Sick Guppy! Help!

BettaFishGirl

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My friends guppy isn't looking to well....it's not active like the others and not really eating as much. It's mouth is open a lot and his gills are a little red and inflamed. It's a 5.5 gallon with 3 other guppies, all of which are perfectly healthy.
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-5
Ph-7.5
Planted tank with heater and filter
Could he just be stressed?
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
 

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Normally red gills and gasping at the surface indicate ammonia burn, but as there is no ammonia, it might have something to do with aggression. It can make fish very stressed and is common among male guppies.
 
It also appears that the guppy’s pectoral fin is ripped some, which could also point to aggression.
 
Yes I was thinking that too, because 2 I got from my LFS, and 2 I got from a chain pet store, and the chain pet store ones seem to be more aggressive than the LFS ones. Maybe it has something to do with that.
 
You could try getting a breeder net and separating the aggressive one from the others. Or you could move the non trouble making guppies to a different tank if you have one?
 
Red gills and or flared gills is caused by poor water quality or gill flukes. if the water is good (and it appears to be), the issue is most likely gill flukes. Salt or Praziquantel should fix it. Guppies also carry intestinal worms and a deworming medication like flubendazole will get rid of intestinal worms and gill flukes.

Section 3 of the following link has info on treating fish for intestinal worms.

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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 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.
 

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