ill guppy

[norbie]

i noticed one of my guppies this morning not swimming very well.

i dont know if you can see in the picture or not, but one of her fins is white and looks like its been eaten. this might be finrot, but it is also possible that another female guppy in the tank could have nipped at her.

at the moment i've just isolated her in a net and i dont know what to do with her. i dont really have a spare tank i can put her in. (i could find a bowl) and my water hasnt been known to be good without being cycled (high in nitrate).

the small male guppy i have also appears to be swimming a bit strangely, but i cant see anything visibly wrong with him otherwise.

also, my cories (which looks fine) have been a bit shy/scared of movement past the tank over the last couple of days, and this to me has indicated illness before.

has anyone got any advice for me?

i hope its just rivalry, because if there's something in the water im gonna be really upset

 

[norbie]

update - her tail looks slightly split (like finrot) and it looks like she has small white patches or spots on her body too

and another female looks like she has small red blood like spots on her body (only a couple)

ive just done a small water change and might do one later as well, as this is probably related to bad water quality again

i've also put in some nitrate reducing stuff that i have lying around

 

[skye4jc]

sounds serious... what are your water perameters like right now?

 

[norbie]

the only testing kit i have is for ammonia - and that has always come up clear.

nitrate is my problem but i have no way of testing it. the LFS is useless and says my tap water is high in nitrate. we got it checked out by the water board, and they said it was fine

 

[skye4jc]

well, it sounds like you may have a bout of ich and fin/tail rot on your hands. the blood spots can either be from injury or illness. if i were you i'd do a 30% water change, dont feed for 24 hrs and treat with parasite and bacterial meds (both, cus bacteria cause fin rot and parasites cause ich - but maybe one after the other... i dont know ). keep an eye on them, but i wouldn't move that one into a bowl. she needs warmth... put your temp at about 78-80F.

if you notice agression, get a tank divider for now while you treat, and then think about what you could do after. if theyre not fighting, thn no worries.

i cant stress this enough.... do not overfeed them. once every other day, very liitle is good, especially while theyre sick. and if your filter hasn't been cleaned... try that too.(unplug, pull apart and scrub w/ water and a filter sponge under the tap).

one last question... do you use carbon in your filter?

 

[norbie]

thanks for the tips.

i've already given them a 20% change this morning, shall i do another one in about an hour? otherwise the water drops temperature quite quickly.

i dont use carbon in my filter. and feeding stops now!

i have two medicines - finrot, and fungus (i think) which ones should i use? i think i saw a post before saying you shouldnt treat them, and should concentrate on getting the water stable instead.

 

[skye4jc]

k... dont do another water change just yet. give it a day or two then. before i answer the meds question, what do the white spots on your guppy look like? are they like flecks of salt? or are they tufty and fuzzy looking?

from what you have told me, your water is stable, so i would go ahead and treat. how old is this tank, btw?

if you can get to an lfs tomorrow (or asap) to get your water tested, then we can talk about that some more...

 

[norbie]

ive done a small water change now to clean out the filter and set the heater to a higher temperature.

my tank is 7 months old now, but has only had fish in for two weeks. if you want to see the history of this story have a look here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=556737

the spots are slightly fluffy

 

[skye4jc]

sweet... youre doing a great job! (just so you know )

ok... i would recomend the fungus meds most likely... they should treat both (more or less), and its prolly not ich if theyre fluffy. its body fungus, and fin and tail rot... sounds like to me at least. w/o a proper pic, its hard to tell. but i think with either med, you should be ok. read the directions? do they say what diseases they treat? if so, go with the one that treats them both, if not, go with body fungus treating first. it kills quicker in IMHO and experience.

you should be off to the races.
well done on your diligence as a fish parent. im heading off to bed now, but email me if you need anything else. i will check in the a.m. (its 3am my time right now... gotta work at my lfs tomorrow! yay! but tired!)


>>just read up some more... yes... fungus meds. its sounds like you got a fungal infection primarily. try them first.

if you can, to test your water somewhere so you can nip any issues in the bud in the mean time.

let me know how it goes!!

cheers,
Skye

 

[skye4jc]

again, after reading, you may have to use both meds, one after the other. the reason is your mention of the fin/tail rot and blood spots. those are bacterial. the white tufts are fungal. 2 different illnesses. fyi. might wanna look into this a bit more... do some research...

 

[norbie]

ok thanks for your help

 

[norbie]

just as an update, i've treated them with fungus/finrot medicine to see how that goes. i cant treat them with anything else for 7 days now.

i'll have to cross my fingers...

 

[skye4jc]

good luck... let me know how you make out!

 

[norbie]

this morning i've found one of the large female guppies (the one with blood spots) dead up the filter

i cant find the little female so i presume she is dead as well

 

[norbie]

the filter found the little female for me, and also picked up the male.

i've now only got one guppy left and the 3 corys