Tail Rot?

[Lisbeth Oden]

Good morning all! I think I have some tail rot going on. I had had an infection about a month ago and I had added aquarium salt to make it better. I have been doing frequent water changes to get the sold out before I added a new fish. I was using water from one of those big dispensers at the market because my water at home is not good enough for a fish tank. My two remaining guppy females had babies! Yay! All seemed to be going well so I added three Cory catfish and a Pleco.My total alkalinity had been low so I added some pH up and it is better. But now my nitrites are going up. And this morning my guppy tails look like they’re having issues.

Suggestions on what to do? Please be kind. Thanks

30 gallon aquarium
Two adult guppy females
Four baby guppies
Three Cory catfish
One pleco.
Tetra safe filter

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[Lisbeth Oden]

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[Lisbeth Oden]

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[Colin_T]

I have no idea what that picture is for?
Can you post a picture of the colour chart as well so we can see what the results mean.

Fin rot is caused by poor water quality that encourages bacteria and other micro-organisms to flourish and affect the fish. The easiest way to treat it is by cleaning the tank up. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks.

 

[Lisbeth Oden]

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[Colin_T]

What's the ammonia reading?

The guppy has gill flukes. Treat them with Praziquantel once a week for 4 weeks.

 

[Lisbeth Oden]

What's the ammonia reading?

The guppy has gill flukes. Treat them with Praziquantel once a week for 4 weeks.

What is gill flukes? I don’t know on the ammonia. I have to test that. I’ll get that product you recommended and an ammonia test and will touch base in a few hours. Should I change the water before I add that antibiotic or whatever it is?


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[seangee]

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks.

Even without the ammonia tests that strip shows a high nitrite reading. Nitrite is deadly to fish so any time you have a reading that is not 0 you need to do a 75% water change. The readings suggest a partially complete cycle so continue testing every day until your nitrite gets to 0 and stays there. Keep your feeding to a minimum (once or twice a week until that happens, those guppies really don't look well. The nitrite indicator on the strip should never show any sign of colour.

I am not familiar with that filter but if they tell you to replace the media every few weeks don't. Just rinse it out in water you have taken out of the tank for your water change. Replacing filter media is great for pet company sales but very bad for fish as that is the place where the beneficial bacteria live - so chucking them out is a bad idea.

Finally - assuming your test strip is reasonably accurate, there is no need to mess with the alkalinity. Your water is fine for guppies (apart from the nitrite issue).

Oh yeah - quick tip: If you cut your strips in half lengthwise you will have twice as many . Just make sure your scissors and hands are clean and dry.

 

[Colin_T]

Gill flukes are a small parasitic worm that crawls over the gill filaments and sucks the blood out of the fish. They cause scar tissue on the gills and anemia in the fish. If left untreated they can kill fish slowly over a period of months.

Praziquantel is used to treat tapeworm in cats and dogs, but also treats tapeworm and gill flukes in fish. It's safe for all fish and should be available from most pet shops.

 

[Lisbeth Oden]

Hello. The PH is fine now. It wasn’t before. I adjusted that and the nitrates went up. They had been at zero for many weeks now. Don’t know if it’s a coincidence. I will change 75% of the water today. Those guppies have not been well since I got them. They were starting to look much better until about two days ago and they started to look poorly again. Thank you again for your help.


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[Colin_T]

The best thing to do with any new livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails or mollies) is put them in a quarantine tank for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks and add a heap of salt. Add 4 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt per 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt level like this for a couple of weeks then do small water changes to dilute it out.

The salt will kill off most protozoan, bacterial and fungal infections, along with any gill flukes on the fish.

Praziquantel kills gill flukes and tapeworm, which livebearers regularly carry. And you can treat them with Levamisole to kill any thread/ round worms in them.

 

[Lisbeth Oden]

The best thing to do with any new livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails or mollies) is put them in a quarantine tank for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks and add a heap of salt. Add 4 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt per 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt level like this for a couple of weeks then do small water changes to dilute it out.

The salt will kill off most protozoan, bacterial and fungal infections, along with any gill flukes on the fish.

Praziquantel kills gill flukes and tapeworm, which livebearers regularly carry. And you can treat them with Levamisole to kill any thread/ round worms in them.

Thanks- I have changed the water 2x now. Most of tail of the yellow one is gone now [emoji3064] 2 of the baby guppies are gone. [emoji174] PetCo sent me home with Artemiss. Nitrites are 0. No ammonia. Temp 72*. Can I add salt? I have 3 Corys and a pleco. I don’t have a hospital tank nor the funds to set up a whole new tank. Thanks - so sad. This whole process was supposed to help me relax (PTSD) but instead has me so stressed out!!


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[Colin_T]

If you have Cories or plecos in the tank you only add 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres (5 gallons).

Can you post another pic of the guppy with the damaged tail?

 

[Lisbeth Oden]

If you have Cories or plecos in the tank you only add 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres (5 gallons).

Can you post another pic of the guppy with the damaged tail?

Thank you! Taking pictures of fish is hard…

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[Lisbeth Oden]

Test strip from this morning.

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