Please Help!!! Guppy’s dying one by one and can’t identify illness

[FrGuy]

Please Help! I’ve had my tank for about 2 months now. I started with plants and using fish food to cycle. Tank seems to me that it is fully cycled and has been for about 3 weeks as I was doing daily testings and steadily got 0ppm ammonia and nitrite readings, and my nitrates have always reading between 20 and 40 ppm. PH is a 7.4 and has been steady. I first stocked it with 3 guppy’s, 1 died within a day and I assumed this one to just be weak and die from the move . Then a few days later, my other fish started clamping it’s fins and would sit at the top of the tank. She started getting bloated and would poop a transparent fluid . A day later she was just sitting on the bottom breathing heavy and passed. I dosed the tank with API general cure as I thought it to be some sort of internal parasite. Then the same thing happened to my male, but I just assumed it was too late for him. Within that time I got one more female to make up for the first loss because the male seemed to be bothering my other female. I just did my second dose of api general cure and now my female is starting to clamp her fins and sit still towards the top. What could this be ? I test my water everyday and have not read any ammonia or nitrite reading above 0 and my nitrates stay around 20 ppm maybe a little over. I will add some pictures of my sick fish that passed and my newly sick female.

 

[Kyanite14]

Hard to see in the photos, but were their scales pineconing? If so, sounds like dropsy.

It could be an internal parasite, but if so it seems too late to treat. Bloated bellies indicate there could be a LOT of parasites in them. However, since we’re not sure if it’s a parasite, medicating them may have stressed them out if they didn’t need it. I’ve heard prazipro is the best one to try, but since you’re already using general cure, I wouldn’t use it.

We’re they this bloated when you bought them? What store did you buy from?

 

[FrGuy]

No

Hard to see in the photos, but were their scales pineconing? If so, sounds like dropsy.

It could be an internal parasite, but if so it seems too late to treat. Bloated bellies indicate there could be a LOT of parasites in them. However, since we’re not sure if it’s a parasite, medicating them may have stressed them out if they didn’t need it. I’ve heard prazipro is the best one to try, but since you’re already using general cure, I wouldn’t use it.

We’re they this bloated when you bought them? What store did you buy from?

no they didn’t seem to be bloated when I bought them and I got them from a lfs near me I inspected the tanks in which I bought them and they were definitely over stocked with tons of guppy’s but all seemed to be healthy and I didn’t notice any dead fish in the tanks. I was worried about the GC stressing them out also but I wanted to act fast to try and save them . I definitely had a hard time to do a complete diagnoses from what I found on the internet because a lot of the symptoms I found happen to a variety of diseases. My last fish isn’t bloated yet, just clamped fins and sitting still but this seems to be the first stage in this mysterious illness before they bloat and eventually die . I will definitely update if things get better or worse .

 

[biofish]

Hmmm… at your LFS did you see any ich?

When I started fish keeping, my guppies had a similar sudden unexplainable death. And it wasn’t until I bought a tetra and he had spots the next day that I finally found the issue. The guppies never showed spots. Treated it with ich x and haven’t had any sudden deaths since.

But other things to consider are any chemical/soap that got into the tank. Any heavy smells like scented candles

 

[FrGuy]

No

no they didn’t seem to be bloated when I bought them and I got them from a lfs near me I inspected the tanks in which I bought them and they were definitely over stocked with tons of guppy’s but all seemed to be healthy and I didn’t notice any dead fish in the tanks. I was worried about the GC stressing them out also but I wanted to act fast to try and save them . I definitely had a hard time to do a complete diagnoses from what I found on the internet because a lot of the symptoms I found happen to a variety of diseases. My last fish isn’t bloated yet, just clamped fins and sitting still but this seems to be the first stage in this mysterious illness before they bloat and eventually die . I will definitely update if things get better or worse .

I totally forgot to mention that my fancy male started to have some finrot

Hmmm… at your LFS did you see any ich?

When I started fish keeping, my guppies had a similar sudden unexplainable death. And it wasn’t until I bought a tetra and he had spots the next day that I finally found the issue. The guppies never showed spots. Treated it with ich x and haven’t had any sudden deaths since.

But other things to consider are any chemical/soap that got into the tank. Any heavy smells like scented candles

i didn’t notice any ich at the store and that’s weird that’s why I kind of ruled out ich because I haven’t seen any white spots because that was my first thought but no white spots developed . I was wondering if that was the case too with some other chemical maybe being in there . I took the carbon filter out of my tank from the start as I heard it sucks nutrients from plants , do you think that would help or do more harm? She was hiding when I came home today but came out and was pretty active and ate, and her fins were normal, now she’s back on the bottom when I turned my tank light off. I also do see a small red dot on the back of her body now, I will post a picture but sorry it isn’t the best of quality as I couldn’t get a great picture

 

[Kyanite14]

A small red dot could be an injury of some sort, like if she scratched against something sharp. You said this was a female? It’s POSSIBLE she’s pregnant, which would explain the bloating, but of course wouldn’t explain the sudden deaths of the others. If she has fin rot, you can try to slowly raise the temperature and add freshwater salt. I wouldn’t use medication unless the former method doesn’t work, since some medications can stress them out. This definitely sounds like your LFS isn’t reputable though, seeing as these fish are dying despite you having good water parameters

 

[Kyanite14]

Hmmm… at your LFS did you see any ich?

