# Guppy Help!



## nemo167 (Jun 14, 2012)

hey,
i have a female guppy who has what i believe to be swim bladder, she is floating at the top of the tank and she has been there for nearly 2 weeks? to be honest i thought she would already be dead but she is a little fighter and carrying on  she has given birth to 4 little fry and they seem fine?.. is there anything i can do to help her????

thanks


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## MWA_HA_HA (Jun 14, 2012)

We Need more information regarding your tank. 


Water parameters

Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
GH
KH

Age of fish
Symptoms 
Behavioral changes
Physical changes 
Fish diet
Tank size
Tank dimensions
Stocking
Water change schedule 
Any new additions in the tank


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## MWA_HA_HA (Jun 14, 2012)

*Velvet*

*Symptoms *
-white gold flecks on the fish. Shine a flashlight on the fish to check for them. They are easily seen with a flashlight on them
-lethargy

*Cause*
-poor water quality
-stress
-not Quarentining fish
-rubbing against decor
-not eating

*treatment*
I would personally 
Add the proper dosage of aquarium salt
Raise water temperature
Treat with copper sulphate for ten days or 3 days after it clears up

*Prevention*
-keep the environment stress free
-quarentine new fish
-provide optimal requirements for the fish
-always take good care of the water

*Popeye *

*symptoms *
-enlarged eye
-Clouded eye
-lethargy

*Treatment*
This is difficult to treat but not impossible. It can be treated with an Epsom salt dosage of around 1-3 teaspoons per 5 gallons. 

*Cause*
-poor water quality
-injuries to the eye

*Prevention*
-take very good care of the water
-make sure there are no sharp objects in the tank



*External parasites*

*Symptoms *
-"flicking" or ribbing against decor
-sometimes parasites are visible to the naked eye. Look around the gill area

*Treatments *
It can be treated suscesfully sometimes but not always with purely an aquarium salt treatment. If this doesn't work out suscesfully then it can be treated with API general cure

*Cause*
-not quarantining new fish or plants
-feeding wod caught live foods or no precautions are taken when feeding live foods 

*Prevention*
-quarentine new fish and plants
-be cautious when feeding live foods 



*Internal Parasites*

*Symptoms*
-Weight loss, and seems to get skinnier, 
-pooping out white stringy poop, 
-lethargy 

*Treatment*
It can be treated with Daily water changes and mixing a a parasitic treatment or medication with Epsom salt, Jungle’s Anti-parasitic pellets or API General Cure work splendidly. The Epsom dosage should be around 1 or 2 teaspoons per gallon depending on the severity of the disease.

*Cause*
-Feeding wild caught foods, 
-not Quarentining new fish

*Prevention*
-Always take precautions when feeding wild caught foods
-always quarentine new fish and new inhabitants 



*Dropsy*

*Symptoms*
-lethargy
-bloating
-raised scales
-not eating

*Treatment*
Dropsy is an often fatal disease, is can be left to get to that stage. It can be a sign of organ failure. It is rarely treated with success. I would atleast and try to treat it by adding Kanamycin Or Tetracycline.

*Cause*
Dropsy occurs when there is a buildup of fluids in the body cavities of a fish. Since dropsy itself really isn't a disease and more of a symptom it can be caused by a number if things. Liver dysfunction, bacterial infections or parasitic infections 

*Prevention*
Since this disease has many main causes there can be so many preventions. But this all leads up to 
-quarentine new fish or inhabitants
-feed properly 
-keep water clean
-and provide the fish with its optimal care and requirements 



*Ick or ich, otherwise known as "white spot"*

*Symptoms *
-small white dots over the fish's body
-lethargy
-loss of appetite 
-loss of color

*Treatment*
-raising the temperature a bit
-adding a small amount of salt if your fish are tolerant of it
-a proper medication. Copper based products works well but is toxic to many inverts and fish

*Cause*
This is usually caused by a lowered immune system which is a common result of stress, a stressed fish is one that's more susceptible to diseases. As long as you can provide the optimal ca for each individual fish. They should be fine and not suffer from diseases such as white spot

*Prevention*
This disease is easily prevented by Quarentining new fish, keeping stress minimal, and providing optimal requirements for each fish, this disease is very common, and is very contagious 




*Tail biting* only in bettas

*Symptoms *
- ripped fins with no black edging
-constantly in a "C" shape as of trying to bite the tail

*Treatments*
Since sometimes tilting isn't stress related and it's because if genetics and heavy finnagge it cant always be treated. For bettas that have it as a result of stress or insecurity, in large tas with no cover tailbiting is very common
-adding more cover
-adding more stimulation.
-keeping Betta in a low or high traffic area
-providing optimal requirements
-changing a decoration during water changes for a new habitat

*Cause*
This can be caused by stress, insecurity, or heavy finnagge, two of which can be successfully treated. The other can be hard to treat as its a result of naturally genetics and heavy finnagge

*Prevention *
As long as you provide the optimal requirements for bettas they should have no Stress and no desire to tailbite. tailbiting is very uncommon In plakat bettas.




