# Sick Guppies - Could It Be A Parasite?



## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

Okay guys, I REALLY need your help. I have been a silent reader of this site for a while. Usually only to check on peoples experiences with the fish I have but this time I have a problem.

Quick info on my tanks/fishes:
1. 60l tank with 2 adult ancistrus plecos, 4 albino corys, 6 danios, 6 bettas planted with live plants and filtrated with Aquael filter, temp. set on 25/26celsius - everything working properly and it has been up and running for about a month now with fishes
2. 60l tank with 7 guppies and a lot pleco youngsters, planted with live plants and filtrated with Eheim filter that came with the tank, temp. set on 25celsius, has been up and running for about 3 months
(I know this tank is overcrowded but I will give the plecos away to a pet store soon and I am on a hunt for a bigger tank anyways)

It all started a few days ago. It was tank number 2 that caught an outbreak. I believe it could have been ammonia. I had around 30 young plecos in free swimming (about 1,5cm long) from before but mz 2 adults have mated again and I put a breeding container with around 25 fry in to float. The next day I woke up with a murky foggy tank (water was kinda gray, almost white), there were bubbles on top and ALL my fishes were up on the surface gasping for air. Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate... I literally fell out of bed (tank is in the bedroom) and was so shocked to see all my guppies and plecos hanging up there (the fry too!!). I took out my fish bucket and with help of my partner started fishing out 60 fishes one by one. Soon we found out that one of the guppies didnt survive and the same went for 6 young plecos, the fry somehow managed to survive!! Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate...
We took out all the plants and emptied the tank completely. Spend all day washing the sand and boiling the wood and decorations...
I do not have a testing kit for the water as we always check it at the fish store but now I really wish we did so I could provide you with the much needed parameters... We will go and buy one today along with some medication.
After that another guppy has died and now another one is showing some signs of sickness. He has been swimming heavily and his tail was dropping. Pretty much all the other guppies have a problem too. They swim okay and their tails are fine but they keep rubbing their bellies at the plants/pots/wood and then quickly swimming off and repeating the process a couple of times... Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate...
There are 3 females in that I think could be pregnant. They have big bellies and a black gravid spot visible. But now I think they might have some parasites?
I did some research and found about ICH but they dont have any white spots at all. :/
The one with a dropping tail has been swimming either at the top or sitting on the bottom (not swimming around much at all unless it is feeding time).
Before this post I also did a 25% water change and he seems to be a bit better...
I wanted to upload a video and photos but it wont allow me 
PLEASE... please help with any information!!! Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate...

THANK YOU!


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## Angelcliff (Apr 14, 2014)

Hi did you check the water I had sake problem sometime lack if oxygen but mine were at the top cause of my nitrite and my water wasn't rite then after that I saw them breaking down lios pealing n little marks it was fungus I treated the tank and then if you look closely at some of the fish how are there bellies are they eating


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

It's called to many fish in your aquarium. With what you have in them you need about 6 to 8 more tanks to spread them out. You should be doing daily 50% water changes to get the ammonia levels down or you will loose all your fish.


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## Angelcliff (Apr 14, 2014)

susankat said:


> It's called to many fish in your aquarium. With what you have in them you need about 6 to 8 more tanks to spread them out. You should be doing daily 50% water changes to get the ammonia levels down or you will loose all your fish.


That's wat happen to mine he needs to check the water I put a mix of baking soda kosher salt and ep salt


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## Angelcliff (Apr 14, 2014)

Also I got bambo plants in one filter and my water really good


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

1^ with Susan.You need to spread out that many fish and be doing waterchanges.To raise fry you should be changing water almost everyday in a tank by themselves.
You should be able to load pics or video after you make 3-5 post.


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

Angelcliff said:


> Hi did you check the water I had sake problem sometime lack if oxygen but mine were at the top cause of my nitrite and my water wasn't rite then after that I saw them breaking down lios pealing n little marks it was fungus I treated the tank and then if you look closely at some of the fish how are there bellies are they eating


The bellies of the fish seem normal and so is their appetite, I feed them twice a day with a pinch of flake food and they seem to swim around until every flake is gone.
I was at the fish store yesterday and the guy there told me it is gill flukes. I am not so sure about that but I bought a medicine anyways... 
I told him I have plecos in the tank too and he said it should be no problem but on other posts that I have read, everyone who had plecos in a sick tank did half a dose of the treatment. Anyone knows about Sera med Professional - Nematol?
Against nematodes it says on the packaging :/ 
This is so frustrating.


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

susankat said:


> It's called to many fish in your aquarium. With what you have in them you need about 6 to 8 more tanks to spread them out. You should be doing daily 50% water changes to get the ammonia levels down or you will loose all your fish.



I know :/ I will give the young plecos away in 2 weeks to the fish store. If they make it until then... :/
I am doing 25% water changes in that tank that had an outbreak. 
Should I raise on 50? :/


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

coralbandit said:


> 1^ with Susan.You need to spread out that many fish and be doing waterchanges.To raise fry you should be changing water almost everyday in a tank by themselves.
> You should be able to load pics or video after you make 3-5 post.


I am on a hunt for a bigger aquarium but am waiting to get the plecos away cos I think it is better to focus on this now and get it all fixed so they dont die too...
I will try to load photos again then!

Also, does anyone know if this disease that guppies might have, can it be transferred to plecos? I mean it is the same water :/


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

Sick guppies - YouTube

here is the video, the guppy with a dropping tail is the one with a tiger pattern on his yellow tail and at the end of the video (54th sec) zou can see a different guppy rubbing its belly against the pot on the right side. otherwise you can see they are pretty lively still :/










him again... he used to have a perfect back fin but now its kinda ripped and has a little red spot at the end :/


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I would look into columnaris
Fish Columnaris | Fungus & Saprolegnia | Treatment & Prevention
It could be fin rot,but it appearred that the one male you point out is stressed by other males in the tank.
Columnaris can effect healty(good water quality) tanks that just have stress or older fish.
My swordtails did the same thing(body curved dramatically) days before death.


