Sick male guppy

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newbieweebie

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My guppy has been lying at the bottom of the tank. Did a water change yesterday and parameters are all ok. No visible diseases/wounds. What might be wrong with him? Another female is also starting to struggle to swim (getting a pinched tail look). Please help :(
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Actually now that i’ve looked closer I think i see something like ich on another female. Could ich also cause the above symptoms? Should i treat the whole tank or the individual who i am seeing white spots on? I also have baby fish in the main tank so i’m worried about the medication harming them
 
What are the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH levels in numbers?
How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

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Need better pictures of the male and maybe a 1 minute video of him moving or sitting there.

Clamped fins on the female is either poor water quality or an external infection (usually protozoan).

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White spot does not cause clamped fins. Fish with white spot will rub on objects in the tank, breath heavily and get little white dots on their body and fins. After a few days the white dots fall off and a few days after that, more white dots appear.

White spot can be treated with heat. Raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the dots have gone. No chemicals needed. Just increase aeration/ surface turbulence when raising the temperature to maximise the oxygen level in the water.

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Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Add some salt

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 
Amonia 0ppm, Nitrate 0-20, Nitrite 0-0.5, pH about 7-7.5 (really bad at telling pH from my test strips)
No idea how old the male is as we got all the guppies 2 weeks ago. I’ve adjusted the filter so that there is more surface turbulence and the male has bounced back
Unfortunately i’ve already raided the medicine cabinet and added some blue planet multicare to the tank. I only did half strength as we have babies in the tank so not sure how well it’ll work? We’re in the process of raising water temperature as well
 

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Well, that medication just wiped out your filter and probably harmed the babies.

Methylene Blue kills bacteria and fungus, and that includes beneficial filter bacteria. It also stains things blue so your silicon might turn blue.

Malachite Green is used to kill external protozoan parasites like white spot and velvet. It is carcinogenic (causes cancer) and should not be used on young fish. You should also avoid getting the stuff on your skin and wash hands and arms with soapy water after handling the product or working in the tank.

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As a general rule, if you aren't sure what the problem is, do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified. This dilutes any water quality problems and disease organisms in the water and buys you time to work out what is going on.
Make sure any new water is free f chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

And you increase aeration (which you have done) to maximise oxygen levels in the water.
 
Thanks Colin! We used it as instructions on the bottle expressly said it’s fine to use on baby fish at half dose.

If we do a big water change tomorrow and switch to the salt method would that be ok? I understand there’s not much to be done about the wiped out bacteria but just wanted to make sure we’re not doing more damage by switching to a different method
 
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We’re in the process of raising water temperature as well
Why are you raising the water temperature?
It's summer in Australia and you are in Queensland, you should barely need a heater during winter.

You may as well use the medication for a week since you have started using it. It will make sure there are no protozoan parasites :)

If the female looks worse over the next few days you can add salt while using the medication.

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Can you post some more pictures of the female with clamped fins?
I want to see her from both sides and head on. I have concerns about her mouth and face.
 
Why are you raising the water temperature?
It's summer in Australia and you are in Queensland, you should barely need a heater during winter.
Nice and warm in sunny Queensland indeed but our water temp was still below 30C.

The female was more lively today so we haven’t added salt
 

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She looks like she has the start of a bacterial infection on the rear half of her body and also on her back just behind her head. The areas that look grey. The salt and Methylene Blue should hopefully treat it.

Why are you trying to get the water up to 30C?
Guppies live quite happily in water that ranges from 16-30C and they prefer around 24-26C
 
White spot can be treated with heat. Raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the dots have gone.
Oh should we not do this if we’re treating the ich with chemicals?
She looks like she has the start of a bacterial infection on the rear half of her body and also on her back just behind her head. The areas that look grey. The salt and Methylene Blue should hopefully treat it.
Wow thanks Colin! Would’ve never known that without your expertise. Will go ahead and add in the salt
 
If you treat fish for white spot with heat, then you don't use chemicals. The heat (30C/ 86F) is normally sufficient to kill the parasites without needing chemicals.

The warmer water holds less oxygen and most chemicals reduce oxygen so if you use heat and chemicals together, the fish can suffocate.

If you want to use chemicals to treat white spot, have the temperature around 24-26C.
 

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