get rid of the problem fish, or all the guppies.

 

[Koikid88]

Also, don't just transfer the 1 guppy to another tank, this will really stress him, making him condition worse prior to healing. Move all of the guppys, or atleast 3 (pick 2 others that may have slightly damaged fins). If you put all the guppies in the new tank, just treat with half dose of an antibacterial solution.