Help! Guppy... Bruised?

[Channti]

I was sat watching my guppy tank today as I had 14 fry born last night, and noticed that my oldest female, who has provided me with three drops of fry, was being harassed by the two males in the tank. They were both so close to her that they were touching her, one on either side, and were swimming as fast as she was, harassing her.

There is a 2:1 female to male ratio in the tank.

I isolated the boys for a little bit so that I could see Lectra better and see if she was swimming oddly, or if she had any odd markings on her from their attack and instantly noticed the bruise-like colouring on her sides. This mark is on both sides and has appeared within the past 24 hours. I have never seen it before, and I've had her for 4 months or so.

Is this bruising something I should worry about? Is there anything I can do about it? Should i remove the boys from the tank for a while? I've isolated her for the time being so that the boys don't beat her up much more.

http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/goo...pa/DSCF2895.jpg
http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/goo...pa/DSCF2898.jpg
http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/goo...pa/DSCF2899.jpg
http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/goo...pa/DSCF2902.jpg

 

[WILDER]

Is the bruising beneath the skin as can't tell in the pics.

 

[Channti]

Is the bruising beneath the skin as can't tell in the pics.

Definitely beneath the skin.

It's not as prominent this morning, and I'm not exactly sure why that is. I did separate the males from the rest of the tank for a few hours and watched the activity levels of my females change drastically when they had the tank to themselves. The males were reintroduced to the tank this morning, and there hasn't been any of the harassment on the levels that I saw yesterday. The bruise-like mark is still there though... just not as dark.

 

[WILDER]

Bruising beneath the skin can be septicemia.
It's hard to cure once it progresses.

I would issolate her and try a bacterial med.

 

[Channti]

Bruising beneath the skin can be septicemia.
It's hard to cure once it progresses.

I would issolate her and try a bacterial med.

Bacterial med...
Would Melafix and/or Pimafix work? I've got both in the house right now...

 

[pippoodle]

i have had female guppys have internal bleeding from being bullied by persistant males
if/when you have cured her
increase the number of females in the tank or reduce the number of males

i always ran with a 3 or 4 females to every 1 male ratio after 2 of my girls got beaten by the boys

melafix is really only used to treat open wounds or ripped fins etc
for internal bacteria use the pimafix or interpet anti internal bacteria meds - depending which country you are in
you can use the melafix and pimafix together if you want but i dont know wether the melafix will really help at all in this situation

 

[Channti]

i have had female guppys have internal bleeding from being bullied by persistant males
if/when you have cured her
increase the number of females in the tank or reduce the number of males

i always ran with a 3 or 4 females to every 1 male ratio after 2 of my girls got beaten by the boys

melafix is really only used to treat open wounds or ripped fins etc
for internal bacteria use the pimafix or interpet anti internal bacteria meds - depending which country you are in

The tank is already being treated with melafix due to a ripped fin on one of my newer guppies. I'll put some pimafix in the tank tonight too.
Hopefully I can clear this up. The boys have been fine with Lectra for months, and it's only in the past couple days they've picked on her. Usually they distribute their attention among the other females in the tank and Lectra is left well enough alone. She's by far my oldest guppy, just gauging by size.

I think I'll move Jake and Elwood into my community tank for a week or two... They're the only two "adult" males in the tank (there are two other males in the tank, but both are still juvenilles and they tend to chase the smaller females..).

Thanks for the help.

*On another note; the bruising is more prominent again today.

 

[WILDER]

Nelafix is an exteral bacteria med antiseptic lotion.
You need an internal bacteria med.