Baby fry with defects

[Evsy11]

Hi guys,

My guppies have recently had some fry and about 2 (of 12) have defects with a slight bent back. I obviously don't want these to mature and continue breeding to pass on any defect, but I can't find anything online about what the best option is to kull them off. What do people tend to do with fish that have defects? Sorry for the slightly depressing post, but any advice would be welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

do you have any pictures of them?

what's the water quality like (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH)?

what did you feed the babies?

 

[Evsy11]

Hi Colin,

It's really hard to get a decent pic, but attached is the best i could get to highlight the bent spine of one of the fry. The water conditions are always stable (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20-40 nitrate). The pH is quite high in my area (about 8.2), but that has never fluctuated since setting up the tank over a year ago and all the adults and other fry seem to be ok. I don't actually know the GH, but I know the water is very hard where we are, so likely high.

In terms of food, they have been given a mixture of flake (crushed up super small) and live clear worms (forgotten the official name), which they all eat happily.

The tank is also planted with various plants and some bogwood which again has all been there for a while.

It only seems to be a couple of the fry that are affected.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Colin_T]

Most fish in a tank at the pet shop are related so the odds of breeding related fish is quite high. This means you sometimes get a few deformed young. These would normally be eaten by other fish but that doesn't always happen in an aquarium.

You can use clove oil to put them to sleep, then freeze them to kill them. Clove oil should be mixed with alcohol to make it more water soluble. You put the fish in a small container of water with some aeration and add 1 drop of clove oil & alcohol, then wait 30 seconds. Add another drop and wait. Continue doing this until the fish stop swimming and sink to the bottom. They are not dead but unconscious. Then put the container of water and fish into the freezer until frozen solid. Bury the iceblock in the garden.

You can also hit them on the head with a block of wood or hammer but it's messy.

 

[Evsy11]

Ok, thanks for the advice!

 

[FishGuest5123]

I just use the Clove oil and vodka. Give them 29 minutes with no gill movement and they’re dead. No need to freeze unless you want to save them.