HELP flashing guppies in cycling 5g fish tank

[Guppylover3x]

The flashing seems to have calmed down after a 75% water change. So I am hoping it just the ammonia in the water if there was any present rather than some sort of infection. However I will be keeping a close eye on them for any further symptoms. Does salt fight against most infections/diseases? I forgot to add in the previous post there is nothing else in the tank apart from the 3 guppies. I am hoping to carry out a gravel clean today and another 75% water change. Many thanks for your help.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I decided not to go ahead and put salt in because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a water quality issue. 75% water changes carried out for the first few days guppies were still flashing however not as much. The male guppy with a nipped tail healed very surprisingly after around 2 days. Pleased as they seem to be getting on quite well now finally. However I’ve left it for the past 48 hours without any water changes, and my ammonia test kit arrived today. I am confident there is no ammonia in the tank as it’s a small liquid test kit and seems reliable enough. The guppies are still flashing and I’ve noticed it quite a few times today. The tank has now been set up for 12 days, and the fish have been in for 10 days. I’m now quite unsure what it could be or what route to take. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Colin_T]

If the water is free of ammonia and nitrite and the fish are still rubbing on objects then they have a protozoan infection and need to be treated.

Either add some salt at the dose rate recommended for livebearers (in post #13) or increase the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep the temp at 30C for 2 weeks. If you add salt keep that in there for 2 weeks too.

You can use salt and increase the temperature at the same time.

Increase aeration when you raise the temperature to maximise the oxygen in the water.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Thank you for your feedback. I currently have a 25w slim line heater designed for my tank. Unfortunately it’s preset to only reach 78F so I will look into getting another heater maybe, I will add salt, glad I didn’t have to add medication in. Many thanks for identifying the issue.

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish have whitespot or velvet the salt won't kill it, but salt will treat the other 3 common protozoan infections (Costia, Chilodonella & Trichodina).

If salt doesn't stop them rubbing then it could be velvet and you will need to increase the temperature or use medication but try salt first.