*Swim bladder disease information*

*Symptoms*
- Bloating
- eradicated swimming 
- floating towards the surface of the water
- trouble swimming up
- seems to be doing "rolls"

*Treatment*
Treating this usually non fatal illness will be very easy to do. Usually a dose of aquarium salt, something along the lines of 1 teaspoon per 3 gallons for tetras, and 1 teaspoon per gallon for more salt tolerant fish such as Bettas. Typically after 1-2 Epsom salt treatments it will go away. Ideally during this treatment time you would also want to offer peas, and daphnia to the fish as this will also help

*Cause* 
This illness is usually caused by incorrect feeding with diets that have little or no nutritional value, or over feeding. Or incorrectly feeding more than the needed periods in the day to feed, like feeding very often 

*Prevention*
This illness is easily prevented by going along the lines of not over feeding, providing a varied diet with many good foods, and feeding lots of low nutritional value foods



*Fungal Disease Information*

*Symptoms*
White, or fuzzy growths on the outside of fish
Fish has become less active
Won't eat
Diluted colors
Patches of white

*Treatment*
This disease is very common with stressed fish and is cured by, easing the temperature within the tank to 80 will also help. But no higher than 82. If the disease progresses then invest in a high quality fungus treatment to help aid the treatment, if that doesn't work then I highly suggest that you either euthanize the fish or heavily Medicate, sterilize, and heat the temp even higher within the tank

*Cause*
There are many factors to what causes this specific disease but it's similar to many others. 
-poor water quality, like high ammonia, and nitrites along with unecxeptable Amounts of nitrates
-stressful tankmates and constant nipping
-being battered around by flow
-not acclimated properly
-stressful housing
Are all main factors to the disease as they all lead to a lored immune system which leaves all fish helpless towards all diseases

*Prevention*
-keep water clean
-keep the stress to minimal amounts
-keep water heated
-choose acceptable tank mates
-provide enough cover
-give your fish enough room to swim and spread its fins. 



*Fin Rot Information*

*Symptoms*
-Ripped tails, bloodshot, black edged, or has a fuzzy white appearance in the edge
-The fish will become unusually inactive 
-Won't eat
-Looks pale, and loses lots of color

*Causes*
This prolific disease is caused by stressful water conditions primarily but here are a few main examples of the conditions it is most likely found in

-Poor water quality with unacceptable amounts of ammonia, along with nitrites and nitrates
-Nippy tankmates
-Incompatible tankmates
-Tailbiting
-Plastic plants ripping fins constantly
-Over feeding 
-Over crowding
-Sometimes after a disease, while the bettas immune system is low it can strike unexpectedly 

*Treatment*

This disease is most commonly treated with mainly

-daily water changes of around 25-50 so more diseases dont settle in while the Betta is vulnerable
-a high quality fin rot treatment. Use tetracycline or Ampicillin for the best possible results

*Prevention*
-Keep the water clean
-don't over feed
-choose the right tankmates
-make sure that the bettas fins are always in the best shape
-keep the water heated
-change the water as needed



*Damages to body or fins*

If Part of its fin, or body is damagesd then precautions should be taken to healing it

I would recommend slightly rasining the temperature within the tank to around 80-82 degrees Fahrenheit as In My Epxerience injuries and rips in fins heal faster with higher temperatures. Only if you have fish that are tolerant of these temperatures though should this work. 

Adding a small proper amount of aquarium salt if you have plants and fish that are tolerant of it, before adding a treatment of aquarium salt to your water always ask if the plants or inhabitants you have are tolerant of salt, hornwort, scaleless fish, tetras, and catfish a mostly intolerant of salt, it impacts them greatly 

Keeping the water very clean and maintaining pristine water quality within the tank, depending on the size of the tank, the stocking, plants, and the filteration. I would usually recommend daily small water changes to keep ammonia minimal and to prevent diseases from occurring on the fish, fin rot is most likely to occur where there are rips in the fins. Fungal diseases are very common in fish with injuries to the body 

Keep stress minimal, ideally if there are rips in the fins, you would want to take extra precautions to keep stress minimal, keep flow minimal, provide extra cover, keep area dark and warm. Dont bother the fish that much, a stressed fish has a lower immune system which leaves the fish by susceptible to many stress related diseases, such as fin rot, fungus, velvet, ich, and others that are related to stress but not considered diseases, such as tailbiting

The first sign if healing and new growth forming would be transeculant/clear edges of the fins occurring, or new scales growing back in most fish.


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## nemo167 (Jun 14, 2012)

all my water tests have been absolutely fine  i check them on a regular basis. the fish is probably about 6-8 months old now. ill try and add a picture if i can of what she looks like. she gets fed live bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp, flake, pellets, dried bloodworm, and veg matter and she will also attack the live plants. i have a 175-180 litre tank so its not small, i also have a air stone and a huge external filter. other fish are; guppys both male and female, mollies both male and female, minnows, rummy nose tetra, cardinal tetra, neon tetra, glow light tetra, clown plec, bristlenose plec, whiptail catfish and male and female kribensis... sounds alot but i only have one or two of each  i also do a 25-30% water change on a weekly basis  is that all ok?


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## MWA_HA_HA (Jun 14, 2012)

I would like to know specific water parameters. Anything above .0 for ammonia, and nitrites is toxic to fish and could lead to the behaviour you are seeing in your fish. Did you see anything in that list that shows similar symptoms to your fish?


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## nemo167 (Jun 14, 2012)

There is no ammonia, no nitrates and no nitrites, also there is no chlorine.


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## nemo167 (Jun 14, 2012)

the only one that it could be is swim bladder?


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## MWA_HA_HA (Jun 14, 2012)

If it is swim bladder then follow the guide on ther concerning swim bladder. Does she seem bloated? Or have issues swimming? If so then I'm almost certain it's Swim bladder disease. Unless the other fish are being effected


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## nemo167 (Jun 14, 2012)




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