Ill Guppies...

Hi All,

Ok, as most might have seen in the introductory thread, I'm still very new to tropical fish. I've had some advise on that thread which I used and upped my female / Male guppy ratio. Boy, the males seem very happy now and my one female has actually been left alone and started spawning her little fry.

So I added 5 guppy females 7 days ago, two of them seemed very stressed from the start but I concluded it must've been the double move they had (they were apparently just released from their floating session at the LPS when I bought them, note to self do not impulse buy fishies again).

So nonetheless I have been watching them closely and they seemed to calm down a little but the two were still breathing (gilling?!?) heavily near the water surface but they were at least eating. My other 7 guppies and two angels were 100% fine. First thought here was I overstocked (open to interrogation here; I am getting a bigger tank for the Angels soon) so I started 20% water changes in addition to my weekly gravel vac and filter cleaning (only rinse the sponge from the powerbhead filter in the water I removed from the tank)

This morning I discovered the two females have what appears to be sores on their tales and one female has a white spot on her fin, both females have not eaten today and their stools are stringy and white. Sorry about the quality of the pics...

Oh, water temp was a constant 25C; 30 liter tank
(Sorry, water test kit is my next purchase)

 

Is there no-one who can help this poor dude?

 

Hi Splat

I have heard a few things about guppies but how true they are I am not sure.

Some say that they are bred with a very high quality overseas and can not handle our water.
Some say they are bred and grown with lots of hormones and antibiotics.

I think you just got two bad fish when you purchased them from the LPS. Personally I would just get rid of them.
I know a little harsh but seeing that you can loose your other fish and do not really want to buy lots of things
to save two guppies that would be my route, sorry.

I would rather buy some guppies from someone who breeds them locally because they have a better change of being
good quality that can survive in our water.

Sorry for the bad news but that is how I see it.

Gerhard

 

My experience with guppies... I buy 7 to ensure I have at least 2 that survive.

 

Hi @Splat

Sounds like your guppies might have a host of problems - from parisitical to bacterial...
Would suggest you put the whole tank on a course of Tetra Genaral Tonic...remember to remove any carbon from your flter if you have any in... 'bout the best advise I could come up with @ the mo...

 

Thanks for all the responses so far, sounds bleek.

I know Angels and Guppies are not tank mates, I've been watching them even closer hoping it was just the Angels possibly biting the guppies, but, I haven't seens any agression other than the odd bump. But you never know what happens when the lights go out...

As to the white spot, Ich? Been doing some reading and it looks like a strong possibility?

Well they all got a nice yummy dose of bloodworm this morning, only the one guppy with the white spot not eating, the other guppy female with the tail eina is pigging out on the bw.

 

If it is ich you should see loads of white spots all over your fish.

 

Hi @Splat
As a guy with more guppies than I know what to do with, I tend to agree with @azurekoi. only one extra KV. if you have any fine leaf plants (like hornwort) in your tank, take them out before you treat with Tetra General Tonic. Otherwise you will be left with only some sticks.

 

Okie Dokes, will make me a little trip out to the LPS for some TGT. While I'm there, should I get a Corner filter aswell? My powerhead filter only has a sponge and bio balls in, no space for AC. Should I then add AC to help clear the water once the meds have run their course?

 

Hi @Splat any update for us?

 

Hi, so farthe white spot has dropped off and split one fin. Appetites are back up to what they were. The patches that looked like sores are healing.

I didn't add meds though, I raised my tank temp up gradually to 29.5 and plan to leave it there till sunday. I had no other fish infected.

 

Yes, guppies are definitely not as hardy as they used to be. I do find that they do better at a lower temperature of around 26. The only meds I use is Seachem Paraguard and Seachem Stability. Other than that, I do weekly 40% water changes. I also have lots of plants in my tanks. Not sure if they help?

 

Well my reasoning was as follows...

The replies I had were dismal, obviously due to experience, which is why we get together on forums, eh?

I had the tank temp at 28 deg on my first attempt which I had to abort due to my move to JNB. My friend who wholesales tropical fish in CPT recommended I keep that temp as white spot cannot survive. So some google, research and a whole heap of logic reckoned that certain parasites, fungal or bacteria will thrive in certain conditions. Change those conditions and they don't thrive anymore. So, throw their world in turmoil within the parameters of the fish. The temp is slightly high for the angels but I knew the guppies would be ok. In conjuction I kept as clean as I could... 20% water changes bi-weekly, gravel vacs daily, small pinches of food twice a day all to minimise the artificial environment and try mimic their natural environment as best as I can.

I took a chance and it seemed to work in my favour so far, I do have the TGT just in case, as well as anti ick too. Come Sunday I'll drop the temp down to 27 and keep monotoring closely.

 

Depending on how stocked your tank is, and how it is filtered, you may find that 20% biweekly is not enough. You could also reduce feeding to once a day. I find my fish are a lot more healthier, have better colouring, and show more spawning behaviour now that I've only been feeding once a day. Remember in the wild they seldom get food every day... and if they do, it's usually something small.