Guppy Missing Dorsal Fin

[BillinND]

Hello all, I’m new here, a sad first post. Many moons ago I kept a few aquariums wile in college, but haven’t for a while now. My son just set up a small aquarium with two guppies in June. I noticed today one is missing it’s dorsal fin. It looks either chewed off or eroded away. Its tail fin is a bit ragged but not stringy like what I’ve seen in fin rot photos. Is that what this is? I’m thinking it’s relatively recent as I haven’t noticed it before. It appears lively enough, doesn’t seem sluggish or anything, and eats ok when fed.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Looks like it got ripped off or is fin rot.

 

[jonny-5]

Im not saying i am right here, Guppy fish need a few more than 2 to get along nicely. The aggresion/tension which ever way you call it is then spread between more fish, So nobody is singled out. A pair of Males will almost definatly show aggresion to each other as i have seen this many many times in my own tanks, But by adding a few more fish it stops.

In my personal experience of Guppies it does look like some kind of fin rot. Although it could be aggresion from the other fish if they are both Male(like the 1pictured) They will nip due to them wanting a female & competion for dominance.
Keep up with the water changes (every day if possible) & add a little salt to the tank to see if this helps. Also if you have enough room maybe add more Guppys but like i said it all depends if you have enough space. I have a 10 Gallon with 5 Mixed sex in it & I do 25% water changes twice a week & they thrive

 

[emeraldking]

If I look at the white parts on what's left of the dorsal, I'd say fin rot. It wouldn't be white if it was nipped on.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

If I look at the white parts on what's left of the dorsal, I'd say fin rot. It wouldn't be white if it was nipped on.

That’s what I was thinking

 

[Sgooosh]

If I look at the white parts on what's left of the dorsal, I'd say fin rot. It wouldn't be white if it was nipped on.

yeah you should treat it, personally i use melafix works like a charm


couldnt stop thinking about ranchu guppy.....

 

[BillinND]

Thank you all for the replies! Sounds like most votes are for fin rot. I remember using melafix years ago, I'll seek some out. How often are water changes needed? I always thought it was monthly, which is what we've been doing. Maybe that's not enough? It's a small 3 gallon aquarium.

What we have been doing is using water that comes from our charcoal filter, a shot of starter, and let it sit a couple days. Should we be doing anything different there to help prevent this?

 

[jonny-5]

A 3 gallon is small, There isnt much forgiveness for bad judgement of water quality & Guppy fish do make lots of poop. Poop = Ammonia besides other nasty things weaken fishes immune system that are then open to infections like Finrot Monthly water changes are not enough. I would be doing 1 Gallon water change at least twice weekly

 

[alistairw]

Thank you all for the replies! Sounds like most votes are for fin rot. I remember using melafix years ago, I'll seek some out. How often are water changes needed? I always thought it was monthly, which is what we've been doing. Maybe that's not enough? It's a small 3 gallon aquarium.

What we have been doing is using water that comes from our charcoal filter, a shot of starter, and let it sit a couple days. Should we be doing anything different there to help prevent this?

I concur with the above and do a couple of changes a week. Water quality can get bad quite quickly with the smaller volumes of water. I don’t think you need to leave the water a couple of days. Put some tetra aqua safe or similar in the water beforehand which will neutralise harmful substances such as chlorine, and you will be good to go. Should be straightforward for a small tank.
Maybe need to get a few females to help withvthe aggressive behaviour as already mentioned. If I remember, they should be outnumbered by the females. But i am sure I will be corrected if wrong!

 

[Myraan]

I concur with the above and do a couple of changes a week. Water quality can get bad quite quickly with the smaller volumes of water. I don’t think you need to leave the water a couple of days. Put some tetra aqua safe in the water beforehand which will neutralise harmful substances such as chlorine, and you will be good to go. Should be straightforward for a small tank.
Maybe need to get a few females to help withvthe aggressive behaviour as already mentioned. If I remember, they should outnumber the females. But i am sure I will be corrected if wrong!

Make an tiny tank of male guppies happier by giving them sex?

You know what happens to mixed gender guppy tanks right?

 

[BillinND]

I tested the water when I got home and nitrates/nitrites were within normal range. If I remember right those were main indicators of quality. We did a water change, and dosed with melafix, so we will see how it goes. The bottle says to continue for a week and do another water change. Will the fin grow back? If so how quickly?

I was wondering about the female guppies suggestion, not sure how finicky they are about breeding but we definitely don’t need many many more guppies!

 

[alistairw]

Make an tiny tank of male guppies happier by giving them sex?

You know what happens to mixed gender guppy tanks right?

I thought the general consensus was to keep more females than males to distribute any dominant behaviour, for example, what may have been shown in this tank. I am no guppy expert, but that is what I have read in other guppy stocking posts.

 

[BillinND]

I wanted to say thanks for the advice from everyone. I did two courses of melafix and there is a new dorsal fin growing in now. Hopefully the tails will fill in a bit too. We have been doing water changes weekly and they seem to be tolerating everything well. Sorry for the blurry photo, it’s hard to get these guys in the frame. They’re quick!