Guppy behavior problems again...

[mlee0332]

In an earlier post, I told you about a male guppy w/ some problems. I treated the water with the anti-parasite stuff and he acted fine. Well now he is acting like he's swimming, but staying in one spot (forgot name) and if he's not doing that he is suffering from clamped fin. We have diagnosed him with gill flukes. Is this normal behavior with this disease? I don't want to lose him


EDIT: the other post is here

as you can see he got better and now he's worse!

 

[mlee0332]

please, someone help! All four of my gupps have gill flukes and I need to know a few ?'s...

A) If i heat the water, will it help kill the parasite?

B ) If a tank with no inhabitants (yet) is infected, how long will it be before the parasite dies w/out treatment?

EDIT:I followed the instructions below, and GREAT RESULTS!!! The three that weren't originally infected are healed comp., if they were even sick at all, and the one that is sick has perked up great!

 

[Annastasia]

Yes, raising the temperature will help.

And the parasite may never die without treatment. I'd clean everything in the tank, and sterilize it. And use some medication.

As for treating the Guppy that has it, I have found something made with copper works the best. Such as Had-A-Snail. Coppersafe would work too. The only drawback is it will kill all inverts, such as shrimp, snails, crayfish..etc. If you have any of those, you may want to take them out. Since gill flukes are caused by little parasites in the gills, copper should kill them. And it shouldn't have any affect on the fish, as some other medicines may have. I'd reccomend you treat for at least 5 days, as the hatching period of fluke eggs (unaffected by copper meds) varies from 2-4 days depending on the water temperature.

Edit: Just to add...the Copper is what I have found to work for me. Just my expierence.

 

[LuBear]

A) Warm tempatures causes bacteria to grow faster but cool temperatures could kill your fish.

B) Do a 100% water change and wash all your plants and decors excessively. If you had live plants then get rid of them. Clean all the filter media and the filter pipes itself. It would be best if you could find some meds.

 

[mlee0332]

I have something called parasite clear. It's active ingredients are praziquantel;
N-[[(4-Chlorophenyl)amino]carbon 1]-2,6-difluorobenzamide; metronidazole; Acriflavin.


If I have this, will I still need to boil all decor and plants, and 100% water change I have a 29g and 2 tens and it will take me 3 years to empty and fill them all! And plus i risk killing my bacteria colony.


EDIT: It says repeat dose every 48 hours up to 2x if needed. With 25% water changes in between each dose... ( will that make any diff)

 

[LuBear]

well... all I can say is that you have to go through the work to have a healthy fish community. Spending 3 years(which I'm sure you just ment 30 minutes) cleaning is worth it to see some of your favorite fish live.

 

[Annastasia]

I am not familiar with parasite clear, so I'm not sure it's effectiveness. I would still clean all the tanks, just to make sure. It will be best for your fish too. Best not to take chances....

 

[mlee0332]

well, how can I be ABSOLUTELY sure that this is what we think it is? I want to be positive that's the right diagnosis before I strip all of my bio filtration...

When I looked at the other gupps last night they were laying around like the one that is sick, but now they act normal. Could they have just been resting? It was 12:00 am or 1 or so.

The reason I now doubt that it is flukes is the one fish is the only one that has it, and he acts the same now as b/f I started treatment. Could it be a fungus? He suffers from clamped fin mostly, and when he gets off of the rocks he shimmies (sp)?.

He'll get off of the gravel when I come up to the tank. None of the gills are puffy, though they are red, but he is a red fish, and the other fish have red too.

 

[LuBear]

it takes time for the disease to spread. My female guppy was infected with round worms... I cleaned out the tank and everything put the fishes back a couple days later. After a week, my female guppy was cured but my male guppy died. I was forced to put medication on every fish and clean out the tank again. After then, I did not have any problems.

 

[mlee0332]

should I boil everything or just clean it off good?

 

[Annastasia]

You might want to boil, just to be safe. Of course, if you have live plants or something, you can't boil, so I'd scrub them really really well.

 

[mlee0332]

Okay, well since I completely destroyed the bene bacteria, would it be safer to put them in the 29g now rather than the 10?


I have boiled everything in the 10 as of now, fish aren't really putting up with the bucket very well...

EDIT: I have eight 1-2'' fish

all of the other types of fish are a little pale... Is this normal? They have been w/out light for a few hrs.

EDIT UPDATE: the fish's colors have returned

 

[Annastasia]

Is the 29 gal cycled? And I'm guessing you've never had the gill flukes in there, right?

 

[mlee0332]

no, but if it were, it wouldn't be of any use any how, I've got to boil it too...

But listen hear at this amazing thing...

I have put some biozyme in it and after 2-3 days, some bacteria has started to grow on the aerobic filter...

EDIT: The reason I have to boil it is b/c I was in the process of moving old decor, and filters to it and had already exchanged between the 2 2-3 cups of water trying to acclimate the fish to the new tank's water conditions. I was rushing to get them into it b/c I need the tank they're in now for fry.

 

[mlee0332]

o and another question about boiling... Would be just as effective if I poured boiled water into the tank on top of the gravel, or will it suffice? And can I reuse the water I boiled this decoration in to boil that decoration?