Pregnant and/or sick guppy

[Serka]

Hello! I'm seeing some strange behaviours in my female guppy that I would like some help with, I really appreciate any advice, thank you!

Tank size: 10 Gal
tank age: 4/5 months? ish
pH: 7.5
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 15ppm
kH: unknown
gH: 140ppm
tank temp: 25.5C/78F

Symptoms:
About 4 days ago my female guppy began breathing fast + heavy, opening and closing her mouth quite fast. She ocasionally would also poop transparent white poops but they were short (not stringy) and look more rice grain like. The white poops would not be every day, and not all day long (she would have regular coloured poops as well,) so Im not sure if they're a cause for concern. I've also been suspecting her pregnant recently, but wasn't sure. I turned on an air stone, wondering if it was an oxygen deficiency, but it continued. She would occasionally dart around the tank, but it was infrequent. Yesterday I added some salt (2tbsp per 20gal,) and this morning she's darting around the tank more, and with clamped fins. She seems to be pooping normally today, and is otherwise active. Her tank mate is 1 male guppy who likes to harass her, and she chases him back often (I'm hoping to move them into a tank with more guppies soon, but I certainly wouldn't do that if she is sick.) Shortly before the onset of symptoms, I added 3 amano shrimp and some red root floaters, I suspect the amano shrimp may have contaminated the tank with something (I dont have a hospital/quarantine tank.)
Here is an image:

Volume and Frequency of water changes: every other week (or weekly if nitrates are going up fast,) most recent water change was a few days ago.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Water conditioner, sea chem equilibrium, liquid fertilizer, root tabs

Tank inhabitants: 1 male, 1 female guppy, and 3 recently added amano shrimp

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 3 amano shrimp, and red root floater plants

 

[Obsessed with fish]

The guppy Is most likely pregnant, if it develops odd posture or swims sideways/upside-down then let us know. Is the male guppy nipping at the females fins?

 

[Serka]

The guppy I most likely pregnant, if it develops odd posture or swims sideways/upside-down then let us know. Is the male guppy nipping at the females fins?

He doesn't nip at her fins, they all look in tact, in the picture it looks a little odd because she just turned around haha.
She's been looking pregnant for many weeks now, so I've been suspecting it for a while, but with how long its been without births I wasn't sure anymore.

I will certainly update if that happens, what would the odd posture mean?

 

[Obsessed with fish]

He doesn't nip at her fins, they all look in tact, in the picture it looks a little odd because she just turned around haha.
She's been looking pregnant for many weeks now, so I've been suspecting it for a while, but with how long its been without births I wasn't sure anymore.

I will certainly update if that happens, what would the odd posture mean?

Usually a guppy is pregnant for about 3-4 weeks, if it has a large abdomen for longer than this it is a cause of concern.

If the guppy has odd posture or is bloated for longer than 4 weeks the guppy could have swim bladder disease, this disease is caused from a bacterial or fungal infection, poor water parameters, over eating or bad genetics.

 

[Serka]

Usually a guppy is pregnant for about 3-4 weeks, if it has a large abdomen for longer than this it is a cause of concern.

If the guppy has odd posture or is bloated for longer than 4 weeks the guppy could have swim bladder disease, this disease is caused from a bacterial or fungal infection, poor water parameters, over eating or bad genetics.

I see, thank you!
I haven't been counting the weeks, but I think it is still within the 3-4 timeline. I have been seeing colour changes in her gravid spot, so I will keep observing her.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

I see, thank you!
I haven't been counting the weeks, but I think it is still within the 3-4 timeline. I have been seeing colour changes in her gravid spot, so I will keep observing her.

OK, just let me know if it has been more than 4 weeks and she still hasn't given birth.

 

[Colin_T]

Video of the fish?
You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either end.

Is the fish eating normally?

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When fish suddenly start breathing heavily/ rapidly can be from poor water quality, chemicals in the water, or the fish has an internal issue that is causing pain, it might also be going into labour.

If the fish hasn't bloated up suddenly overnight and is eating normally, that is a good sign. The fish in the picture does not appear bloated and does not appear to have any external diseases.

The fish might have eaten something that got stuck in its intestine and eventually came out.

The fish could have intestinal worms, which are very common in guppies and other common livebearers that come from fish farms in Asia.

Section 3 of the following link has info on treating fish for intestinal worms if you want to do that.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

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Did you do a water change just before this started?
If yes, the water might have had chlorine or chloramine in and that has poisoned her. Water companies sometimes do work on the water pipes and they increase the chlorine or chloramine when they do this. They don't normally tell their customers and you can treat the new water for chlorine or chloramine but it doesn't all get neutralised and the fish get a dose of it.
Extra aeration will normally fix the problem if it's caused by chlorine.
Adding another dose of dechlorinater (enough to treat the entire tank) will normally fix the problem if it's caused by chloramine.

 

[Serka]

Video of the fish?
You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either end.

Is the fish eating normally?

--------------------

When fish suddenly start breathing heavily/ rapidly can be from poor water quality, chemicals in the water, or the fish has an internal issue that is causing pain, it might also be going into labour.

