Causes of illness

[Guppy Mama]

I have a 30 gallon tank full of guppies. Last week one died. She has that horrible pnie-cone Dropsy appearance. There were no fish addea, nitrites and amonia were both at 0.

Nobody else has died but now I cannot tell if I am being paranoid, but three babies (2 months old) were resting at the waterline with their fins clamped.

Do fish ever "rest" with clamped fins, or is it always a sign of distress?


Then my real question...can a gradual temperature drop be the culprit in the death? I am in CA, but my heater did get unplugged over ight a few days before the fish died and the temperature went from 78 to 70 over night. Thanks for the info! Claire

 

[G_Sharky]

temperature went from 78 to 70 over night

there's the answer to your question, huge flunctutation in temp can cause serious stress to fish especially if they are species that requires warm water. Never unplug your heater if your sure that the room temp would remain constant and match your water temp. Sorry to hear that you lost some fish Learn along the way...

 

[crazie.eddie]

You may want to get a digital LCD thermometer that has an alert, such as this item. It's very big display lets me see the tank temp from a distance. You can also set an alert to have it alarm if the water gets too cold and when it gets too warm. I also have a another type, which also has an alert, but the alert is preset.

 

[Guppy Mama]

Thank you. I'll get a product like that in about a week when I get $.

Today, the temp has been stable for days now, and many of the younger fish are clamped! I will do water change, but did they catch something while they were stressed? I don't know how to help them now. I can't see any other signs of infection, or fungus etc, just clamped fins.

Help, I am sad for these guys. What should I try? Thank you!

 

[crazie.eddie]

LOL. I have never used those thermometers for years. I only use digital LCD thermometers now. More accurate and has a little alarm that goes off when my temp gets a certain temp below or above my desired temp.