Four Of My Seven Fish Just Died

[GuppyGoddess]

Hi everyone,

The guppy tank I have had seven fish. Six guppies and one pigmy cory (left from a group of 6 - the rest died). Three of the guppies were almost entirely white and the first one died last week. She looked like she had a bit of cotton on her, but I just thought the other guppies had picked at her. This morning I noticed the pygmy having a difficult time swimming and took it out and it had a bit of it's fins missing with the same cotton. I looked closely at the remaining guppies and two more had it. Those three fish I culled.

So, now I have three guppies left. Two are white and the third is orange with black. I cannot tell if the two white ones have the cotton, but the orange one doesn't yet.

My question is if the remaining die, can I just treat the tank as it with antibiotics rather than take the whole thing apart and clean it? I would then cycle it through to make sure it's all good and then add new fish.

Thanks for thoughts.

 

[Jenste]

Saw your other post about your bad luck with guppies - so sorry!
I think we definitely need to have you test your water and post the readings up on here.

what size is the tank?
was it cycled prior to adding the fish, or did you do a fish-in cycle?
which fish did you add first, and how long until you added the other fish?
do you quarantine your fish before adding them to the main tank?
do you have a water test kit? liquid tests are best!
how frequent are your water changes and how large?
do you use a conditioner for the water when you do water changes?

 

[GuppyGoddess]

eh, not all my responses will be favorable.

Five gallon tank (and had FOUR fish up until about a month ago)
Fish-in cycle - have had tank for 7 months now
The guppies have been put in here and there. Three + the pygmy I had for a few months. I added the 3 others about a month ago.
No quarintine tank.
I do have the API kits and only test once every few weeks.
Water changes 1/3 ever four days - due to overstocking.
Yes, always use water conditioner and also the stress coat product (API brand?)
Also, in addition, I have a thermometer so when I add new water it's the same temp as the tank.

I wasn't adding aquarium salt because of the pygmy cory but now that it's dead, I added some a few hours ago. Probably added 1/4 the amount for therapeuatic doses since the guppies aren't use to the salt. Should I add more?

Thanks! I won't overstock again. IF the guppies make it and/or I get more, I'll just keep three in the tank.

 

[Jenste]

ok - trust me not the worst this forum has ever seen - but a word to the wise - guppies are very sensitive to salt! I would do a large water change to dilute it even more and not add any more in.
CLEAN water does wonders! Instead of adding salt to the water, up your water changes - pristine water can make a huge difference in a fish's immune system!

you should test your water more frequently and record the results. I recommend about once a week at least - you will be able to see that something is going wrong in the much earlier stages and be able to start taking care of it with out too many drastic measures.

overstocking can be one of the major killers - ammonia builds up VERY VERY quickly in a small tank like that!

to be honest, in a tank like that I would probably limit yourself to about 3-4 male guppies MAX. skip on the females - you don't have the room for the fry and a female can carry sperm for up to 6 months, so you can end up with half a years worth of fry even with out a male!

If your guppies do pass on ( ) and you would like to try something different. . . that could make a very nice betta tank? or perhaps a small group of african DWARF frogs ? (if you go the frog route please post first to learn about the little guys and how to distinguish from african CLAWED frogs) or even a shrimp colony?

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Jenste - thanks for your reply. Sorry I didn't see it till today.

The two little guppies are still hanging in there. I'm doing 1/3-1/2 water changes every day and adding a bit of Melafix with each change. Also, I'm only putting one flake of food in 2X per day (crumpled up and the guppies are sharing it) so maybe that will be enough to keep the fish healthy.

Right now both still are small but their fins are shaped like girl ones. . .hopefully neither were inpregnated and hopefully both end up being males.

ETA - I just want to mention (in case anyone is intested) that I notice a lot of people keep sick fish in when treating the tank. I took ALL the fish out with any sign of fungus. One had only a single dot on her tail and I took her out. The only fish kept in the tank were those without symptoms. Basically I had one die, four that I culled (when i started this thread four had died and in the end, another was culled), so only TWO fish are still alive. I think it helped that I didn't even take a chance in keeping a symptomatic fish in the tank.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Quick update - The two remaining guppies survived and are doing well.

I think they lived because I took out EVERY fish with even a slight hint of cotton/fungus. Even the one with a little pin-point spot. I didn't chance attempting to treat those fish and then having the illness still spread.

Gave the two remaining guppies/tank Melafix for 7 days. Did 1/3-1/2 water changes EVERY of those days. Yesterday in the evening I did a 1/3 water change and put in the carbon filter to suck out the rest the remaining Melafix.

Just thought I'd post in case this helps anyone.