Sick Guppy

[KezCookie]

Hello, so a few days ago one of the guppies in my tank began acting strangely, not moving and hanging around the filter whilst being somewhat vertical. As a precaution, I quarantined it in a small Tupperware container floating in the tank (so the temperature of his water stayed the same but he wasn't potentially contaminating the water for the other fish if he had a disease). I still did small water changes for him in his little tub, although all he ever did was lie on his side, not moving an inch. I was expecting him to die pretty soon, however 3 days later he is still hanging on. I cannot see any signs of disease such as ich on him however his tail does look ragged and nipped, although there is nothing in the tank that could have caused that (all I have are other guppies, a pair of swordtails and corys and a plec), so what is wrong with him? I will include a picture of him and any feedback regarding him is greatly appreciated. Also, I should note, when I say he isn't moving I mean his find are moving normally as if he should be swimming however he isn't going anyway, and he seems to be gasping for air a little bit more than usual. Hope this helps.

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Water Parameters?
First off that fish is female, if you have any males in the tank their is a possibility that males may have harassed her to the point of death, it's very possible. the average ratio is always more females than males when it comes to livebearers. It's also possible it may have a disease, what makes me think males are harassing her is that her caudual fin is nipped, and being stressed may have made her more susceptible to infections, how is your fish currently, is it showing any sign of improvement?

 

[Mrscmurray]

I agree, definitely female. They have a triangular anal fin whereas males don't.
Along with water parameters have you added anything new to the tank recently?

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[KezCookie]

It isn't showing any sign of improvement and as for the ratio, I have 3 females (including this one) and 2 males, not to mention 20 or so fry I have in a small nursery in the same tank. Regarding new things added, I recently bought some algae tablets and some other tablets designed for plecs to satisfy the plec and possibly the corys needs. I've included pictures of the food if they help.

 

[KezCookie]

Also, I failed to mention that it wasn't actually me who find her, I was away when she was found like this and suspect that my dad (who was responsible for feeding my fish whilst I wasn't away) has been over feeding them as the water is quite cloudy.

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Hmm.. an ammonia spike may have happened and maybe she was having an off day, I hate to speculate but it doesn't seem like anything else could have caused it

 

[KezCookie]

Hmm... I was going to do a water change later today anyway. I have some questions. Would it be any use in buying some fin rot medicine? Is she going to survive? Should I put her back into the main tank? What would cause the males to harass her and what can I do to prevent it in future?

 

[Mrscmurray]

Hmm... I was going to do a water change later today anyway. I have some questions. Would it be any use in buying some fin rot medicine? Is she going to survive? Should I put her back into the main tank? What would cause the males to harass her and what can I do to prevent it in future?

Males will harass the poor girls just because they're frisky little fellas.
Have you tested the tank for ammonia/nitrite? It could be that this girl is weaker than the other fish and felt the spike harder. I personally would keep her isolated as she may get bullied while she's vulnerable, I wouldn't treat for fin rot as it doesn't appear that she is suffering from that and it may do more harm than good

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[Mrscmurray]

Oh, and to help prevent the females getting harassed too much you could add an extra couple to spread the attention and make sure there's plenty of things to break the line of sight in the tank

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[KezCookie]

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep the female alone in her little tub until she's swimming normally again, although she doesn't seem to be eating, whenever I drop a bit of flake into her water she never seems to move towards it and eat it, as for getting a new couple I think I'll hold off for now since I have 20 or so fry waiting to grow up in a nursery

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

sounds like a plan