My guppies are dying constantly....

[s6king]

I have had my fish and tank set up for 3 weeks. My guppies are dying fast. The symptoms they are showing are: Unusual swimming (all of a sudden quicker than over night) I have tried partial and full water changes, changes in diet, isolation, melafix, and today as a last resort I have isolated a sick one in bottles spring water with a few drops of aquasafe and bettafix with a heater set to 78. This paticular fishes appetite seems small and her stomach looks caved in leading me to believe it may be TB but she shows no other signs of the disease. 2 weeks ago we were losing a fish per day. I did a complete water change. Things went well for a week but now I have lost one african dwarf frog and 2 fish plus one obviously ill in 3 days. I had my water tested and levels of everything are are in the normal range. I have turned up the temperature to 79 thinking it may help but it does not seem to matter. I do not want to add more guppies until I have figured out the problem. Some of the females are gravid and due anytime now. I would like to prevent problems to the fry. Any Ideas on what can be happening? One last thing as the fish near death (usually less than 2 hours after symptoms appear) the gills look like they are over exerting even in fresh water.

 

[s6king]

Our sick fish has died it was only 1 hour and 50 minutes since the onset of symptoms. Any infomation on helping our other fish in the future would be appreciated. We are currently losing one fish per day. I have now stopped replacing them since I don't want to make more sick.

 

[Sasha]

Do the guppies look thin?

 

[s6king]

not all. Just the one that died today. The rest look completely healthy until about 2 hours before they die. The start swimming funny and sinking and floating then swim normal then funny then sink to the bottom and turn sideways as they die.

 

[tstenback]

This article may help.

 

[3fsh]

How big is the tank? What are your water parameters? (Get a kit and test the water yourself... store tests aren't very accurate-- IME.) How many fish are in the tank? Have you cycled it yet? A little info might help a bit in figuring out what is wrong.

 

[s6king]

5 gallons 2 male guppies 3 female guppies one african dwarf frog, all levels of ph nitrate amonia etc are in safe/normal ranges ( I have my water tested daily at pet shop for free) I uploaded a picture of the one that died this morning. The picture was taken 5 minutes before she died.

 

[tstenback]

That looks like the work of an internal parasite. These guys can grow for a while without us noticing any change in the fishes behaviour or activity level it is only in the advanced stages that we notice and then it is sometimes too late.

 

[s6king]

What should I try? Should I try a salt treatment of specific medicine?

 

[tstenback]

If there are any fish exhibiting the thinning out that the picture shows then treat with a parasite med like internal parasite guard by Jungle or Pepso food or Tetra's Anti-Parasite Medicated flakes. The medicated food is the best way to go but if you cant get that then any other internal parasite med should do the trick if its early enough in the disease cycle to make a difference. HTH

 

[s6king]

Thank you I will try that. Will it be safe for the gravid females and their unborn fry? I would hope/think so.

 

[tstenback]

I have never had a problem with it. When fry are involved in the tank i usually half the dose.

 

[Sasha]

To treat an internal parasite, I recommend Jungle Parasite Clear Tank Buddies and, for best results, feed the fish with Pepso Food. Good luck!