Time To Euthanise My Guppy?

[Hamslay]

One of my guppies started to spend time on the bottom of the tank about 4 days ago. He'd stay on the sand, or on a plant, for an hour or two, before returning to the other fish. Next day he was pretty much always on the bottom, but looking relatively healthy apart from the sinking (!). Yesterday, once he rolled on to his side, we took the decision to put him into a container of tank water floating in the tank - I don't want those pesky assassin snails on him! Twenty four hours on he is still laying on his side, and his pectoral fins are still moving a lot, but he's not moving at all.
 
Previous casualties have died within 24 hours of first signs of ill health, but this guy is hanging in there. I've just been out and bought some clove oil ready for my first euthanisation but I really don't want to do it when he looks so "well" apart from the sinking.
 
Is there anything I can do, or is it time to bite the bullet?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

If it was mine I probably would.

Do you have any idea what has made him ill, even if just to prevent the rest of your fish from possibly coming down with it?

Just a few other questions that are useful to anyone else who may comment.

Have you tested the water? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate
How long has your tank been running and how long have you had fish in your tank?

 

[Hamslay]

Thanks for the reply.
 
I don't know what made him ill. When he was on the bottom a day or two ago, another guppy was laying on top of the filter for a couple of hours, but today the other guppies all seem fine.
 
I've tested the water but only with test strips. I have an API master test kit coming today to see if the strips are out. The water has had a 50% change over the last 4 days.
 
The tank's been running about 18 months. All of the other fish seem OK.
 
The guppy does seem a little improved. After reading about swim bladder disease, I went and put some mashed peas in to the tank and into his container. As soon as he was disturbed he was able to swim around normally and eat. For a couple of minutes it looked like a miracle recovery, before he settled on the bottom again. I then decided to add him back to the tank. Immediately he swam with the other guppies and looked OK, only identifiable by the fact that he was swimming with his tail lower in the water whilst the rest were level. After a couple ofminutes of being "molested" by 1 or 2 other guppies, it all seemed normal. However, he's now swimming much lower in the tank and may be running out of energy and preparing to rest on the bottom again.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

It might be worth waiting for your test kit to arrive. You might have a particular problem that you can resolve and if he's hanging on in there it might be worth the wait.
 
Do the test strips just have a yes and no type result to them? I know they're not that great but you just say you've tested the water, not what the results were. I'm sure you've just overlooked telling us rather than not knowing but just for the bigger picture it might be worth telling us what they say.

 

[Hamslay]

It might be worth waiting for your test kit to arrive. You might have a particular problem that you can resolve and if he's hanging on in there it might be worth the wait.
 
Do the test strips just have a yes and no type result to them? I know they're not that great but you just say you've tested the water, not what the results were. I'm sure you've just overlooked telling us rather than not knowing but just for the bigger picture it might be worth telling us what they say.

 
He's definitely hanging in there. He's stuck at the bottom and paler than the others, but he's flapping his fine like crazy to move around the bottom of the tank.
 
The water was tested with Tetra 6-in-1 strips, which give you a colour comparison against each of the criteria, which then fall into a range of OK or Water Change. Hence I know they were all within the safe range, but don't have values as such. I'll do another test this afternoon and see if there are actual values on the strips that I can post.

 

[Chad]

My rule of thumb is if the fish is eating I try to nurse it back to health. It it won't eat then it's time. I think each aquarist has their own rules for this sort of thing as none of us like doing it. In your case, based on your last post, I would still try feeding and wait and see if that gets its strength back up. I would leave him in a seperate container though so he doesn't waste his energy.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Fair enough. Sounds like the strips are just good or bad! You could have nitrite/nitrate/ammonia problem for example that is starting to cause problems with the fish but your test strips just say change water. Sometimes you need to carry out daily water changes to clear up a particular problem.

