Guppy emergency! Please help!

[JuiceBox52]

Understandable! Thank you so much for being here.

One of my guppies is very unwell. Her tail is drooping, she is not moving much, she isn't eating, she has white/clear poop, and she might be bloated. We are trying to determine what the issue is. The general consensus is that it is a bacterial infection, but I don't know how to treat it. eSHa 2000 seems like the best option, but it will take to long to arrive here in the U.S. I'm not sure if Melafix or E.M. will treat her for the right thing.

So far, I have raised the water hardness and am in the middle of a General Cure treatment. Is there a way for you to access all of the pictures in this thread without reading them all? If not, I can attach them again.

I'd attach them again

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

@Colin_T I forgot about another symptom -- she has a bubble-looking thing on her chest, which another user believes is a cyst.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons.
1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be cured because massive internal organ failure has already occurred.

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2) Internal Protozoan Infections cause the fish to lose weight rapidly (over a week or two), fish continues to eat and swim around but not as much as normal, does stringy white poop. If not treated the fish dies a week or so after these symptoms appear. Metronidazole normally works well for this.

There is a medication (API General Cure) that contains Praziquantel and Metronidazole.

It's interesting that API and the Californian government have listed Metronidazole as a carcinogen. That's a concern considering it was widely used to treat intestinal infections in people.

Anyway, if you use this or any medication, handle with care, don't inhale the medication, and wash hands with soapy water after treating the fish or working in the tank.

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3) Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, and do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with a bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

Livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtails & platies are regularly infected with gill flukes and intestinal worms. If the fish are still eating well, then worms is the most likely cause.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons.
1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be cured because massive internal organ failure has already occurred.

-----
2) Internal Protozoan Infections cause the fish to lose weight rapidly (over a week or two), fish continues to eat and swim around but not as much as normal, does stringy white poop. If not treated the fish dies a week or so after these symptoms appear. Metronidazole normally works well for this.

There is a medication (API General Cure) that contains Praziquantel and Metronidazole.

It's interesting that API and the Californian government have listed Metronidazole as a carcinogen. That's a concern considering it was widely used to treat intestinal infections in people.

Anyway, if you use this or any medication, handle with care, don't inhale the medication, and wash hands with soapy water after treating the fish or working in the tank.

-----
3) Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, and do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with a bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

Livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtails & platies are regularly infected with gill flukes and intestinal worms. If the fish are still eating well, then worms is the most likely cause.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

Almost everything you wrote deals with a fish that is eating normally, but she is not. She is not losing weight, either. And it has been at least four or five days with these symptoms.

 

[Colin_T]

No idea about the lump because I can't see it. But if the fish has stopped eating and is fat and doing a stringy white poop, it's probably past the point of no return.

You can try cleaning the tank up and adding salt. Livebearers like guppies respond well to salt because it helps kill off a lot of microscopic organisms on their body.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep salt in there for 2-4 weeks, then stop using it.
If you do water changes while using salt, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank so the salinity (salt level) in the tank remains stable.

Make sure the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH are good.

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

Almost everything you wrote deals with a fish that is eating normally, but she is not. She is not losing weight, either. And it has been at least four or five days with these symptoms.

Thank you so, so much for your thorough response, but I don't think I can follow those instructions.

 

[Colin_T]

Almost everything you wrote deals with a fish that is eating normally, but she is not. She is not losing weight, either. And it has been at least four or five days with these symptoms.

In which case, it's probably an internal bacterial infection and there's not much you can do for it.

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

No idea about the lump because I can't see it. But if the fish has stopped eating and is fat and doing a stringy white poop, it's probably past the point of no return.

You can try cleaning the tank up and adding salt. Livebearers like guppies respond well to salt because it helps kill off a lot of microscopic organisms on their body.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep salt in there for 2-4 weeks, then stop using it.
If you do water changes while using salt, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank so the salinity (salt level) in the tank remains stable.

Make sure the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH are good.

Thank you. I will try these things.

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

In which case, it's probably an internal bacterial infection and there's not much you can do for it.

Can't I use an antibacterial treatment? I don't want to give up.

 

[Colin_T]

You can try anti-biotics if you like but if internal organ failure has already occurred, all the anti-biotics in the world won't save the fish.

I would try salt first and save your money.

If you do use anti-biotics, use them in a bare container with no substrate, rocks or ornaments. Just have an airstone and heater in the container. Wipe the inside of the container down and change all the water before re-treating it.

 

[Silvermist80]

Hello! Fortunately I've run the gauntlet with my guppies and problems. So first thing I'd suggest is they're social fish. Someone may have already suggested this, I didn't read everything. You should have at least 4 to 5 fish. They will act very shy when just 2 of them. Also, I saw someone mention parasites. I've been fighting Camallanus worms something terrible. I've found they will drop out of the fish and hang out in the gravel. Soy fish kept reinfecting themselves and spreading it. I'm not certain this is your problem, but that's what my fish did that have it. They'd stop eating and hang out at the top. They will eventually lose a lot of weight when the infestation gets bad. For awhile they might swell so they look pregnant instead. Their anus might also swell. Just watch for these things. Besides not enough fish for them to feel comfortable, I also mistakingly forgot to add dechlorinator one time with a water change. I caught it within 5 hours, but by then all the fish were at the top like that, not moving much. I immediately treated and added an airstone to help them breathe with burned gills. If none of this is ringing a bell, I'd say they just need more company. A 10 gallon can hold 5 guppies very well.

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

Hi, everyone. She battled hard, but she passed away today. I can't begin to thank everyone who helped, especially @JuiceBox52. I am devastated. I know people say it is "just a fish," but fish are pets just like any other animal. Without you guys and your help, I am sure she would have suffered more. It is better for her this way. Thank you all. What an amazing, caring community this is.

 

[corylover5]

I'm so sorry

 

[claire’s_lil_gups]

I'm so sorry

Thank you. I appreciate that and your help that you offered so much.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Hi, everyone. She battled hard, but she passed away today. I can't begin to thank everyone who helped, especially @JuiceBox52. I am devastated. I know people say it is "just a fish," but fish are pets just like any other animal. Without you guys and your help, I am sure she would have suffered more. It is better for her this way. Thank you all. What an amazing, caring community this is.

I'm so sorry