What now?

[CV26]

If you've read my other threads you'll know we've had a bit of a rough time with our first tank.

Well we still seem to be having problems...

Tank levels are currently 0 A, 0 Ni, 10 Na, PH 7.5ish

Timeline

- purchased what turned out to be dodgy guppies in September

- first guppy died within a week and we sent several months trying to figure out cause. Tried wormer meds and anti parasite during that time. Fish were flashing, and gradually we noticed that they became thin and had ragged fins - we lost several guppies and corys overall.

- Went bare bottom over Christmas for several weeks and dosed with Esha NDX to treat Callamanus after seeing a red worm hanging out of a female guppy - this was advised by reputable LFS.

- rebuilt tank but still had white, sometimes stringy poop from a couple of fish. Treated with Esha GDEX for tapeworm to cover all bases, also used Esha 2000 as it covers a variety of issues.

- a few weeks ago we lost the guppy who had originally displayed a visible worm. She had gone very thin and although we didn't see any worms again, I think she was too far gone.

- left tank alone for a bit with no meds to give the fish a break, still noticed white, sometimes stringy poop from a couple of fish. No other dodginess though - they all seemed fine.

Now...
- Since Friday we've noticed that 1 female platy has been bloated. She has been very quiet, her fins have been clamped (although not permanently) and she doesn't seem fussed about food. Haven't noticed poop for several days so she could be bloated but she wouldn't eat the peas I tried to give her. We did think she looked a little wobbly when swimming - she seemed a bit front heavy - but this wasn't constant so we couldn't tell if she was just being carried a bit by the tank flow.

- we did another Esha 2000 dose as that covers clamped fins but there was no improvement. Her dorsal fin looks a bit ragged I think - this happened to the fish that died previously.

- we don't think she's pregnant for several reasons.

- poorly platy has just been moved to a hospital tank with standard salt dose to see if this helps.

The main tank has been dosed within an inch of its life so I'm loathed to add more meds to it.

So...any advice at this stage?

Are we still dealing with worms or is it more like to be protozoan?

Could the white poop in the other fish be a stress reaction at all and not something to worry about?

(Don't think it's internal bacterial in the poorly platy as previous advice suggested affected fish die quickly)

Sorry for the epic post but we are really at a loss now. Starting to wish we hadn't got a tank in the first place as its heart wrenching to keep losing fish and not be sure why.

 

[CV26]

Bloated platy.

Her fins are flared and not clamped in this image but she has gone for long periods over the last few days with them clamped.

 

[Colin_T]

Stringy white poop, not eating and sudden bloating is an internal bacterial infection or organ failure.

Organ failure is usually caused by an internal infection but can also occur from being exposed to too many chemicals. Basically the liver fails and swells up and the fish dies.

She could be clamping her fins when in pain.

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Stop adding chemicals. Do big daily water changes with dechlorinated water and see what happens.

 

[CV26]

Thanks Colin.

I moved her to a hospital tank a couple of hours ago. I used a couple of litres of main tank water (2l) and then the rest fresh - all dechlorinated (8l). The only extra is a standard dose of salt.

The tank isn't cycled, although I have put some main tank media in there. I was planning on a water change tomorrow to make sure A and Ni don't start building up.

1) Shall I keep on with the salt for the hospital tank?

2) What about the couple of fish who've done white, sometimes stringy, poop still in the main tank? They aren't bloated and are eating fine. Just the poop colour. Should I be concerned about them?

 

[CV26]

My other platy is also now chasing her tank mates and going after them if they come near her. Don't think she likes being the only platy in the main tank.

 

[Colin_T]

Any fish that is doing stringy white poop potentially has an internal problem. It is normally intestinal worms, bacterial infections or protozoan infections.
If the fish are eating well then it's probably worms.
If the fish stops eating and bloats up overnight it is an internal bacterial infection.
If the fish loses weight over a week but tries to eat a bit (but not a normal amount), then it has an internal protozoan infection.

If the fish in the main tank are eating well, then just leave them be. If they start doing white poop regularly (more than once a week), then start a new thread for them.

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I wouldn't add salt to the hospital tank because it will just put more stress on her system.

 

[CV26]

Thanks - fingers crossed for the platy in the hospital tank. Will leave the main tank as is unless there are any really obvious red flags.

Very frustrated and upset by the whole situation. Hate to think we might have made things worse by trying to fix things.

 

[FishGuest5123]

We have all been guilty of that. Are you sure she isn’t pregnant?

 

[CV26]

Deanasue - thanks for the reassurance.

At first glance it does look like a pregnancy and some of behaviour is consistent with an uncomfortable pregnant fish from what I've read.

However she hasn't been near a male in 4 months - I know they can hang onto the sperm for a good while but her platy friend has been giving us fry every month since we got them. We figured she'd have shown pregnancy signs or even had fry long before now. It's not impossible but we just think it's the less likely answer given what's happened with the other one. We could be wrong though - we keep getting surprised by stuff!