My Poor Guppy

[macdonald20]

Something is wrong with my guppy. Not sure if it is male or female. It seems to have bloated up. It's stomach is very big and round. Then it's tail drooped. Well, not just the tail, the whole back end. My boyfriend found it bent sideways over the top of the filter. When he tried to scoop it out, it swam away. But know it is permanetly bent sideways. It's been like this for a while. Every once in a while we think it's dead, we just give it a little poke and it swims away. It's always laying on the top of the filter, or on the leaves, or on the rocks, or just floating at the top near the thermometer. Sometimes it swims in upwards circles, does flips. The fish reminds me of a person or animal that may have had a stroke. The rest of the fish pretty much ignore it. They don't bother it at all. So, what's wrong with my poor guppy? Can fish feel pain? Is it in pain? Can fish have strokes? I'd really like to put it out of it's misery, i feel bad for it, but there's no way I'm flushing a live fish. Any ideas what's wrong? btw, the fish isn't that old, maybe 2 at the most.

 

[razer121]

hm, well for starts, heres a few things you can do that will help the guys here help you,

1. give us some water stats

ammonia
nitrAte
nitrite
ph??

2. some more in depth details about the problem, have you never noticed any fish bother/chase/nip the guppy?? when you say "bloated" does his/her scales look like they are produding out, i can provide a image to show you what i mean if you are struggling to understand. also does he/she eat? and one last thing, do you feed them peas at all? thats a first shot you could do, boil a pea and de-case it then crumble it up and make sure your guppy gets some, this will help if he/she is constipated

well hopfully someone who knows more then me might be able to help out even more, good luck with this one

 

[shi24137]

what color is the guppy? usually the females have dull coloring. if it is a dull color then its most likely a female that is pregnant. my female was acting like that right before she gave birth. also females have shorter tails and a dark "gravid" spot towards their rear end. if the scales are looking like a pine cone on the stomach then it is most likely dropsy and at that stage theres not much you can do to save it. but there are medications you can try but if its at that stage they might not work in time to save it. can you post a picture of the fish?

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Look for these signs in all your fish.
Long stringy white poo or clear mucas poo, or red poo.
Worms prutruding from the anus.
Fish will look skinny or bloated.
Enlarged anus or red inflamed anus.
Bent spine.
Sunken in belly.
Fish will sometimes swim on its side.
These are all signs of internal parasites.

 

[macdonald20]

I'm not sure of the water stats, I'll try to get a picture, maybe a video of the guppy.
It's a 20 gallon tank. It's the only guppy in there. also have 2 cherry barbs and one red-tailed shark, all perfectly healthy.
They completely ignore the guppy, so it's not being harrassed.
The guppy is a very dull color, so maybe it is a female. The scales on the guppy look fine. I'll try the pea thing, though. thanks

 

[WILDER]

You need to get your water tested.
Take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to write the readings down for you.

Is the spine bending.
What do you normally feed the fish.

A red tailed shark really needs at least a 40 gallon tanks.