 

[Hamslay]

• Measures pH, Carbonate (KH), General Hardness (GH), Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3) and Chlorine (Cl2)
• pH – the pH value describes the acidity or alkalinity of the water, which is very important for healthy fish. A value between 6.5 and 8.5 is ideal
• KH – the bicarbonate hardness ensures a stable pH value. Values between 3° and 10° dH are generally recommended
• GH – the general hardness has a direct influence on of the health of fish, plants and micro-organisms. A value between 6° and 16° dH is ideal
• NO2 – a nitrite level of nearly zero shows that the filter is working properly and the water is safe for fish
• NO3 – the nitrate content shows how ’fresh’ the water is, and also how likely it is to support algae growth
• Cl2 – provides information about the water’s chlorine content. A value which is too high is harmful for useful bacteria and fish

 
Cl2 = 1.5
pH = 6.8
KH = 6d
GH = 16d
NO2 = 1
NO3 = 10
 
The only value not shown as "OK" or "Safe" is the chlorine which reads "Use AquaSafe"

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I've changed my views on treating things since first getting fish and tend towards the more drastic.

I did have another thought though... if your tank is 18 months, could it be you had this guppy for a good chunk of this time and it is perhaps just old? I have had old guppies go downhill fast with lack of energy and ability to swim with as much power.

 

[Hamslay]

These guppies have only been in the tank about 12 weeks. Of course, that's not to say they weren't potentially old or sickly when purchased!
 
 

I've changed my views on treating things since first getting fish and tend towards the more drastic.

I did have another thought though... if your tank is 18 months, could it be you had this guppy for a good chunk of this time and it is perhaps just old? I have had old guppies go downhill fast with lack of energy and ability to swim with as much power.

 

[daizeUK]

I have those Tetra test strips as well.   They don't test ammonia which is your most important stat and if your nitrite is reading above zero then you should definitely check your ammonia as well.
 
A chlorine reading of 1.5 is a bit worrying, note that you have to check the chlorine test straight away, all the other colours you need to wait a minute but the chlorine test will tend to change colour if you don't read it immediately and might give you a false reading.  But if in any doubt, I would add more water conditioner as chlorine won't be doing your bacteria any good.
 
When was your last water change.  I notice that your GH is high but your KH is running a bit low, which might indicate that your bacteria are running out of nutrients and need a water change.

 

[Hamslay]

Just as a clue for you to see if it helps - the only thing I've noticed different in the tank is a sudden growth of black brush algae. It went from none to loads in a matter of 3 weeks.
 
As an update on my guppy, he still upright and still moving around, but very washed out and swimming at 45 degrees when he does manage to get out of the bottom inch of water.

 

[Chad]

BBA is often associated (maybe always) with Co2 issues. Is this a planted tank?

 

[Hamslay]

I have those Tetra test strips as well.   They don't test ammonia which is your most important stat and if your nitrite is reading above zero then you should definitely check your ammonia as well.
 
A chlorine reading of 1.5 is a bit worrying, note that you have to check the chlorine test straight away, all the other colours you need to wait a minute but the chlorine test will tend to change colour if you don't read it immediately and might give you a false reading.  But if in any doubt, I would add more water conditioner as chlorine won't be doing your bacteria any good.
 
When was your last water change.  I notice that your GH is high but your KH is running a bit low, which might indicate that your bacteria are running out of nutrients and need a water change.

 
Yes, I realised when I typed up the strip results that I have no ammonia reading. Luckily I ordered the full API kit at the weekend as soon as guppies looked unwell so that should be here tomorrow.
 
I did check the chlorine part of the test strip immediately, and the others after 60 seconds. As soon as I'd posted the figures I went back and put in a dose of AquaSafe and will check the chlorine again in a while.
 
I did a 25% water change on Saturday, which is my normal weekly change, but did another change of 40% or so on Sunday when I saw the guppies were still struggling. No water change today.

BBA is often associated (maybe always) with Co2 issues. Is this a planted tank?

 
Nope. I did have plants initially but they proved a pain. I did a load of reading online and the fors and againsts with real plants and fake seemed fairly balanced. So I'm afraid it's fake plants that are covered in the algae.

 

[Chad]

Try increasing the flow and surface agitation and see if that helps out.
Here's an older thread on the subject for you that might have some helpful info on BBA.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/388265-black-beard-algae/