Guppy Problems

[martin_jones]

One of our male guppies is sick. I am not sure what it is, but he has clamped fins and is swimming near the surface.

I took him to LFS and guy there said he couldnt see anything wrong with him.

I got some aquarium salt and treated water with it - 0.3% to reduce stress.

I noticed that some of the other guppies are now scratching themselves against the gravel. There are no white spots, and no parasites to be seen. The gills look slightly pink, but I dont think theyre inflamed.

Not able to test water stats at the moment, but I think theyre Ammonia 0, NitrIte 0, Nitrate 20. Tank has been cycled and running since April.

Any ideas?

Martin

Tank is a Juwel 70 with
6 black mollies
8 guppies (+1 baby)
5 neon tetra
1 glass catfish
2 amano shimp

PS: apologies for the lack of apostrophies. Firefox is playing up

 

[WILDER]

If your stats are good so check them as red inflamed gills can be bad water to gill flukes.
I think its gill flukes, get you a link to read.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/flukes1.shtml

 

[martin_jones]

I did a water test last night.

For some reason, my ammonia is 0.5 - it's normally 0.

Nitrite was 0, Nitrate was 10.

The guppy is still alive, eating, but is either at the surface or resting on the bottom of the tank. His tail has gone to a point and his dorsal fin is flat against his body.

I noticed that another guppy's tail is not as fanned out as it used to be - hopefully she's not getting the same thing.

In the link you sent, it mentions adding salt - I assume this is aquarium salt and not table salt?

Currently it is at 0.3% salt as dosed at the weekend. Will this kill the flukes or just make it less stressful for the fish?

If I wanted to treat everything in the tank, would I be best to get a smaller tank and treat them in this whilst the main tank is stripped down and cleaned thoroughly, or just treat the entire tank (e.g with formalin or similar)?

Could I add a UV steriliser to cleanse the tank, or is this preventative rather than cure?

TIA

Martin

 

[WILDER]

I wouldn't go for gill flukes then just yet if you have ammonia reading that can cause the problems you have.
A water change to get the ammonia reading down.
That guppy which is bad might not make it, fingers crossed and good luck.
Increase aeration and only add the salt if you have no scaless fish in the tank.
House hold salt is fine is small doses.

 

[martin_jones]

Thanks for the advice.

I popped into LFS and 'the_wolf' advised me to get some filter-start stuff. I have added this to the tank and the fish seem to have perked up a bit. (tank already cycled, but was told it would help; thanks wolf!)

I am a bit surprised that the ammonia was up - will do another test later and keep an eye on it.

Will keep you posted.

Martin

 

[WILDER]

It dosn't take much to lose guppys, try and get the ammonia down.
Have you been over feeding, and what filter do you use.

Juwel not the best filters in the world, i use another one with my juwels you might need another filter in the tank.
Is the water really clear.

 

[martin_jones]

Yes, it's a standard Juwel 70 internal filter.

Probably been overfeeding as it's the children's tank and it's them that feeds. I do try and limit the amount, but... kids, eh?!

The water is quite clear. Is that good or bad?

Martin

 

[WILDER]

Sometimes you can tell when a filter not doing its job even if water stats are good, it will look cloudy abit, and it should look crystal clear the water.
Never a bad idea anyway to over filter a tank, good luck.