If the fish hasn't bloated up suddenly overnight and is eating normally, that is a good sign. The fish in the picture does not appear bloated and does not appear to have any external diseases.

The fish might have eaten something that got stuck in its intestine and eventually came out.

The fish could have intestinal worms, which are very common in guppies and other common livebearers that come from fish farms in Asia.

Section 3 of the following link has info on treating fish for intestinal worms if you want to do that.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

--------------------

Did you do a water change just before this started?
If yes, the water might have had chlorine or chloramine in and that has poisoned her. Water companies sometimes do work on the water pipes and they increase the chlorine or chloramine when they do this. They don't normally tell their customers and you can treat the new water for chlorine or chloramine but it doesn't all get neutralised and the fish get a dose of it.
Extra aeration will normally fix the problem if it's caused by chlorine.
Adding another dose of dechlorinater (enough to treat the entire tank) will normally fix the problem if it's caused by chloramine.

Are you looking for a video of the breathing or the darting around? If its the darting around I can send one tomorrow once its day time and they're not sleeping.
She's been eating normally, maybe even more so than usual, and didn't bloat over night for sure.

She started heavy breathing without a prior water change, noticing it prompted me to perform a water change that didn't seem to alleviate it. As for treating intestinal worms, I think most of those medications (except for the Flubendazole?) are unavailable in Canada, but I will check out what local fish stores have next time I'm there. However this female has been in our tanks for over a year now, with no prior issues with worms. Can these issues start later in life?

 

[Colin_T]

Are you looking for a video of the breathing or the darting around? If its the darting around I can send one tomorrow once its day time and they're not sleeping.

Both, a video showing her breathing heavily and darting around.

She started heavy breathing without a prior water change, noticing it prompted me to perform a water change that didn't seem to alleviate it.

If it was a water quality issue or something bad in the water, a big water change should have helped. If it didn't help, then something else is definitely going on.

As for treating intestinal worms, I think most of those medications (except for the Flubendazole?) are unavailable in Canada, but I will check out what local fish stores have next time I'm there. However this female has been in our tanks for over a year now, with no prior issues with worms. Can these issues start later in life?

Fish can carry worms for years and not show symptoms, it just depends on how many worms they have in them.

You did add some plants and shrimp and the water they came in might have had something in it (protozoan parasites or something else) that has gotten into the tank in low numbers and is slowly building up. You need to monitor the fish and if any of them get small white dots or a cream, white or grey film or patch on their body, post pictures immediately.

 

[Serka]

Both, a video showing her breathing heavily and darting around.


If it was a water quality issue or something bad in the water, a big water change should have helped. If it didn't help, then something else is definitely going on.


Fish can carry worms for years and not show symptoms, it just depends on how many worms they have in them.

You did add some plants and shrimp and the water they came in might have had something in it (protozoan parasites or something else) that has gotten into the tank in low numbers and is slowly building up. You need to monitor the fish and if any of them get small white dots or a cream, white or grey film or patch on their body, post pictures immediately.

Heres a link to the video:

She isn't really darting around today, so the video mostly just has her breathing.
I will definitely keep monitoring them for any changes.

 

[Colin_T]

There's a lot of water movement in the tank. Perhaps move the filter so it's closer to the surface and there isn't as much current in the tank. Having the filter outlet slashing across the surface will increase the oxygen level in the water and might help with the breathing.

The male is giving her a hard time and this combined with possibly trying to give birth and possibly low oxygen levels in the water might be the cause. She looks a bit slimmer in the second half of the video and I'm wondering if she gave birth but the babies got sucked into the filter.

She looks pretty healthy overall so try moving the filter first and maybe add some floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides or C. cornuta). If she is still breathing heavily in a week, then treat her for worms and gill flukes. Some deworming medications (Praziquantel and Flubendazole) treat both. Salt can also be used to kill gill flukes.

Section 3 of the following link has info on treating intestinal worms in fish. Gills flukes get treated the same way if using a dewormer (once a week for 3-4 weeks). If using salt, just add salt and leave it in the tank for a month.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[Serka]

I see, thank you for your advice! I was actually worried there was too little movement, I will lift the filter up a bit.
The two parts were filmed only about 15 minutes apart, I just checked on her with a flashlight and she's still looking large so I don't think she gave birth? Not sure honestly.

Would adding water sprites serve to oxygenate the water or to provide hiding space for the fry?
I'll keep an eye on her then follow your advice if she doesn't get better.

 

[Colin_T]

Water Sprite is a floating plant so it doesn't do anything to the oxygen in the water, but it does remove a lot of nutrients and will provide lots of hiding places for the mum and babies.

If the Water Sprite grows well (and it usually does), you can plant some of the young plants in the gravel and they will /provide oxygen when they get sufficient light.

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To see if the filter is making too much current in the water, watch the fish when they aren't swimming and see if they get pushed around the tank. If they do then there is lots of current. You can have some current in the water but the fish must have a few calm areas to rest in.

 

[Serka]

I see, they don't seem to be pushed around at the other half of the tank, away from the filter. So I assume that is ok?

 

[Colin_T]

As long as there are some calm areas they should be fine.