Guppies Getting Sick All Of A Sudden?

[Alistriwen]

Hi folks, I have a 20 gallon tank which up until two days ago housed 9 guppies and a female platy. Our problems actually began a few weeks ago I think when we had 10 guppies in there. We had 3 males, 7 females and our one female platy. Theyd been together in the tank for going on 6 months. One day I noticed one of the females kind of hanging by herself being a bit less active than normal. She ate when there was food as normal but spent the rest of her time sort of hovering. She had no other visible problems so I assumed she was just getting close to giving birth. Unfortunately a few days later, still looking perfectly healthy she passed.

Two days ago our male cobra guppy, also a healthy vigorous fish was found wedged between the glass of the tank and the breeding net we were keeping some fry in. He was alive and I thought hed just become stuck so I moved the net around to let him out. He came loose but shortly after he made his way back to that spot. He spent the day hiding and hanging out in corners head or tail up. We moved him to a 5 gal hospital tank and within hours he was dead.

Today, another female guppy who had also been sort of shy in recent days was found swimming sideways or with her tail up. She seems vigorous still but there is clearly something wrong. We've moved her into the hospital tank and began dosing melafix both on that tank and the 20 gal.

Additional info:

The tank runs off a hydro sponge IV filter which is well cycled and has an additional sponge filter IV in it cycling. THere are tons of ramshorn snails we use to control algae and grow for sale. The water parameters have been normal for a long time now. Water changes were as often as 3 times a week at 25% when fry were in there and 1x 25% a week when no fry are in there. No new fish (besides fry) have been added in months. We keep hundreds of other guppies in different tanks and they do not have any problems. There has been considerable maintenance on city water pipes to replace old lead piping and also maintenance done in my apartment building which seems to have resulted in more aeration in the tap water (tons of little bubbles when it comes out of the tap now).

I was wondering what could be causing these otherwise healthy fish to die? Does my current patient have swim bladder infection or something else ? We've never had any disease in any of our tanks which is why we wrote off the first two deaths as freak occurences but this last event leads me to believe that is not the case. Any help would be most appreciated. These fish are the parents of all of our current breeders and it is both important for our project that they stay alive and we are also sentimentally attached to the buggers.

Thanks!

 

[*Fishkies*]

One day I noticed one of the females kind of hanging by herself being a bit less active than normal. She ate when there was food as normal but spent the rest of her time sort of hovering. She had no other visible problems so I assumed she was just getting close to giving birth. Unfortunately a few days later, still looking perfectly healthy she passed.

Your first female passed...did she look pregnant? or was she just fat? Did you ever see her poo?

How long has your tank been setup?
How often do you feed?
What do you feed?

Are the fry separated from the other fish and in a breeder container of some sorts? or are they just swimming freely in the 20gallon with adults?

Do your guppies tails seem frayed at all?
How is their breathing? fast or calm?
Do they seem bloated more then normal? As you mention that you think they may have a swimbladder problem.


(3 water changes at 25% in one week? I'm sure your fry enjoy those water changes! )

 

[Alistriwen]

Your first female passed...did she look pregnant? or was she just fat? Did you ever see her poo? She didn't look huge but probably halfway through term. I dont recall if I'd seen her poo recently. I will keep an eye on the current female to see if she does. We feed a good mix of staple, live and frozen foods and there is usually a decent bit of algae left somewhere for the fish to nibble on.

How long has your tank been setup? This tank has been running since june
How often do you feed? Twice a day for the adults, 3 - 4 x a day for fry depending on age
What do you feed? Spectrum grow formula .35mm sinking pellets, Sally's frozen brine shrimp, occaisionally convict fry (not anymore though, we got rid of our cons), freeze dried bloodworms very rarely, some nutrafin flake food once in a blue moon and frozen glassworms once in a blue moon. Also they've had some hikari rotifiers very very rarely.

Are the fry separated from the other fish and in a breeder container of some sorts? or are they just swimming freely in the 20gallon with adults? They are mostly in their own tanks but if a female gives birth unexpectedly the fry stay in the same tank for a week or so in a breeding trap until they're a bit stronger and then they move to a grow out.

Do your guppies tails seem frayed at all? Not at all.
How is their breathing? fast or calm? seems calm, even the ailing fish seems to be respirating fairly normally.
Do they seem bloated more then normal? As you mention that you think they may have a swimbladder problem. The sick female looks as though she might be a bit bloated as she goes out more side to side than normal when she gets pregnant. She is due to deliver fry soon though so it could well be pregnancy, hard to tell when she's tail up .


(3 water changes at 25% in one week? I'm sure your fry enjoy those water changes! ) I sure hope they do, it's a hassle to do it every week! I've often wondered if I was doing the water changes too often .