Female Guppy, At Top Of Tank Not Moving Much.

[cezz]

Hey Guys,

My problem is that one of my female guppies is sitting about 3-4mm away from the water surface, she seems to have lost all of her color and is very pale and no matter what keeps returning to the same spot at the front of the tank just away from the surface.

When I feed them she moves to get some food but once the supply is gone she just goes straight back to the same spot in the front left hand side of the tank.

I don't have an additional tank but I am worried that if she does have some form of bacteria/parasite that she may infect the others who are fine.

Tank size: 30ltrs (Just under 7Gallons)
Ammonia and nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0.5
Don't have the necessary tests to check PH at the moment.

Any Idea's?

 

[cezz]

If it helps at all this is the best picture I can get of her ATM but maybe it will help. Her tail has near enough gone completely transparent.

 

[OldMan47]

I would ask how long the tank has been set up and what the fish load in the tank looks like. That is a very small tank by my standards and a lot of fish would mean an overload. If all you have is the new guppies, it may mean that your tank is just very new and needs to become cycled.
Assuming this is a new tank, I am going to suggest an immediate 50% water change, using dechlorinated water, just in case. If your fish act better after that, I must assume, since you have not posted any chemistry results, that we are dealing with new tank syndrome.
In a new tank, the water starts out just perfect because it is clean dechlorinated tap water. Over time, the respiration of the fish and the decay of any organic matter in the water leads to a build of ammonia. In a mature tank bacterial films in the filter will process that ammonia to nitrites and eventually to nitrates. In a new tank, the bacteria do not exist in big enough numbers to do that job. That leaves the fish living in a tank full of toxic ammonia, which is called new tank syndrome. The main method, the only one that I would recommend, for removing the ammonia or nitrites in the water is to physically remove them with a big water change. You said that you do not have a test kit for pH, which is not a big deal if you have any idea of the water in your area. Something much more important in a new tank is the ability to test for ammonia and nitrites. I use the API master freshwater kit for those chemicals but other liquid type test kits will work just as well. Once you have a test kit you don't need to just blindly change water whenever the fish start looking bad. Instead, you can anticipate the need for a water change before it impacts the fish.

 

[cezz]

Thanks, I posted tank size and ammonia/nitrite chemicals in OP.

There are only 4 fish in this tank 3-female, 1-male all of the other fish seem fine it is just this one that seems upset/ill.

I will try a 50% water change anyway to see if this helps them. It is indeed a new tank though I allowed 14days for the initial cycle and used nitratecycle surestart chemicals to boost the initial cycle somewhat.

------------------------------------------​

EDIT: After watching the rest of the fish for some time I think she is stressed out, it seems that the male has moved all of his attention to her as the other two females are pregnant, and it seems one of the others is pestering her every now and then too even at the top of the tank.

I wish I had another tank that I could temporarily move her too but I can't really afford the additional expense so will just have to monitor them and if things don't get better then it will be time to either move her out or maybe the male to their own tank.

 

[fishnovice]

Thanks, I posted tank size and ammonia/nitrite chemicals in OP.

There are only 4 fish in this tank 3-female, 1-male all of the other fish seem fine it is just this one that seems upset/ill.

I will try a 50% water change anyway to see if this helps them. It is indeed a new tank though I allowed 14days for the initial cycle and used nitratecycle surestart chemicals to boost the initial cycle somewhat.

------------------------------------------​

EDIT: After watching the rest of the fish for some time I think she is stressed out, it seems that the male has moved all of his attention to her as the other two females are pregnant, and it seems one of the others is pestering her every now and then too even at the top of the tank.

I wish I had another tank that I could temporarily move her too but I can't really afford the additional expense so will just have to monitor them and if things don't get better then it will be time to either move her out or maybe the male to their own tank.

You don't need another tank. A plastic storage crate or even a bucket (with heater and filter of course) will do in an emergency as an isolation tank. I've kept fish temorarily in large crates and used a bucket as emergency hospital tank myself. No need for substrae or plants either, fish don't care about decoration as long as temperature and water quality are OK in isolation tank

 

[cezz]

You don't need another tank. A plastic storage crate or even a bucket (with heater and filter of course) will do in an emergency as an isolation tank. I've kept fish temorarily in large crates and used a bucket as emergency hospital tank myself. No need for substrae or plants either, fish don't care about decoration as long as temperature and water quality are OK in isolation tank

I had considered this but also don't have a spare heater or filter was planning on getting one at the beginning of this week but believe I may be too late it seems that all of the fish are now showing similar symptoms since the 50% water change, I made sure to condition the water before adding it to the tank but now they are all near the top of the water and I noticed one of the females that was fine before has very stringy white poo, with this I am now under the belief that they may have internal parasites, do you both agree with this conclusion?

Ceri