Chunk out of my guppy's tail

[kitty falol]

I just popped out to the shops and when I got backed I noticed that my guppy had had a small chunk munched out of his tail. We've got one tiny, feisty little leopard skin guppy that has a habit of nipping at the other fish, so he's probably the culprit.

I've noticed that the end has gas gone white. Is this usual or is the beginnings of fin rot? Is there anything I can add to the water to help him heal more quickly?

Thanks

Kathryn

 

[gadazobe]

Melafix is a great natural remedy based on tea tree oil.

How big is your tank? Maybe you could put some plants in it so that the guppy can get out of "eye range" and hide when the leopard skin starts chasing.

 

[kitty falol]

Thanks for that, I'll get some Melafix this weekend.

It's a 60 litre tanks with plenty of places to hide, but they all seem to like sticking together, so I suppose he can't be that bothered by him.

Do you think that he'll grow out of nipping? I think it must be a pecking order thing. He seems to have teamed up with the 2 biggest guppies in there.

 

[gadazobe]

I doubt that he'll "grow out of nipping". Some fish are just darn nasty and like to annoy others. You might have to return him to the lfs if he decides to carry on this way.

 

[kitty falol]

Oh dear, that would be such a shame. I've grown quite fond of my little leopard skin guy.

I'll keep an eye on him. I've just put some melafix in the water so I'll keep my fingers crossed. I've noticed that the poor guy's tail has receded a little bit, so do you think that this could be tail rot? Or do you think that leopard skin has been at it again. It doesn't look like a bite as it did before.

 

[gadazobe]

Use the melafix as per the instructions and if you see that the tail is still receding, then it could well be that fin rot has set in and you will have to treat for that.

BTW, is this a new tank or a well established one?

 

[kitty falol]

Well, it's relatively new. It's been set up for a month now but ammonia and nitrite are at zero and my nitrate is barely reading. I added the aforementioned guppies when my cycle had finished. Do you think it would help to do 15% daily water changes?

 

[gadazobe]

If you do a water change then you will have to redose with melafix. Also, if you have carbon in your filter, then take it out otherwise the carbon will remove the melafix. Do you have live plants in the tank?

 

[Tenko]

If the rot hasn't stopped after the melafix treatment, I'd do a decent size water change and treat it again. Melafix is good for fin rot, but clean water is essential.

 

[kitty falol]

Hello again and thank you both for your replies!

I've uploaded a piccie of my tank to give you an idea of the plants in my tank.

I've just had another check on my fish and I've noticed that another one has now got a damaged tail It almost looks like the tail has been snagged because there's a tiny stringy piece of tail following him around Could fin rot look like this or has it definitely been bitten?

Anyway, I've attached a picture of the 2 victims. They look perfectly happy swimming around, but of course I want to help stop their tails from receding any more.

I've done a gravel vac this morning, removing 15% of the water and I've remedicated as the bottle said. I was going to continue doing this every day for a week. Do you think I should be removing more water?

Thank you again

Kathryn

 

[gadazobe]

You have a lovely tank - very pretty.

Unfortunately, it does look like fin rot. Are you just using melafix to repair the damaged fins or are you medicating for fin rot?

 

[kitty falol]

Hi Gadazobe

Thank you!

Well, the bottle of melafix says that it is suitable for fin and tail rot, so I've just been following the instructions on the bottle. Should I be using something else aswell? Do I need to quarantine the fish? I haven't got another tank

 

[Tenko]

Melafix has worked for me in the past but not all the time. I think it works best with good water quality, but isn't so hot by itself.

I almost lost a guppy recently which melafix and myxazin did absolutely nothing for. The rot was almost at his body when I dumped the medication and spent a week doing 33% water changes followed by a big treatment of esha 2000. It seems to have done the trick, his tail hasn't got any worse for 2 weeks now.