Skinny guppy, still deteriorating after months

[Irksome]

I’m quite new to the hobby. I have a 54ltr cycled tank with 8 male guppies and snails. A couple of months ago I lost 2 fish to an ammonia spike and a third survived but with massive loss of tail. He has been getting thinner ever since, still eats and swims but compared to his companions he is emaciated. He has no sores or obvious worms or fungus. My levels are not perfect, ammonia 0.5, nitrite 0, nitrate 10. Should I euthanise him in case he has something infection, or is it likely he just never fully recovered from ammonia poisoning?

 

[FishGuest5123]

@Colin_T can help you here. I had a similar issue but nothing helped mine. Not even daily water changes.

 

[Retired Viking]

My guess is ammonia poisoning, it burns the fishes gills just like our lung and can take a long time to recover from if ever. If you are doing weekly water changes and still show ammonia I would add some floating plants like hornwort or water sprite, you can also plant it in the gravel. Plants will absorb the ammonia. You should do another water change of 50-70%

 

[Irksome]

My guess is ammonia poisoning, it burns the fishes gills just like our lung and can take a long time to recover from if ever. If you are doing weekly water changes and still show ammonia I would add some floating plants like hornwort or water sprite, you can also plant it in the gravel. Plants will absorb the ammonia. You should do another water change of 50-70%

My guess is ammonia poisoning, it burns the fishes gills just like our lung and can take a long time to recover from if ever. If you are doing weekly water changes and still show ammonia I would add some floating plants like hornwort or water sprite, you can also plant it in the gravel. Plants will absorb the ammonia. You should do another water change of 50-70%

thanks for the reply. I think it is likely still the effects of ammonia. I change 30% of the water twice weekly and I have more plants on order, I also use Seachem prime to detoxify the ammonia a little. I worry that the tank is a little overstocked and it is keeping my levels from stabilising.

 

[seangee]

thanks for the reply. I think it is likely still the effects of ammonia. I change 30% of the water twice weekly and I have more plants on order, I also use Seachem prime to detoxify the ammonia a little. I worry that the tank is a little overstocked and it is keeping my levels from stabilising.

Changing 60% once a week is better than 30% twice a week. When you change 30% you are leaving 70% of the bad stuff behind, so the bad stuff only goes down slowly. (Even more is still better.)