Spots On My Female Guppies?

[Jeremiad]

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Tank size: 20 Gal
pH: 8.0 - 8.4
ammonia: no test kit
nitrite: no test kit
nitrate: no test kit
kH: no test kit
gH: no test kit
tank temp: 77-78 degrees farenheit

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
two female guppies are showing a few small white spots on their fins, larger female is showing a couple of white spots on her body. Other fish are not showing any spots, but I did lose a phantom tetra sometime over the last 36 hours, and I don't really know why. His eyes looked bulged and his tail looks a bit tattered, but I don't know how long he was stuck to the filter strain for.

The two male guppies are also showing more attention than usual to the larger female guppy who is showing more spots. I am not familiar with their mating rituals, but they are consistently hounding after her backside (anus or that general area) much more so than usual, and then attempting to flank up her side as if to mount or something, to which she averts and escapes . She often retreats to the gravel at the bottom of the tank where they cannot get underneath her to approach her in such a manner. The smaller female is only showing a few small spots on her fins, and the males stay away from her mostly, even when the two females group together.

The females are both acting fairly normal, with the exception of the larger one having to retreat from the males a lot more. They are both eating and actively looking for food, swimming at all levels of the tank, and nothing seems out of the ordinary besides the spots and the males increased behavior. The green tiger barb seemed a bit more aggressive (chasing some of the other fish around) than usual when I got home, but he has settled down over the past few hours. Everything else seems normal.

Volume and Frequency of water changes:
20 gallon tank, been active for just over a month. Guppies added about two weeks ago. No water changes as yet, I have added some water to adjust for evaporation, using a big pot - let it sit overnight with a small amount of Tetra brand Aqua Safe more than a week ago.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
I have not added any chemicals or tank adjustments in more than a week. The only abnormal change I have made in the last 36 hours was adding a dried cube of tubifex worms, which appeared to have gone largely untouched, and I removed it tonight.

Tank inhabitants:
1 raspberry tetra, 1 blueberry tetra, 2 black skirt tetra, 2 glow-lite tetra (red), 1 scissortail rasbora, 2 (as of today only 1) phantom tetra, 1 green tiger barb, 1 albino barb, 2 male guppy, 2 female guppy, 1 blue dragon goby, 1 plecostomus, 1 bumblebee catfish, 2 very tiny snails.

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
only decorative plants and ceramics in the tank, latest plant additions have been in for more than a week.

Exposure to chemicals:
none that I have intentionally put into the tank. I use Cortate (hydrocortizone cream) for my own skin, and never put my hands in the tank after applying that product. If at all possible, I use the net or it's handle in the tank instead of my hands.

The last time I introduced a foreign object to the tank was two days ago with a clean stainless steel spoon to transfer some marine sand from a clean glass that it was soaking in to the surface of the tank to drop into the corner for the goby.

Additional Info:

Freshwater tank, AquaTech Power Filter 20-30, top mount circulating filter with a 6-inch or so extension on the intake. Changed EZ-Change #3 filter cartridge last week.

Digital photo (include if possible):

sorry about the pictures, them little beggars are hard to catch. I don't really think it is an emergency, but seeing as I work out of town a lot, it is best if I try to catch something now as opposed to coming home to a tank of floaters in a few days. Should I be concerned?

Thanks!

 

[minxfishy]

Hi, you say the tank has been running for about a month? Was the tank cycled before adding the fish? Check thru the links in my signature if you are unsure as to what cycling is.

Where all these fish added at the same time, or over a period of time?

As you havent done any water changes yet, I would immediately suggest a 50% w/c with dechlorinator and temperature match the water as this may help. You dont have a test kit, which is a pretty essential part of fish keeping, as you dont have one, you can get the water tested at your local fish store, most do it for free, some charge a small amount, you will need to write down the figures for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte as these will give some indictation of the water quality and if your in the process of a fish in cycle, how far along you are. Dont accept the water is ok, fine or poor, we really need figures.

 

[saz326]

The guppies chasing each other is normal.

You say white spots - I cant see any on the pictures. All I can see si what could be a missing (or about to fall off) scale.

do the spots look like grains of salt, or do they look just like silver dots on the fish skin?

 

[Athena]

(Saz, the white spots are there on the female guppy - on her tail and fins.)

Looks like flukes to me but best to get more opinions.

If it's flukes then this would usually be caused by bad water quality and stress. It can be treated with meds - but as already suggested by someone else, you need to do a 50% water change asap.

Regards - Athena

 

[pippoodle]

make sure you use the dechloirinator and try and match the temp of the tank water you are replacing
also please go and buy a test kit

 

[Jeremiad]

First of all, I would like to say thank you to all of the people who replied to my post. Your input is greatly appreciated.

I had to go out of town for work, but I am back now and I picked up a few things so that I can take heed of some of your suggestions. The female guppies are actually looking better already, the white spots are diminishing, so that is a positive sign.

Minxfishy: I bought the tank and accessories new around the end of January, or the first week of February. The tank was not cycled before adding the fish. I filled it, treated the water with Aqua Safe and left it for 24 hours to adjust, and then added 2 black skirt tetras, 2 glo-lite tetras, 1 strawberry tetra, and 2 phantom tetras. A few days later I added the scissortail rasbora and a green tiger barb (which died within a couple of hours). I added a replacement green tiger barb and the blueberry tetra about two or two and a half weeks later. The rest were added about two weeks ago, within a few days of one another.

I picked up a 10 gal tank and it is full of water and been treated with Easy Balance with Nitraban. I am just waiting for it to get to temperature before I drain half of the other tank. I also picked up a Mardel 5-in-1 test kit to check nitrate, nitrite, hardness, alkaline, and pH. I bought an ammonia NH3/NH4+ test kit, and some Ick Guard liquid as well as some Ick Clear tablets, although I'm not convinced that it is ick that I am dealing with here.

The results of my tests are as follows:

Ammonia NH3 / NH4+ tester nice and yellow, 0 ppm

5-in-1 tests
Nitrate 40 ppm, maybe a little less, indicating the high side of safe.
Nitrite 10 ppm or more, looks darker than the tester goes.
Hardness 120 to 250 ppm, looks in between those two marks, being moderate to hard.
Alkalinity 180 to 240 ppm, being on the high side of ideal.
pH 8.0 - 8.4 ppm, a bit high.

Please let me know what to do from here. First step, change out 50% of the water in the tank, which will be done in the next few hours.

What's next?

 

[Jeremiad]

50% water change is complete, with about 10% of it winding up on my hardwood floors. Learning the hard way, as usual.

Fish are okay so far. New tests are as follows:

Ammonia tested fairly yellow, with a light hint of green, so I'm guessing more than 0 ppm, but less than 0.25 ppm.

5-in-1 test:

Nitrate 20 ppm Safe.
Nitrite between 5 to 10 ppm, still showing as toxic, but certainly lower than it was before.
Hardness 120 ppm Moderate.
Alkalinity 240 ppm High.
pH 8.4 ppm Higher than before.

Now that the water change is done, should I add the Ick Guard or Ick Clear? Or should I leave it for a day to see what happens?

Thanks!

This male now has two white spots developed on his back just ahead of his dorsal fin: