"fainting Guppy"

[donnat]

I think one of my guppies is ill.

I bought 5 on Saturday from LFS other 4 appear to be fine, but "Fire" appears to be fainting every few minutes.

He swims around and then just stops and he floats to the bottom, "comes back to life" and heads straight for the surface. I only noticed about an hour ago

I am really worried that I am going to wake up in the morning to find a dead guppy in the bottom of my tank.

If he is alive what should I do... Do I take him back to the LFS shop or put him in another tank

I have just done a water test and the stats are as follows

NO3 - 50
N02 - 0
GH - 14
KH - 6
PH 7.2
Amonia - 0

Any advice would be appreciated, just hope it isnt too late

 

[donnat]

I thought Fire had died when i checked on him this am, but he just had an extra long fainting session.

I transferred him to an empty 5 gallon tank I have and went to work. When I got home he was swimming on his side and didnt seem to know what he was doing, so I rang the LFS i got him from and the bloke said he may have a weak heart and the stress of the move has caused him to act like that.

I gave him some fry food and he seems to have perked up at the moment, he doesnt seem to be "fainting" anymore, and is still swimming near the top but he has also been swimming near the bottom.

Does this mean he is going to be alright.

Any ideas on what was or may still be happening to my little fishie.

 

[donnat]

Guess no-one has any suggestions.... oh well.... I will keep posting on here anyway.

Fire seems to be ok at the moment, he has been swimming up and down in a straight line like most fish do.

I read somewhere else that someones fish (not a guppy) used to "play dead" when it felt scared and i wonder now if that was his problem.

I am gonna leave him in the 5 gallon tonight and see how he is the am and then maybe put him back in the main tank tomorrow evening but watch him closely.

Think things are lookin up... keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[oscars r ace]

what did you test the water with? not those crappy test strips? if so they are highly inaccurate, you need to get yourself a liquid test kit.

Dunno bout the rest, maybe he was just having a hard time in the move, i don't know if guppys are intellagent enough to play dead, they ain't the brightest of fish.

 

[donnat]

what did you test the water with? not those crappy test strips? if so they are highly inaccurate, you need to get yourself a liquid test kit.

Dunno bout the rest, maybe he was just having a hard time in the move, i don't know if guppys are intellagent enough to play dead, they ain't the brightest of fish.

Hi, thanks for responding

yeah it was a "crappy test strip" as you call it. It's an eSHa one if that makes a difference. It is the same test kit that my LFS use. I am sure that the LFS man said that these were just as good as the liquid ones,but I wouldnt swear to it.

Didnt realise some fish were intelligent

Thanks again

 

[corycatz]

ya you need to get a liquid test kit the test stripes are not reliable

 

[oscars r ace]

some fish are more intellagent than others, like puffers they seem to have more recognition, the same with oscars they are smart, they know there owner, people can walk past them all day but as soon as they see me they start begging for food, but not when other people are there. that is all i ment, some fish have more intellagence than others

 

[Gilli]

Your NO3 is a bit on the high side. Assuming the tank you have transferred him to is cycled I would do a 30% water change for a few days and dose with a broad range bacterial med and see if that does the trick.

 

[donnat]

some fish are more intellagent than others, like puffers they seem to have more recognition, the same with oscars they are smart, they know there owner, people can walk past them all day but as soon as they see me they start begging for food, but not when other people are there. that is all i ment, some fish have more intellagence than others

That's cool!!!! I wasnt havin a go, honestly.

 

[donnat]

Your NO3 is a bit on the high side. Assuming the tank you have transferred him to is cycled I would do a 30% water change for a few days and dose with a broad range bacterial med and see if that does the trick.

Yeah it was I cycled tank, it had a platy fry in it up until a week ago but I kept it running, glad I did now.

Fire seems ok now, I transferred him back to the main tank bout 6 hours ago and he is just swimming around normally, like my other guppies. Will keep an eye on him though and put him back in the old tank if I notice anything. Sooo weird!

On a slightly related note, is there anything I can do to lower to Nitrate level.

