Pink spots on a guppy tail - and another one looking unwell

[Vlowman]

Hi all,

I thought the most serious problem I had in my tank was algae, and have in the last few weeks added CO2 into the mix, as well as a little spot dosing with Excel. As far as I can tell I'm not overdoing it with either. I've just tested my water too, and no ammonia or nitrite, with nitrate at normal levels for where I live.

Anyway, I just noticed one of my guppies sitting on the substrate which I know not to be a good sign.



Then I noticed my blue guppy has some pink spots on his tail. His tail's always looked a bit raggedy (I think) so although I'm guessing this is fin rot, I'm not sure where the pink spots fit in.





I'd be grateful for treatment advice. I do have something I can use as a hospital tank - but no media to add to it to insta-cycle, so I guess that would mean daily water changes? Not sure how that would work with any medicines but perhaps someone can advise?

Thanks!

 

[CarissaT]

I‘m not a fish disease expert and don’t know the history of your tank, but just wanted to say that when fish aren’t well always start with some good water changes of 30-50% if you haven’t done so already.

With your co2, make sure you are fertilizing your plants sufficiently and that you keep co2 levels extremely stable. If you don’t do these two things your plants will suffer because with co2 they will need more nutrients than the fish can provide and when they run out they will start to die, they also adapt somewhat to co2 levels and if it drops suddenly, they are unable to function. Algae often is a sign of poor plant health rather than something that needs to be battled directly, the same as fish disease is often a sign of poor fish health rather than an infection needing meds.

Sorry I’m not more help with diagnosing your fish, hopefully someone else will chime in here.

 

[Colin_T]

Can we get some more pictures?
Check them to make sure the fish is in focus. The camera picked up the plant well but blurred the fish

Post a picture of the entire tank too so we can see how many plants you have.

If you don't have many live plants, there is no point adding CO2. The CO2 can drop the pH and that can harm the guppies who do best with a pH above 7.0

I don't know what is in the excel fertiliser but if it's the stuff to add carbon to the water, that is bad for fish, shrimp and snails.

Check the water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH).

The orange dots on the blue guppy are interesting. How long have they been on the fish?
How long have you had the fish for?

 

[Vlowman]

Thanks all. Took a bunch of photos to the LFS and they were baffled until one of the photos appeared to catch the spots at an angle that illustrated it was fungal in nature, so I'm treating for that in a hospital tank.

 

[Colin_T]

How did they identify it as a fungus?

What fungal treatment did they sell you?

 

[Vlowman]

How did they identify it as a fungus?

What fungal treatment did they sell you?

They looked stumped for a while and then one of my many photos - possibly this one - seemed to reveal its fungal nature, which I took to mean the whiteish part of the spots and shape. That said, I've been treating with Interpret Anti-Fungus and Fin Rot medicine in a hospital tank for nearly two weeks and these spots haven't gone away - so I'm losing faith a bit and don't know what to do next...

 

[Colin_T]

Are the spots getting bigger?

This is really interesting. From a scientific point of view, I would be inclined to take one to a fish vet and see if they can ID the spot. Try contacting the local department of agriculture and see if they have a fish health section. If they do, they don't normally charge the home fish keeper for identifying things on fish and might be able to take a sample and stick it under a microscope. They might also kill the fish so be warned.

If you take it to a vet that treats fish, it will cost you a fair bit.