Hello! I've been seeing some shimmying + clamped fins in one of my female guppies (I have 3 total, 2f, 1m in the tank.) It is a 10 gal planted tank (filled to about 8.) Relatively new tank (about 3-4 months old) and fully cycled. The symptoms started about a week ago and in only one fish, so I did some quick research and read low water hardness could result in shimmying, so I tested my water and the water was indeed very very soft (about 35ppm).
I have since raised it to 135ish ppm with seachem equilibrium, and been monitoring the fish to see if it would help. There seemed to be some improvements so I thought she just needed some time to bounce back. A couple days ago she even seemed to be back to normal (no more clamped fins, actively swimming, she returned to shimmying in her 'favourite shimmying' spot only a couple of times that day.) However, the next day she seemed to go back to frequent shimmying and clamped fins, and has been the same for the past 2 days. So thats when I decided to post on this forum to get some advice/see if im missing something.
To summarize the sick behaviour: She frequently shimmies near the top of the tank, usually in a preferred spot. It is not constant, she will usually shimmy for 30 seconds to a few minutes then return to swimming around a little. Only to return to shimmying or otherwise sticking to the surface. The entire time she also has clamped fins, and I have seen her gulp/gasp at the surface as she shimmies, she's also quite skinny. None of the other 2 guppies exhibit this behaviour. I have considered that this may be an oxygen problem, however no other fish seem to be gasping, and I have a rather long air stone in the tank already.
Other notes: Her poop is not transparent. Maybe the stress of the male chasing them around might be the issue, but he has left her alone in favor of the other female ever since shes been acting this way. The male guppy was purchased from a store a few weeks back, and the females I took in from my fathers tank a couple weeks ago(the tank is quite old, has been running for many years). I've considered adding salt into the tank, but have yet to, I was worried about plant damage and wasn't sure about the recommended salt dosage for a planted tank vs unplanted. Any help/advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated, I worry about my poor fishy quite a bit.![thanks :thanks: :thanks:](/images/smilies/ipb/thanks.gif)
Water Parameters: Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: ~5ppm (has gone up to as high as 40ppm in the past, 5ppm was the most recent measurement.), PH: ~7.5, Hardness: ~135ppm, Temp: 24C
Water changes: Once a week
Chemicals: Root tabs for the plants, water column fertilizer (about 0.5ml every other day,) seachem equilibrium, and water conditioner.
To summarize the sick behaviour: She frequently shimmies near the top of the tank, usually in a preferred spot. It is not constant, she will usually shimmy for 30 seconds to a few minutes then return to swimming around a little. Only to return to shimmying or otherwise sticking to the surface. The entire time she also has clamped fins, and I have seen her gulp/gasp at the surface as she shimmies, she's also quite skinny. None of the other 2 guppies exhibit this behaviour. I have considered that this may be an oxygen problem, however no other fish seem to be gasping, and I have a rather long air stone in the tank already.
Other notes: Her poop is not transparent. Maybe the stress of the male chasing them around might be the issue, but he has left her alone in favor of the other female ever since shes been acting this way. The male guppy was purchased from a store a few weeks back, and the females I took in from my fathers tank a couple weeks ago(the tank is quite old, has been running for many years). I've considered adding salt into the tank, but have yet to, I was worried about plant damage and wasn't sure about the recommended salt dosage for a planted tank vs unplanted. Any help/advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated, I worry about my poor fishy quite a bit.
![thanks :thanks: :thanks:](/images/smilies/ipb/thanks.gif)
Water Parameters: Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: ~5ppm (has gone up to as high as 40ppm in the past, 5ppm was the most recent measurement.), PH: ~7.5, Hardness: ~135ppm, Temp: 24C
Water changes: Once a week
Chemicals: Root tabs for the plants, water column fertilizer (about 0.5ml every other day,) seachem equilibrium, and water conditioner.