Please Help Me! Sick Fish?

[TropicalFish13]

Hi, I have a 60L tank and a 20L. Both have snails and the 60L has a loach and 2 live plants. I have just notice the male and female guppies beginning to rub on one of the real plants and a female swordtail poo a white/clear stringy poop. I have noticed my 2 weeks old guppy fry start to rub on the bottom of their tank (20L) too. I now have 15 2 day old guppy fry in with the other fry too. One of my female guppies who gave birth is in the breeder box in the 20L tank cause she still looks like she has some fry left. But she had been rubbing also. I went and got some stress coat but is there anything else i can do to help my fish? I have 3 guppies, 2 swordtails, 1 molly, 1 siamese fighter, 1 loach and snails all in the 60L and 15 2 day old, 11 2 week old, 1 guppy in breeder box and snails in 20L tank. When I was at the pet shop the lady said a little bit of dog wormer tablet may help with any internal parasites but im not sure of that, what are your suggestions?
PS im new at owning tropical fish. Also I haven't spotted any white spots or anything on the fish except the molly has  red/orange/brown tips on its top fin...

I also have sand in the 60L so i cant use gravel cleaner in there

 

[fishtank1997]

If you can answer these questions then you may get more help
1 how long has the tank been setup
2 have u had any drastic changes in temperature
3 what are the nitrate, nitirte,ammonia,and pH levels in the tank
4 are there any other abrasions or marks on the fish that are rubbing against the tank

 

[TropicalFish13]

Both tanks are under 1 years. Got second hand but awesome condition. No they haven't had temperature changes beside water changing today but i try to keep the water the same. I got them checked at pet shop other day and they are fine. I dont see any marks on the fish who rub. I notice they dont do it heaps but one female who has had fry and still looks like there are more in here rubs more then the others but that was when she was giving birth so not sure if she will still do so.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

It does sound like internal and possibly external parasites, the white stringy poo indicates internal parasites and the rubbing may be to do with the internal parasites or external parasites or its a bacterial infection.
I'm not really sure what medication you could use though, as until the problem is properly identified the medication may just be a waste of money and could cause unnecessary stress on the fish.
What LFS are you using?

 

[TropicalFish13]

I got my 2 swordtails with the 60L tank, 3 guppies from a breeder, 1 guppy from pet center, molly and siamese fighter from breeder and loach from animates...

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Was it animates that said about doing the dog worming tablet? Animates doesn't give very good advice (in Blondielovesfish's opinion) so (she suggests that you) don't listen to them, instead, ask on this forum first. Animates are in it for the profit, we're in it for the welfare of fish.
 
Just curious, where abouts in NZ are you? I might be able to recommend some good LFS for you that are better than Animates.

 

[TropicalFish13]

No it was the pet center that said it. Im in Wellington area

 

[Meeresstille]

A question just to clarify: You had the tanks set up for a year, or the previous owner? The real question is: Is your filter cycled? That means the filter has mature media in it, with beneficial bacteria, this process takes 6 weeks in which you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate!
 
It is always recommended, that when you suspect something is wrong to test your tank for those levels. It can happen, that for some reason or another you can lose the bacteria and your tank is no longer cycled. 
 
The fish scratching on the gravel and decor is called flashing. Flashing can be a sign of parasites that are sitting on their scales making them itchy, it can also be a sign of irritants in the water. Like ammonia or nitrite for example.
 
Even if you don't see any white spots the fish can still be infected with the parasite ich, It is usually in the beginning stages. They can also infect the fishes gills making it hard for them to breathe and it can kill them. As soon as you see any white, salt grain like spots on any of your fish you should start treatment for ich. 
 
Ich can infect your fish when you bring something new into the tank, new plants, new fish....it can also already be in your tank and when fish get stressed, for example a move, poor water quality their immune-system can no longer fight them and you will see an outbreak.
 
Even if you have sand, you can still use the gravel vac, you just wave the vac gently across the sand's surface stirring up any waste and debris which then can be sucked up. Getting a little sand in the gravel vac is not harmful, you may lose very little sand each time, but that's not a problem.

 

[TropicalFish13]

Both filters should be fully cycled. Ive had them for a month or so now and i have only started noticing the problem. But I havnt seen them flashing as much as i did a water change and added stress coat but there is still a bit of white poo from a swordtail who has decided to change gender xD

 

[TropicalFish13]

My guppy who had 16 fry but still looks pregnant looks like she has gotten a little more fatter. Could she be bloated or just some more fry?

 

[the_lock_man]

Depends on when she had the fry last. They normally drop every 4 weeks or so, therefore if the last drop was two weeks ago, then she's about halfway through another "pregnancy".

 

[TropicalFish13]

she had them on the 6th this month

 

[TropicalFish13]

im in NZ and have looked at the pets shops i can get to and no one has got any stuff for parasites is there anything else i can try if my fish has internal parasites?