Ugly Swollen Mass On Fantail Guppy

[aquajay]

Hi all,
I woke this morning and fed my fish as usual. I noticed one of the fantail guppies was very lethargic and didn't eat at all. Then I noticed a huge sickly brown/red mass hanging from the center of his stomach. At first I thought it was poop, but it wasn't coming from the right place and didn't look at all right. None of the other fish show any symptoms and I haven't had any sickness in my tank in the 6 months its been running. It's a 20 gallon tank with 3 fantail guppies, 2 neons, 3 zebra danios, and 2 glowlight tetras. I do a 20% water change usually every week, though it had been a month when I last changed it on Saturday. No new plants, rocks, etc have been added recently. Water temp is 75F and I use Prime to condition my new water during changes.

I'm attaching a couple pictures of the mass. It's really nasty and appears to be slowly oozing blood into the water. What can I do to help my poor fish? Any suggestions are very appreciated!

 

[TropicalLad21]

Could've been attacked.... looks nasty.

 

[fidjet2]

What are your water parameters?

 

[aquajay]

My fish have not been aggressive to each other since the first month, so I would doubt an attack, but I suppose it's possible. I don't know my water parameters. Thinking about going to my LPS to get it tested this morning. Does it look like a water issue, a bacteria, or sometime else? Has anyone seen anything like this before? I just started my rock stone to see if some extra oxygen will help him.

 

[TropicalLad21]

You cycled your tank? doesn't sound like it... water shoulda been tested before any fish introduced anyway... most probably your water.

 

[aquajay]

You cycled your tank? doesn't sound like it... water shoulda been tested before any fish introduced anyway... most probably your water.

My tank has been up and running for >6 months so I would doubt it's a cycling problem. Getting the water tested is a good idea tho.

 

[This Old Spouse]

It is a good idea, but this looks like some kind of parasite IMO. Can you set up a quarantine tank for him? It doesn't look good.

 

[aquajay]

It is a good idea, but this looks like some kind of parasite IMO. Can you set up a quarantine tank for him? It doesn't look good.

All I have for an extra tank is a 2 gallon goldfish bowl. I wouldn't have filtration for it either, but could put in a rock stone and do frequent water changes. Else I have a breeder net that I could use in my same tank. Would that do any good? I obviously don't want to lose all the fish in my tank, so what do I need to do? And how do I determine if it's a parasite? I looked here but it doesn't really match any of those descriptions. Thanks for your help!

 

[This Old Spouse]

You should really have at least a 5g tank with filtration and heat. The goldfish bowl would be all right temporarily if you had some filtration but it's too small not to have it ... you'd have to be doing water changes about 4 times a day to keep the ammonia down.

See if you can rouse OldMan47 who's the reigning expert on guppies. Maybe he's seen something like this. I never have.

 

[aquajay]

You should really have at least a 5g tank with filtration and heat. The goldfish bowl would be all right temporarily if you had some filtration but it's too small not to have it ... you'd have to be doing water changes about 4 times a day to keep the ammonia down.

See if you can rouse OldMan47 who's the reigning expert on guppies. Maybe he's seen something like this. I never have.

Thanks for the advice, I just send him a PM. Can I do anything in the meantime for this fish? Does it make sense to start dosing the tank with antibacterial or antifungal chemicals? Should I turn up the temperature? I haven't found anything online that looks like what I have, and I doubt my LPS will be any help. Anyone else with suggestions?

 

[mtbdean]

Looks like a prolapse, mine have had it, and never recovered

 

[aquajay]

Looks like a prolapse, mine have had it, and never recovered

You've had something similar? I'm not familiar with a prolapse, but a google says it usually is for female birthing guppies. Mine are all male, so I'm not sure how that would happen. Can you explain what it is and how you treated your fish? Do I need to worry about it spreading?

 

[This Old Spouse]

The more I look at the photos

the more I think it might be an injury.

 

[fluttermoth]

I agree; it looks like some kind of hernia or injury; certainly not bacterial or parasitic. I'm afraid I don't think there's going to be anything you can do to help the fish

 

[aquajay]

I took another good long look at the fish and realized it looks much 'fatter' and bloated than the other guppies who are very streamlined. Looking head-on at the fish it looks huge both in the vertical and horizontal directions. Does this support anyone's theory?

I took a trip to my LPS and they said that the water stats all looked fine and in the normal range. I showed them the same pictures I posted here and they think it's septicemia. They also conveniently have a $15 medication that will basically kill all the bacteria in the tank. It's called 'Triple Sulfa' which looks like this. Can anyone confirm/deny their logic and if I should use this product on my tank? So far it sounds like everyone on the forum does NOT think it's bacteria. I'm hesitant to use this stuff on my tank without some certainly. Any more help is very appreciated.