Depressed Or Sick?

[soffiememphis]

Hi,
 
I've have had three guppies for several months now and they were all thriving. But within the past two weeks, two of them have died. One from dropsy and the other showed no symptoms before she died. Now there's only one left and he seems to be sulking and hasn't eaten last night or this morning. He has lost most of his color and his body seems to be bent, but his fins are not yet clamped. Last night when I took the other dead female out, it seemed like he panicked, he was laying beside her while i was trying to retrieve her and then began rapidly swimming around the tank. Now he seems lethargic but his fins are moving very fast. Im not sure what to do because I don't want him to suffer of depression (if thats what it is??) but if there is a bacteria or illness in my tank that killed the others and is now working on him, I don't want to kill new guppies too.
 
Any advice??
 
Thanks

 

[TotallyTropical]

 
Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

Start with this, and we may be able to help.
From what it sounds like though, it could be high ammonia or nitrites. Testing your water would definitely give us a clearer idea.

 

[soffiememphis]

Tank size: 2.5 gal
pH: slightly acidic 
nitrite and nitrate: safe range. 
kH: about 40. (I use the testing strips so there is no exact number but it is in the low-moderate level)
tank temp: 76 degrees F
chlorine: none
soft water

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): same symptoms as before but slightly more active and slightly more color, now the dorsal fin is slightly clamped

Volume and Frequency of water changes: last change two weeks ago it was a 3/4 change because I had a sick fish and the nitrates and ammonia spiked.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: currently just Prime as a water conditioner.

Tank inhabitants: one male guppy

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): none

Exposure to chemicals: none
 
 
Thanks!

 

[TotallyTropical]

Everything seems to be alright from what I can see. Could you specify what the "moderate range" of nitrites and nitrates are? That's the only thing I could think of right now. Maybe do a small but quick water change as well to be on the safe side.

 

[soffiememphis]

Nitrates and Nitrites actually seemed to have raised a bit over night.... Nitrate is somewhere between 0-20. Nitrite is somewhere between 0 and .5. The Chlorine is very close to zero. alkalinity is between 0-40. and the pH is between 6.2 and 6.8 but closer to the neutral side. Okay thank you! I think I will try to take a water sample to the store today and get two more fish so he is no longer alone, unless you recommend otherwise. His color is almost back to normal and he wanted to eat this morning but I am still not completely convinced that he is not sick. 

 

[soffiememphis]

I just took about one forth of the water from the bottom of the tank out and put some new water and conditioner in. That stressed him out more than it normally would. Should I wait to introduce new fish to the tank or will company help him?

 

[TotallyTropical]

I'd definitely wait to get more fish until this is figured out, even if he does look a bit lonely. It would be great to get nitrites down to 0ppm, but I'm not sure how difficult that would be. Part of me has a feeling that the tank may be cycling again, but it sounds like everything is under control again. It could have just been the nitrite spike that caused the problems, although it would be good to hear a second opinion on that.

 

[Bubbelzzz]

Based on the ammonia spike and the symptoms of the fish, I would also suggest that the tank is recycling.
However, I was wondering what type of filtration you use and whether you cleaned it in the last couple of weeks.
 
As a sidenote, in my opinion do the guppies need a larger tank as 2,5 gallon (about 10 liter) is pretty small for guppies.

 

[Ltygress]

I just took about one forth of the water from the bottom of the tank out and put some new water and conditioner in. That stressed him out more than it normally would. Should I wait to introduce new fish to the tank or will company help him?

Test your tap water. See if it has ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate in it. If a water change stresses him out even more, I'm wanting to say something may be in your tap water causing concern. This is especially true if you haven't done a water change on a 2.5 gallon tank in two weeks. He should be READY for that fresh water! But if it's stressing him out, then maybe the tap water has high levels of something.

Another thing to check, is to make sure the tap water is about the same temperature as the tank water when you add it. If the water you added was a lot colder, then that would be why the water change stressed him.