My white guppies, Marshmallow, is swimming in one spot on the bottom of the tank, uninterested in food or tank mates. Any ideas what could be the matter? Tail damage is old from a case of fin rot which was treated and seemed to start growing back slowly.
Hello. Water makes up the greatest percentage of the tank. So, it would be best to start there. Unusual behavior is most times because the water chemistry isn't right. What's your water change routine?
10
10
is that undissolved aquarium salt on the bottom of the tank???
20% room temp dechlorinated weekly change
No lol, it is glow stones
Is the fish eating normally?
What does its poop look like?
How long has it been acting this way?
The fish is skinny and has slightly flared gills. It probably has intestinal worms and or gill flukes. These are common in guppies, platies, swordtails and mollies coming from pet shops. It could also be old and the other males might be picking on it.
If you could isolate it in another aquarium that might help if it's bullying. You could also try deworming all the fish. You can add salt to try and get rid of the gill flukes.
If the fish is still eating, feed it more often (3-5 times per day) and do a big (75%) water change each day while it's getting fed more.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Section 3 of the following link has information on deworming fish.
www.fishforums.net
----------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
You can use salt and dewormer at the same time but try salt first and see if the fish survives the next few days.
What does its poop look like?
How long has it been acting this way?
The fish is skinny and has slightly flared gills. It probably has intestinal worms and or gill flukes. These are common in guppies, platies, swordtails and mollies coming from pet shops. It could also be old and the other males might be picking on it.
If you could isolate it in another aquarium that might help if it's bullying. You could also try deworming all the fish. You can add salt to try and get rid of the gill flukes.
If the fish is still eating, feed it more often (3-5 times per day) and do a big (75%) water change each day while it's getting fed more.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Section 3 of the following link has information on deworming fish.
What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.
Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...
www.fishforums.net
----------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
You can use salt and dewormer at the same time but try salt first and see if the fish survives the next few days.
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