Any ideas?

[CurlyQ]

I've had this guppy for several months and she's been very healthy up until last week. She was the biggest guppy I've had and always very robust. However, last week she developed a few tiny white spots on her fins and now one of her side fins is very ragged and frayed along with her tail fin. I'm not sure that it's ICK...the white spots have turned into more of a "clump" of white stuff on the very frayed fin. She is very thin now but still has a very healthy appetite. She just looks so terrible! None of my other fish have anything wrong with them. All of my levels are normal. Does anyone have any suggestions on what this could be and how I should treat her? I don't have an isolation tank...

 

[OrkyBetta]

Sounds more like a fungus to me...could you try getting a little more descriptive? Is the split fin black at the edges? Does the white clump look fuzzy? Did the spots look like sand particles or like salt particles?

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like saddleback columnaris you get white fluffy spots with that, if she is thin and eating she could have internal parasites what does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet, can you post water stats tank size, which fish and how many.

 

[CurlyQ]

The split fin is not black at the edges...just frayed. The clump isn't exactly fuzzy, just looks like a big clump of white spot. The spots are only on the fins, not the rest of the body, and they are of no specific size...some of them blend together. I know this doesn't help much, but it's hard to describe!

 

[WILDER]

http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[WILDER]

I am not the author of this article



Flexibacter columnaris (Columnaris disease or Saddleback disease)



A. Gram-negative slender rods (3-8 microns)



B. The disease is a serious disease of young salmonids, catfish and many other fish.



C. This is a highly communicable disease. Lesions usually first appear as small white spots on the caudal fin and progresses towards the head. The caudal fin and anal fins may become severely eroded. As the disease progresses, the skin is often involved with numerous gray-white ulcers. Gills are a common site of damage and may be the only affected area. The gill lesions are characterized by necrosis of the distal end of the gill filament which progresses basally to involve the entire filament.



D. Flexibacter columnaris infections are frequently associated with stress conditions. Predisposing factors for Columnaris disease are high water temperature (25oC-32oC.), crowding, injury, and poor water quality (low oxygen and increased concentrations of free ammonia).



E. Flexibacter maritimus: cause similar problems in salt water environment.



F. Flexibacter psychrophilus causes Cold Water Disease or Peduncle disease. Fish develop dark skin, hemorrhage at the base of fins, and anemia with pale gills with increase mucus. Hemorrhage into the muscles is common. Periostitis of cranial and vertebral bones is common in chronic cases. Chronic meningoencephalitis occasionally is observed with abnormal and erratic swimming.

 

[OrkyBetta]

hmm...that does sort of sound like columnaris...

You really do need to get her out of that tank with the rest of your healthy fish. See if you can swing by your LFS and get something-anything for her. A small acrylic 5 gallon would suffice, if it is columnaris she may or may not even make it, unfortunately. As long as your room is about 72 degrees and you do a lot of water changes, she will have a hard time polluting 2-5 gallons by herself.

Colloidal silver, melafix, something along those lines might help her, if I am wrong please correct me, as I have never treated columnaris, but that is what I would use.

 

[CurlyQ]

I transferred her yesterday and started a treatment, but she died this morning. That's ok I guess...her babies will live on in her place!

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your loss, R.I.P. do a few daily water changes on the tank.