When I started fish keeping, my guppies had a similar sudden unexplainable death. And it wasn’t until I bought a tetra and he had spots the next day that I finally found the issue. The guppies never showed spots. Treated it with ich x and haven’t had any sudden deaths since.

But other things to consider are any chemical/soap that got into the tank. Any heavy smells like scented candles

That’s also a possibility, they should also take account if they stuck their hand in the tank shortly after using a soap or scented product.

 

[Kyanite14]

Please Help! I’ve had my tank for about 2 months now. I started with plants and using fish food to cycle. Tank seems to me that it is fully cycled and has been for about 3 weeks as I was doing daily testings and steadily got 0ppm ammonia and nitrite readings, and my nitrates have always reading between 20 and 40 ppm. PH is a 7.4 and has been steady. I first stocked it with 3 guppy’s, 1 died within a day and I assumed this one to just be weak and die from the move . Then a few days later, my other fish started clamping it’s fins and would sit at the top of the tank. She started getting bloated and would poop a transparent fluid . A day later she was just sitting on the bottom breathing heavy and passed. I dosed the tank with API general cure as I thought it to be some sort of internal parasite. Then the same thing happened to my male, but I just assumed it was too late for him. Within that time I got one more female to make up for the first loss because the male seemed to be bothering my other female. I just did my second dose of api general cure and now my female is starting to clamp her fins and sit still towards the top. What could this be ? I test my water everyday and have not read any ammonia or nitrite reading above 0 and my nitrates stay around 20 ppm maybe a little over. I will add some pictures of my sick fish that passed and my newly sick female.

Ok I’ve done some more research, I think you were right to assume parasites. The transparent poop and bloating points to roundworms or callumanus worms. Praziquantel is a good one to use, which there was some in the general cure. I would try prazipro though, but wait until the general cure has run it’s course.

If you notice red worms hanging out of the Anus, that would confirm it. Prazipro will expel the worms and paralyze them, but they likely won’t die. You’ll need to vacuum the gravel.

Most articles I read suggest fully cleaning and recycling the tank… I would at least try to confirm it’s the worms before going that far. If the fish expel worms during treatment or you see them hanging out of the anus then that’s a confirmation.

 

[FrGuy]

Ok I’ve done some more research, I think you were right to assume parasites. The transparent poop and bloating points to roundworms or callumanus worms. Praziquantel is a good one to use, which there was some in the general cure. I would try prazipro though, but wait until the general cure has run it’s course.

If you notice red worms hanging out of the Anus, that would confirm it. Prazipro will expel the worms and paralyze them, but they likely won’t die. You’ll need to vacuum the gravel.

Most articles I read suggest fully cleaning and recycling the tank… I would at least try to confirm it’s the worms before going that far. If the fish expel worms during treatment or you see them hanging out of the anus then that’s a confirmation.

Alright thank you ! She unfortunately was a bit more bloated today and still sitting at the top which is usually the last sign I have seen before death. Today is supposed to be the last day of the general cure treatment then I’m supposed to do 25-50% water change according to the box and add carbon . Do you think I should try to clean the tank of the medicine and try prazi pro to save her or maybe just let it runs it course and see how it goes ? If she does pass should I clean the whole tank and recycle before I get new fish or is there some other way to rid the tank of any parasites before adding fish? If I do clean the tank and recycle it can I keep the same filter in there to have some beneficial bacteria or should I just throw that filter media out and start all over ? Sorry for the lots of questions I just can’t find much on the internet to help me out on this . A lot of the symptoms did sound like callamanus worms other then I have not notice any red like worms sticking out of her all though I know it still could possibly be the cause.

 

[Kyanite14]

Alright thank you ! She unfortunately was a bit more bloated today and still sitting at the top which is usually the last sign I have seen before death. Today is supposed to be the last day of the general cure treatment then I’m supposed to do 25-50% water change according to the box and add carbon . Do you think I should try to clean the tank of the medicine and try prazi pro to save her or maybe just let it runs it course and see how it goes ? If she does pass should I clean the whole tank and recycle before I get new fish or is there some other way to rid the tank of any parasites before adding fish? If I do clean the tank and recycle it can I keep the same filter in there to have some beneficial bacteria or should I just throw that filter media out and start all over ? Sorry for the lots of questions I just can’t find much on the internet to help me out on this . A lot of the symptoms did sound like callamanus worms other then I have not notice any red like worms sticking out of her all though I know it still could possibly be the cause.

Do the change and then start prazipro, or fenbendazole, whichever is easier to obtain. If she dies I would perform an autopsy to see if you can find little red/white worms. Then call your LPS informing them, since if they had it all of their stock likely does. If she survives and expels worms I would immediately vacuum them with the siphon.

The worms can survive without a host for around 3 weeks to 3 months. Apparently these guys can survive up to 140 F, so it’s better to clean the tank out with bleach solution and replace all substrate AND media. Scrub everything. Disinfect anything that comes into contact with the water, including siphons and nets. It’s safer to recycle the tank as well, as it’s possible for them to hang around the media.