a guppy with bad posture

[LEE'SLOVE]

We are worried about our guppy, we think is a female, she is "bending" a little, and she looks a little week, like she isn't useing her tail a lot while swimming... and she is sort of swimming less...
I think it may have something to do with backteria, so i did an early partial water change, used extra aqua safe, and even used some mela fix (an anitbacterial remedy). i also did change my charcoal filter...
.... What do you guys think, any idea? thanks, Lori

 

[heresmike]

Hi Lori! Is the tank cycled, and have you tested the water? What are the water parameters? How are the other fish doing? When you say she's bending a little, does that mean to the side, or is her spine bent so the tail is in the down position?

 

[LEE'SLOVE]

Hi Lori! Is the tank cycled, and have you tested the water? What are the water parameters? How are the other fish doing? When you say she's bending a little, does that mean to the side, or is her spine bent so the tail is in the down position?

hello, sorry to take so long to reply, i was trying to figure out how to use this chat... her spine is bent, but not always, and not completely... the other fish are fine, the water is alkatline (7.4-7/6) before water change, we have three silver dollars, two adult guppies, two teen guppies, one baby guppy and five schooling zibra danios... Lori

ps the water temp is 72, but it was 76 two days ago, and 74 yesterday, we used to keep it cooler, and never had a problem, but ever since someone told me to keep it warmer for the fishes' comfort, we already had one bacterial incident... thanks, Lori

 

[cometcattle]

I had a platy that bent, i believe it was due to inbreeding. It ate and swam ok for a while, then it died. I thought you had to remove the carbon when treating w/melafix.

Good luck

 

[Morrgan]

I have heard that a bent spine in livebearers can be due to keeping/breeding them in too soft water. Do you know how hard your water is?

Not sure if that can be the cause when one suddenly gets it, though.

 

[heresmike]

I'm surprised you had a bacteria problem when you raised the temp... was any other change made at that time that might've caused the bacteria prob? One thing I do know is that the parasite that causes ich becomes active when the temp is lower, so I wouldn't keep it too low. I myself keep my tanks around 80 - 82. A higher temp at this point won't help your guppy though.

The one thing I thought of when you said the spine was bent was tuberculosis. Curvature of the spine is one symptom. Here is a link where you'll find more info on fish TB