Thanks very much

ya you need to get a liquid test kit the test stripes are not reliable

Ok, thanks, guess it is better to buy it from ebay rather than an LFS, what brands should I look out for.

 

[Gilli]

Best way of lowering nitrates is to use live plants which use it up, not overfeed and to make sure you stick to your weekly water changes and gravel vac.

When you get your proper liquid test kit check your nitrates directly from the tap water - sometimes they are high straight from the mains in which case theres not much you can do other than the above to make sure it doesnt get a lot worse.

 

[donnat]

Best way of lowering nitrates is to use live plants which use it up, not overfeed and to make sure you stick to your weekly water changes and gravel vac.

When you get your proper liquid test kit check your nitrates directly from the tap water - sometimes they are high straight from the mains in which case theres not much you can do other than the above to make sure it doesnt get a lot worse.

I have got 10 live plants in there already, well technically you could say it is 6 cause I have broken one of them up into 4 sections.

I tested my tap water before with the "crappy test kit" and got the same results.

I have 7 guppies, 4 danios and 5 platies plus two platy fry in a 136L tank and they get a pinch of flake food once a day and every now and again they get some bloodworm.

I have also moved Fire back into the smaller tank, cause he really doesnt like the main tank.

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

How long did you climatise the new fish
Does he swim on his side as that can also be a sign of internal parasites, swim bladder.
Does he look thin.
What does it look like when he goes to the toilet.
Check his bum to see if its enlarged or red and inflamed.
Can he maintain his balance in the water.
Does he look pale or darker in colour.
Is he acting listless and lethagic.

 

[donnat]

How long did you climatise the new fish

bout 20 mins. I felt bad cause there were 5 in the bag and they were all busting to get out and seemed all stressy. Could the early release have caused his problem other 4 guppies seem ok, it's just Fire. Typical, the first time I release them early and one of them throws a wobbler

The symtoms He's showing do point to a bacterial infection.
Think I will go to my LFS (not the one I bought him from cause they were rubbish) and explain whats happened and get him some medicine or something.

Does he swim on his side as that can also be a sign of internal parasites, swim bladder.

no .. he was swimming fine in the 5 gallon once I had given him some fry food, left him in there for bout day and a half.
Put him back in main tank and he was fine for about 24 hours, then he seemed as though he couldn't swim horizontally cause back end kept dipping down, so he is back in the 5 gallon and he is gonna stay there I think, cause i dont wanna keep moving him and stress him out even more. I will get him a couple of friends when I know he is definately ok. He hasnt done that fainting/dying thing since the weekend. Thank goodness cause that was horrible to watch

Does he look thin.

No not really. I have 7 other guppies to compare him too and he is bout the same size as my original ones that I have had for a couple of months, and he is eating well. Is it ok to give him fry food for a few days or should I just give him the normal flake food

What does it look like when he goes to the toilet.

I have only ever seen it once and it looked a dark grey/brown colour

Check his bum to see if its enlarged or red and inflamed.

Doesnt look enlarged or red/imflamed but his back half is red/orange anyway so it makes it a bit difficult to tell

Can he maintain his balance in the water.

Only when in the 5 gallon with under water filter. My other tank has a fluval U3 filter. Could the current be too strong for him in the large tank?

Does he look pale or darker in colour.

No

Is he acting listless and lethagic.

No for now he seems quite active

Thanks Wilder

By the way I had a look on ebay for a liquid testing kit, but dont really know what I am looking at. Can you suggest a brand I should look out for. Ta

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like a swim bladder problem to me. When a fish looks like the tail weighing them down in the water it a symtom of swim bladder. Did the lfs catch them roughly.

Try some peas.
Does he look bloated.

Api liquid test kits there cheaper and good.. The only one in the api test kits that's not to good is the nitrate test kit, its not that accurate so I buy the tetra brand.

Can you turn the filter flow down.

[URL="http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm"]http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm[/URL]

Causes of swim bladder.
Bad water quality.
Poor diet.
Birth defect.
Injury.
Bacterial infection of the swim bladder.
Internal parasites.
Unstable temp.