Male Guppy's Tail Has Disappeared!

[little fishies]

Hi - I'm very new to the whole tropical fish thing - but I am a bit concerned. I bought 3 guppies (1m, 2f) about 2-3 weeks ago. Two days later I found 18 fry in my tank and saved them, but the one I suspected was the mother (she had reduced in size dramatically) died a couple of days later.
My male guppy had a beautiful tail, but around the time she died, I noticed a couple of splits in his tail, and in the last couple of days the pretty floaty part has almost entirely gone - a few short strands are left. He has started to keep mostly at the top of the tank, near the floating baby tank.
The other female seems fine - at first he hassled her a bit, as the other kept herslef out of the way, but now she is the largest fish I have. She occasionally swims at the baby tank, trying to eat them I guess and she seems to go to him for company.
I already had 3 little neon and 2 black tetras.
Shortly after the other female died, I went back to the pet shop, I described him and they gave me some 'fin-rot' medicine. Is it actually making him worse?
There is no salt in the water, should there be?
Please help - and thanks so much.
Great forum - I've read lots of the posts!

x

 

[MankyMutt]

also try using aquarium salt with the medicine. It helps boost the effectivness of the treatment.

 

[Queen oF The Gravel]

What other fish do you have in the tank? If you have any think that likes to nip fins this could be the reason for the guppys tail to have gone and also the female guppy could have been getting niped which can cause real stress which in turn can result in death. Most common fin nippers i would say are Barbs, they come in different shapes and colours (most agressive tiger barbs then green barbs in my experiance) Never but anything with long fins with fin nippers.

If you dont have any fin nipping fish in your tank then it is more likly a bacteria problem.

Hope this helps

 

[5teady_2012]

To heal finrot rapidly, treat with myxazin and melafix at same time.