Guppy Shredded Tail :(

[LouiseRat]

one of our guppys we bought yesterday looks like he has shredded his tail he was peacock blue , with a beautiful long tail , i believe they are called phantom guppys .

he is looking black now with only a hint of blue he isnt moving around the tank much , just staying near the top , he is not tilted to the side .

we are new to fishkeeping but it looks like (i dont know what you call it but if he were human) he only has bone left and his skin has gone from the tip of the tail in the middle right up .

we have bought some aquarium salt , do you think if we pop him in a bucket with some aquarium salt it may help , or could we lose him

 

[snowyangel]

Have you seen any of the swordtails chasing him/buggin him? I doubt he would've gotten fin rot so quickly and violently over night so i suspect something in the tank.

 

[WILDER]

Sadly he not going to make it, sounds like a bacterial infection with the finrot which guppys are very prone to, does the fish look really skinny with a bent spine, also do you mean that the flesh is coming away from the bone like it being eaten away.
Also stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph would be good

 

[LouiseRat]

his spine isnt bent , it is his tail , he is a phantom guppy so has a big tail , in a fan shape , from the very tip of his tail in the middle , to by where his tail joins his body looks like the skin(fin) is falling off and is just being left with spikes , he has got much worse through today and we are so worried about him

ph is 8.5 , ammonia 0.3 , nitrite 0.25 , nitrate 25.

he was bugging the 3 pregnant female guppys a lot last night , the swordtails have hardly been near him , but then we dont know what went on whilst we were in bed

he is much darker now , he was peacock blue .

he still has an appetite , we put some brine shrimp in for them earlier and he perked up a little , but he is only using his 2 little front fins to swim around , poor lil boy

really want to help him , but i am gobsmacked at how fast his tailfin is disintegrating away

 

[WILDER]

Once there tail start to go fast and there is hardly none left and sorry to say they don't make it, you need a good antibiotic but it sounds to late, like tetracycline, but you would have to issolate the fish as tetracycline wipes the bacteria colony out in the filter.

 

[LouiseRat]

just looked again and it has gotten even worse

he has about a quarter of his tail fin left , just the bones

 

[WILDER]

Tail and fin rot can be prevented by keeping ammonia and nitrite levels low, adding salt at regular intervals, and quarantine of new fish. Guppies are particularly susceptible to this disease, and you will first recognize it as a ragged edge on the tail fin. Healthy adult tail fins should have a fairly straight edge, though sometimes adolescents will have temporary ragged fins due to uneven growth. As the disease progresses, the other fins become ragged, and the fins develop a white (sometimes though not always, fuzzy) margin. Sometimes, the fins will also develop red bloodspots. If the disease is allowed to continue, your guppies will die. In most species of fish this disease is a combination of bacteria and fungus on the fins themselves, however guppies tend towards acquiring an internal bacterial infection which spreads to the fins. You may try the salt treatment (instructions given later), as this sometimes does the trick. If that doesn't work, an antibiotic such as tetracycline can be used. Let your pet shop help you. They will specifically need to know if you use a bio-filter as many antibiotics will kill your filter.

 

[LouiseRat]

is it best to take him out and let him die peacefully? i feel so bad , poor little button must be in pain , we have no clue what to do for the best

 

[WILDER]

I know its awful that one reason i gave up on guppys always ill, never could get a decent batch of them, if you really want to keep guppys try and find a breeder of them, as the ones from the lfs are not usually healthy, plus alot of them tend to have internal parasites too.

If you think he's in pain, get a jug with some very cold water in it not much, add some icecubes to the water to make it really cold then place the fish in the jug, it won't take him long at all to die.

 

[LouiseRat]

should we seperate him ? problem is we dont have another tank and nowhere is open now to get one

to be honest you can see the tail disintegrateing , we dont know how to euthanase , i just cant bare seeing the little guy like this

the lfs only got him yesterday , the other 4 guppys seem fine , so do the swordtails , its just this little guy who seems so ill.

 

[WILDER]

I know what you mean i had guppys go this way, no tail left, they never make it, just keep losing more of the tail.

If you think he's in pain, get a jug with some very cold water in it not much, add some icecubes to the water to make it really cold then place the fish in the jug, it won't take him long at all to die.


This is written by a well respected mod on here steelhealr.

This is what I choose to do with my fish and my comments are only placed here as opinion. This is a heated topic. I choose based on my knowledge from my training:

Oil of cloves is a topical anethestic and was used in the past to treat toothaches. Lidocaine (like at the dentist's office is a topical anesthetic as well). When we operate on people we really want to achieve 2 things, analgesia and anesthesia, that is, relief of pain and unconsciousness. IMO, when a fish is immersed in oil of cloves, it is essentially 'topically anesthetized', paralyzed, but, I am NOT convinced that the fish is unconscious.....none of us will really know for sure. We don't know if the oil of cloves causes stinging to the mucus membranes, eyes, etc on initial contact nor if the fish is motionless, painless but aware.

Extreme cold is an anesthetic. When applied to skin, you can actually cut the skin and feel no pain. Cold also can cause rapid unconsciousness. In fact, hypothermia is reported to cause a state of euphoria and clouding of consciousness. Fish, at least most of the types that we keep (tropical), are extremely small and rapid immersion in extreme cold water, in my opinion, causes rapid pain relief and rapid unconsciousness. I have never seen any of my fish shows signs of what I consider suffering. They stop moving immediately and appear lifeless. Some have stated that since fish are ectothermic, this doesn't apply....perhaps in cold water fish I would agree.

I choose to euthanize my fish this way, rather than oil of cloves. One must either make an educated decision for themselves, or, choose what is currently accepted by the masses as what is humane.

Added: although I would never use blunt force to euthanize my fish, nor advocate it, one fact is for sure: death is instantaneous

SH

 

[LouiseRat]

thanks wilder , i think this may be what we are going to have to do , i would feel so cruel if he died in the tank in pain .i think something is very wrong with him

about a third of his body is looking white mottled with black now too , i think for the little guys sake and the other fish's sake we are gonna have to pop him in the jug

thankyou so much for your help wilder , we appreciate it so much

 

[WILDER]

I agree he definately dosn't sound right at all, i would end his misery, same as you say you could be putting the other fish at risk, as i don't like the sound of his body at all, the white bit on him are they fluffy, black patches can be ammonia burns that are healing.

 

[LouiseRat]

nope no fluff on his body anywhere , have taken a picture , am just waiting for hubby to get home so i can put it up to show you how bad his tail is

 

[WILDER]

More than likely sounds worst than this.
http/www.2cah.com/pandora/finrot_anonymous.jpg

http/www.fishtanksandponds.info/care-mai...lth/fin_rot.htm