Splitting Tails

thisguyek · Jul 6, 2011

IDK... it all started as a clean rip in the middle. after time it appeared that the bottom half began to 'shrink' or shrivel. The evening before that power outage he still had that bit of tail, but when the power came back on it was gone

Other than getting caught in the strainer part of the filter which is way at the bottom... maybe the intake for my powerhead? that's right by the impeller...

This Old Spouse · Jul 6, 2011

IDK either. Really weird. Does he seem all right otherwise? Eating okay and such?

thisguyek · Jul 7, 2011

he is a bit more quiet now that hes alone, but still eating. hes not sulking in a corner or anything, just moving about the tank slowly. I'm sure he's a bit lonely!

This Old Spouse · Jul 7, 2011

I'm sure he is too, poor guy. They really are social fish.

thisguyek · Jul 7, 2011

I was wondering too... should i keep lighting to a minimum? He's set up in the basement, which is partly finished, but we dont spend too much time down there... should i just keep the tank light off, maybe help reduce stress?

Also how long do you think it will take for his tail to grow back? It does appear to be making some progress.

This Old Spouse · Jul 7, 2011

Maybe you could put a lamp near the tank, so it's lower light but still some light. Maybe keep it on during regular daylight hours.

I'm sure it will take several weeks for his tail to come back. Good that he's making a comeback!

Tokis-Phoenix · Jul 7, 2011

I would like to add that tail splitting in fancy male guppys can be caused by the filter current being too strong. Male guppys were not evolved to have tails as large as they have been selectively bred for and so can suffer in strong currents when other guppys with less fancy tails have no problems whatsoever. But proper filtration is still very important, and so instead of downgrading the filter simply get one with an adjustable current :good:

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The male guppy in the pictures now has finrot though. This is a commonly secondary infection and so you should medicate the fish.

thisguyek · Jul 7, 2011

thanks tokis!

yeah, hes in a QT right now on a regimen of melafix. hopefully start seeing some good improvement in the next week!

Is there anything else i can do for him, or is that about it?

trianglekitty · Jul 8, 2011

How many guppies do you have? From my experience (which is not at all vast), if you have a smaller group they'll pick on each other more. I started out with three, and they were constantly having a go at each other. I now have ten, and the aggression is more spread out, but all of them have ragged fins. Every once in awhile one will end up with a more serious tear.

I recently lost my biggest male, but he was on the bottom of the pecking order and I think they just harried him to death. He showed no signs of disease at all, but he was always being chasing and pecked at.

thisguyek · Jul 8, 2011

including the one in QT, there are 5. I have noticed there is one guppy that seems to think he's invincible! chasing both male and female platies, and also some of my tiger barbs that i just added. I have a feeling hes gunna get some sooner or later he keeps that up!

thisguyek · Jul 11, 2011

I've got a question about stress coat+. I use that as my main dechlorinator. Ill be adding it to my QT when doing water changes. Should i be adding it a little more often? I see it is supposed to aid in the repair of damaged fins and whatnot.

Planning on doing a 25% weekly water change per directions with melafix. any suggestions?