Guppy with strange disease
- Thread starter Jeanpaul
- Start date
I would do a couple of things. First, shine a concentrated light onto the spine, and see if there is a velvety looking 'carpet' there. It will be rust or white under light. It looks like it might be velvet (oodinium sp), a parasite that thrives when the water is soft and you overfeed. If so:
It photosynthesises, so lights off. If one fish has it, they all do. Do not raise temps, as it likes warmer water.
A teaspoon of non iodized salt every 5 gallons will inconvenience the parasite and slow it down.
Meds always cause a debate here, as salt, a chemical, is seen as something different from other chemicals. I would follow instructions closely using a med containing formalin and malachite green. I cleared velvet in a growout tank I was overfeeding a few weeks ago, with one of those concoctions. Velvet is a tough one to eliminate. It can take weeks, and make a comeback.
Copper based meds work well, but they may have serious long term side effects.
Water changes, but beware, it can travel on nets and hoses if you have other tanks.
Ease up on feeding.
Check your water. You need to know the hardness, as guppies are prone to skin problems if the water is too soft.
I assume you've been doing 25-30% weekly water changes.
It photosynthesises, so lights off. If one fish has it, they all do. Do not raise temps, as it likes warmer water.
A teaspoon of non iodized salt every 5 gallons will inconvenience the parasite and slow it down.
Meds always cause a debate here, as salt, a chemical, is seen as something different from other chemicals. I would follow instructions closely using a med containing formalin and malachite green. I cleared velvet in a growout tank I was overfeeding a few weeks ago, with one of those concoctions. Velvet is a tough one to eliminate. It can take weeks, and make a comeback.
Copper based meds work well, but they may have serious long term side effects.
Water changes, but beware, it can travel on nets and hoses if you have other tanks.
Ease up on feeding.
Check your water. You need to know the hardness, as guppies are prone to skin problems if the water is too soft.
I assume you've been doing 25-30% weekly water changes.
Hi and welcome to the forum 
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it had the sore on its back for?
Have you tried any medications yet?
How long has the tank been set up for?
What other fishes do you have in the aquarium?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
--------------------
I doubt it's velvet. It could be bacterial or protozoan.
You can try cleaning the tank and adding salt.
--------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.
Add some salt, (see directions below).
If there's no improvement after a week with salt, post more pictures.
--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium 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, Bettas & 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 (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it had the sore on its back for?
Have you tried any medications yet?
How long has the tank been set up for?
What other fishes do you have in the aquarium?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
--------------------
I doubt it's velvet. It could be bacterial or protozoan.
You can try cleaning the tank and adding salt.
--------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.
Add some salt, (see directions below).
If there's no improvement after a week with salt, post more pictures.
--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium 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, Bettas & 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 (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
Hi.
The fish is now around 1 year and 6 months old, because it's a baby from fish I got before. Water looks fine. 0 ppm nitrite, a little bit nitrate but below limits. Chlorine can be little bit to much sometimes but that's because of our tap water. Also aquarium I have for 1.5 yeats now, but that a fully make over with new water, plants and everything 2 months ago. Hardness of the water is normally 14 or higher but I used new shrimp soil so it has made the water softer. I also got a few cardinal tetras (3) and lots of shrimp.
The fish is now around 1 year and 6 months old, because it's a baby from fish I got before. Water looks fine. 0 ppm nitrite, a little bit nitrate but below limits. Chlorine can be little bit to much sometimes but that's because of our tap water. Also aquarium I have for 1.5 yeats now, but that a fully make over with new water, plants and everything 2 months ago. Hardness of the water is normally 14 or higher but I used new shrimp soil so it has made the water softer. I also got a few cardinal tetras (3) and lots of shrimp.
D
Deleted member 149562
Guest
You mention the chlorine...are you using a dechlorinator at every water change since chlorine is very toxic to fish
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