Video Fancy Guppy Tail Rot?

[Aaron Muth]

i think my guppy might have early tail rot.

 

[Colin_T]

Does the fish in the picture have puffy lips or was it eating?

Fin Rot is caused by poor water quality (dirty tank) that allows bacteria and protozoans to flourish and infect the fish. The poor water quality damages the fish and allows bacteria in, which destroys the tissue.

Check the water quality and make sure there is no ammonia or nitrite, and the nitrate levels are less than 20ppm.
Make sure the pH is above 7.0 and the general hardness (GH) is above 200ppm.

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The easiest way to treat Fin Rot (or most other fish health issues) is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week.

Filters should be cleaned at least once a month, preferably more often. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. If you use a power filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water. Rinse the filter case and impellor assembly under tap water.

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If the tail gets worse and develops white fluffy stuff on the edge, it has a fungal infection. If the edge of the tail and the area around the damaged area goes red, it has a bacterial infection. If this happens, post another picture asap and I can advise you further.

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You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

 

[NickAu]

Im going with someone bit a chunk out of his tail, Lots of clean water is all that's needed.

What other fish are in the tank?

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

Looks like a bite to me too, but I would say the top part of the fin looks like it has a white outline? but maybe that's making things up.
Possibly both? aggression in the tank, and low water quality leads to biting and secondary infection?

 

[NickAu]

As long as the fish have lots of clean water a bitten tail is no problem and will grow back in no time.

If you want to talk aggression and the occasional fin damage try keeping a Betta sorority.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

If you want to talk aggression and the occasional fin damage try keeping a Betta sorority

No thanks, I'd rather my fish didn't kill each-other.

 

[Aaron Muth]

Does the fish in the picture have puffy lips or was it eating?

Fin Rot is caused by poor water quality (dirty tank) that allows bacteria and protozoans to flourish and infect the fish. The poor water quality damages the fish and allows bacteria in, which destroys the tissue.

Check the water quality and make sure there is no ammonia or nitrite, and the nitrate levels are less than 20ppm.
Make sure the pH is above 7.0 and the general hardness (GH) is above 200ppm.

----------------------
The easiest way to treat Fin Rot (or most other fish health issues) is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week.

Filters should be cleaned at least once a month, preferably more often. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. If you use a power filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water. Rinse the filter case and impellor assembly under tap water.

----------------------
If the tail gets worse and develops white fluffy stuff on the edge, it has a fungal infection. If the edge of the tail and the area around the damaged area goes red, it has a bacterial infection. If this happens, post another picture asap and I can advise you further.

----------------------
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

I have a Mexican dwarf crayfish in the tank, will any of this affect him? Do I need to contain the fish before doing the water changes? Also, how do I prevent any other unfortunate events after doing the water change?

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

I have a Mexican dwarf crayfish in the tank, will any of this affect him? Do I need to contain the fish before doing the water changes? Also, how do I prevent any other unfortunate events after doing the water change?

Maybe, not really a big crayfish person so can't answer for you.

As for water changes you don't need to remove the fish, just drain a portion of the tank water out using a hose or a jug and replace with fresh de-chlorinated water. make sure this water is the same temperature as the tank before adding back in.
Most people do maybe 50%-150% water changes a week depending on tanks, stocking ect. I personally do two 50% water changes on all my tanks every week (Wed, Sat).
If you are not already, It is a good idea to be testing your water (API freshwater test kit) this will let you know what the levels are of nitrates nitrites and ammonia.. as well as pH and various other things.

 

[Aaron Muth]

Ok, I do have an API liquid test kid and the reported numbers all appear fine. 50& on this tank just seems like a lot. I still have a small gravel vacuum, how should I remove all of that water more effeciently?

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

Ok, I do have an API liquid test kid and the reported numbers all appear fine. 50& on this tank just seems like a lot. I still have a small gravel vacuum, how should I remove all of that water more effeciently?

Well it all depends on how your tank runs and everyone's is different. What I tend to do when I have a new aquarium set up (after cycling and stocking, then again after any stocking changes) is test my water every day, and find out how long it takes for the nitrate to reach 20ppm and then set my water change schedule to maintain the levels below this. As 20ppm for a prolonged period of time has been shown to have an effect on fish health.

I just use a small hose, to siphon out water, some people use submersible pumps to remove the water faster. using the gravel cleaner is a great idea as your doing your water change and cleaning the gravel at the same time and a lot of waste can be removed that way, keeping you tank a bit cleaner.

 

[Colin_T]

I have a Mexican dwarf crayfish in the tank, will any of this affect him? Do I need to contain the fish before doing the water changes? Also, how do I prevent any other unfortunate events after doing the water change?

Salt will not affect the crayfish but crayfish will attack fish at night time and could be the cause of the damaged tail.

I do not recommend keeping crayfish or big species of shrimp (Macrobrachium species) with fish because the crustaceans are nocturnal and will eat anything they can catch.

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To do a water change just get a basic model gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. Use that to drain some water out and clean the substrate at the same time.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

If you have a huge tank you can make a gravel cleaner from a 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle and a garden hose or length of clear plastic hose. Cut the bottom off the bottle and remove the lid and throw those bits away. Stick the garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door. Use the bottle as the gravel cleaner and drain the tank down. Then refill the tank with dechlorinated water.

As long as you leave enough water in the bottom of the tank for the fish to swim about they will be fine with a 50-75% water change. Just don't chase them around or stress them out and they will usually be fine.

If you make up the new water before draining the tank, then you can fill the tank straight after draining it and the fish won't be in shallow water for as long.

 

[Aaron Muth]

Last time I did a water change, it was only like 5-7&, yet I lost three fish and the water does not seem to be good. How do I know this won’t happen again since this would be a huge water change for the fish?

 

[Colin_T]

Check the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of your tap water.

Let the tap run for a couple of minutes before collecting the water.

Make sure you use clean buckets that have never been used for anything except the fish.

Dechlorinate the water before using it. If possible make up the new water 30 minutes or more before you use it. If you have bad tap water then fill up a large plastic storage container or a new plastic rubbish bin, add dechlorinator and aerate for a couple of hours. Then add a filter with carbon in it. Let the filter and carbon run for a 24-48 hours and then use the water to do the water change.

 

[Aaron Muth]

My tap water is fine other than a relatively high ph. How many times do I need to drain the tank 75%?

 

[Colin_T]

It's a good idea to do daily water changes for a week to dilute everything in the tank. The clean water and lack of disease organisms gives the fish the best chance to heal up.