Sick Guppy

[Covert]

2 days ago i bought 4 guppies for my cycled 13 month old tank. I noticed one begas to swim more slowly than the others, and gradually got worse. This morning he was half stuck in the filter, i got him out and hes swimming, but in a vertical position, head to surface, tail pointing down. I am about to treat with salt ina random attempt, any idea what this might be.

Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20

 

[community begginer]

add salt and post back. i would say it is because or "new tank syndrome". but i would think they would be over it within 4 days of being added. how long did you let them acclimatize in the bag for?
i wish i could help.
community

P.S. might be a sort of swim bladder that has been caused due to stress.

 

[Covert]

Ive added salt, the fish seems to just be getting worse. Could be the stress, maybe its just too much for some fish to handle, cant see problems in any other fish.

They acclimatised in a closed bag for 15 mins, and i then added small amounts of tank water over the next 15 minutes.

 

[Covert]

Sadly, the fish died. Its annoying when it goes wrong and you dont know how to fix it, all other fish look fine though.

 

[Spooky76]

Hey - im not a big believer in salt, but I know some are.
I usually add some Stress Zyme when adding a new fish or melafix. Both seem to be fine.
Could just be bad luck, the little buggers dont like being moved.
Sorry it died.

 

[three-fingers]

I'm another one who doesn't believe in the usual dosages of 'aquarium salt', IME it will have no differenace unless in higher dosages, which could be bad for any of the other fish in the tank.

While this is unlikely to be the cause, it could of contributed -you would be safer to do longer than mixing the water for 15 mins. I recommend 30 mins as a minimum and go for at least an hour myself . You don't need to bother with floating the bag for 15 mins closed either, the temperature will eaqualise slow enough through the mixing, plus the temperature of the water in the bag will have fluctuated tonnes on the journey home anyway .

What's your pH at? I've found regular store bought guppies to be very sensitive if you have an acidic pH. Tbh I think they are pretty sensitive regardless, but especially if the conditions aren't absolutely optimal.

 

[Covert]

My pH is identical to that of the store at just under 8, the hardness is also pretty close, i tested the lfs water before i started adding it to the bag, thats why i didnt acclimatise for as long as i would for fish from other shops.

Thanks for the help though, in my experience ive found the ones with especially large tails are less hardy probably due to the intensive breeding, i personally like the orange/red ones that are flourecent and they seem to cope much better.

Cheers,

Aleem.