very ill guppies

[Dred]

HELP!!

I lost my male guppy last week to what I think was dropsy.

He was sitting near the top of the tank, very lethargic, not swimming, not eating and looking very bloated.

Now several of my females appear to be in trouble.

Have checked water parameters again: pH 8.5 (normal tapwater is 8.5), ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 16. I have been doing 25% water changes weekly.

Females have a variety of symptoms: sitting at top of tank not feeding and very lethargic. some sitting near bottom gulping, some have white stringy poo, one has red areas on sides, some very bloated.

Have been feeding shelled, cooked peas which they love but does not seem to be improving situation. All females are appear to be pregnant. I am also using Myxazin for the last three days for the bacterial infection (red patches) which seems to be working.

What do I do now, I don't want to loose all my guppies, I only bought them two weeks ago. Was I sold a bad batch, are they likely to infect the rest of my tank? What is going wrong? What can I do?

Please help

Thanks.

 

[WILDER]

White stingy poo is an indication of internal parasites, the red marks sound like septicemia which is hard to cure as it is blood poisoning.internal parasites are contagious , their is no med for internal parasites is theis country, but some fishkeepers use cat worming tablets.

 

[Dred]

Oh No!

If there are no meds available in this country for internal parasites does that mean I am going to loose all my fish including my black widows, corries and plec?

IfI use cat worming tablets, how much should I use?

Is there really nothing else I can do?

 

[WILDER]

I would remove the fish that have white stringy poo from the tank, sorry I don't no how you use the cat worming tablet, maybe someone else does, or phone a vet he might be able to give you a med and some advice.Good luck.

 

[WILDER]

Just to add, you say you have been feeding peas, do the fish with the long stringy poo, still have long stringy poo after eating the peas.

 

[Dred]

Hi Wilder
yes they still have white stringy poo even after eating the peas. I thought the bloating might be poor diet resulting in constipation and bloating, so I have given them the odd pea over the last three days. All the fish really love them but it doesn't seem to be helping them.

I don't think I'm over feeding them, but would be glad of any opinions. I feed them a few fish flakes in the morning, it's all gone in about a minuite. In the evening I feed a few fish flakes again and a few sinking pellets for the corries (however the black widows and the guppies seem to like them too!). Then every other day I drop in one algae flake in the evening for the plec. All the food seems to be eaten, even the peas don't last long.

I would like to give them a more varied diet, I know some people have mentioned cooked corgette and daphnia. Any suggestions welcome as I am a real novice.

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

If they had got constipated the pea should of got rid of everything, so it does look like internal parasites if they are still doing the white stingy poo,try some frozen bloodworms and daphnia, as they need a varied diet as to many dry foods can cause swim bladder and dropsy, also if you can remove the affected fish from the tank it might stop passing to the other, as they can catch internal parasites by sucking poo in their mouths and spitting it out again.

 

[Dred]

Hi Wilder

Thanks for all the advice.

This is a really dumb question and I'm really embarassed to ask, but how do I best set up a quarantine tank into which I can move my poor sick little fishes. )

Do I have to set up a new tank from scratch and do the whole cycling thing again or can I pinch some water from my current tank?

I'll nip out and get some frozen blood worms and Daphnia to try and cheer them up tomorrow.

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

You will need a small filter, a heater, take the water from the tank, you don't always need gravel, a few hiding places, and take a bit sponge from your mature tank and place it in the filter, if you don't have a filter you will have to remove debris from the tank with a net daily, and do daily water changes, and test your water daily.

 

[Dred]

Hi Wilder

Thanks for the help.
Will get the isolation tank set up for my remaining four guppies. Unfortunately came down this morning and one of my females is dead, not the one that I expected to loose but one of the others.

Decided to do an autopsy (always loved Biology at school) - no I'm not a freak, just thought if it was worms I might be able to see them in the intestines.

Everything looked OK, not that I know much about fish anatomy. The intestines were not bulging or anything. There was one large creamy coloured organ which I took to be the stomach, quite fatty looking and a little enlarged I would imagine for the size of the fish. No worms in sight, any comments or suggestions welcome.

Sadly she was pregnant, fourteen beautifully formed little fry, just waiting to be born, I think she must have been really close to giving birth because they were a good few millimeters long (about 4-5mm when uncoiled from their foetal position).

I am really devistated, I don't want to loose anymore mothers and babies. My yellow tailed guppy looks fit to burst and I am really worried about her.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your loss, it's awful good luck with the others.