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

coralbandit said:


> I would look into columnaris
> Fish Columnaris | Fungus & Saprolegnia | Treatment & Prevention
> It could be fin rot,but it appearred that the one male you point out is stressed by other males in the tank.
> Columnaris can effect healty(good water quality) tanks that just have stress or older fish.
> My swordtails did the same thing(body curved dramatically) days before death.


I spotted some other severe fin problems with my orange guy and frayed fins with two others. could it possibly be what you are talking about?? :/ :/ :/

The fish from my photo above passed away on friday


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## sharkettelaw (Aug 30, 2011)

first and foremostly, if you plan to keep so many fish in a tank then increase the levels of oxygen. Put a decent sized airstone in at least...as for the 6 - 8 tanks for guppies is absurd and rubbish. Get 2x 150L tanks and spread them out in there, but you say you plan to give the plecos to the petshop? Thats fine too, it'll lower the numbers. Its a good thing you're getting a bigger tank, they're easier to maintain, but thats just my opinion. That pic of one of the guppies with a drooping tail - that looked like TB to me. A curved spine is a symptom of TB in which there is no cure. Do a 75 percent water change, and wait. And no, its not columnaris either.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

> as for the 6 - 8 tanks for guppies is absurd and rubbish


No its not! I think you need to learn a lot more before you give a statement like that. And besides its not only guppies in the tank there is much more.



> And no, its not columnaris


I take it you have lots experience in fish disease?


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## sharkettelaw (Aug 30, 2011)

yes, susankat, i do. Not only from personal experience and a learning curve, but from lots of research. And 8 tanks for 60 fish at least half of which will be given to a petshop and which will reduce the amount to what? HALF?! 8 tanks for 30 fish? And not small tanks either, ridiculous, absurd, waste of space and money. Not that you care because its not your money being spent on it. And regarding coloumnaris, do you even know anything about it susan? Do you? I greatly doubt it...and i quote "you have a lot to learn".


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Be very careful whose advice you take to heart.Anyone who proclaims it is or isn't better have a couple books they have written to convince me!
I'll just say columnaris seems to be the "fish flu" as of lately,and with 4 different known strains(and the super strain fish farms ,LFs and us keepers seem to be generating)My money says your guppy has columnaris.
As far as TB goes ,a little knowledge is a dangerous thing so I'll just say that the curved spine sharkettelaw mentions IS NOT CURVED THE PROPER WAY!
For TB the spine will curve like an S from side to side ,not like a C front to back.
Both TB and columnaris can come and go,and kill very quickly once a symptom is recognised.Since there is no treatnment for TB it would seem more practical to also just work on a disease that is treatable until treatments have been exhausted or proven uneffective.
I seriously thought my swordtails had TB ,and I observed 1 or 2 die every week for a month.Then I realised with help from others here(PEPE) that there really was a good chance it was columnaris.No typical symptoms,but my treatment and euthanising any that looked ill has seemed to work.
I linked you to a columnaris info site.It is the best one I have found.I used Potassium Permaganate to treat my tanks .
Sharkettelaw;I'll add a little off topic but in the post that for someone who has had NOTHING BUT TROUBLE AND FAILURE breeding or even keeping bettas you got balls to call out Susan!She breeds just about everything she owns and is with NO DOUBT IMO a very successful keeper.You really think she has alot to learn?I think you bit off more than you can chew again.And really read up on TB because I'm the one who shouts it out more than others ,but I have done a LOT of research and spoken to serious DRs on this topic.Talk to Dr Adrian Lawler(or at least read all of the info proved by the good DR{who has TB from fishkeeping}) and then maybe you'll know alittle more of how diffacult a disease this is to diagnose.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks for the comment coral. Yes 30+ years of experience and has gone through a lot of the disease in that time I can say that I know what I am talking about. And I didn't say 8 big tanks, and just for 30 guppies. I think you need to re read what I wrote. I said he would need that many for the stock that he has in the one small tank that they are in. If you read info on things like you say you do then your just skimming parts.


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

coralbandit said:


> I linked you to a columnaris info site.It is the best one I have found.I used Potassium Permaganate to treat my tanks .


I have checked the link yeah... 

Yesterday afternoon I have transferred all ancistrus youngsters into a temporary 20l tank. (since they probably wouldnt handle the treatment... am still wondering if the disease -whichever it is- can be transferred to them?) Tomorrow they will be given to the local fish store.

I have also treated the whole guppy tank with 0.5dl aquarium salt (i left the plants and gravel in ofc) and a few ml of Nematol. Nematol is supposingly anti-bacterial medicine so it should be okay since columnaris is a becterial disease. 
I could not find any treatment particularly for it so I went with this that I had at home. In 2 days I need to do about 80% water change. I persume I will need to add additional salt again but no medical treatment. After a week I will do a treatment with eSHa 2000 - fungus, fin rot and bacteria treatment.

I hope I made a good decision with this even though the orange guys side fins are even smaller today than they were yesterday. He only hangs at the surface... (and no it is not a lack of oxygen-i have a bubbler filter)
Oh this makes me wonder, I did not remove the filter sponge before treating the tank. Will that be alright or should I take it out now?

And to Susan, I am aware I should have at least one more tank to spread out the fishes and as mentioned I am on a hunt for one that is within my budget. Not everyone has the money or space for 6 or 8 tanks but I do appreciate the advice. To be honest, when me and my boyfriend set up the first tank we did not imagine buying another one so soon. We would not if it wouldnt have been for the ancistrus pair that fell in love  So we bought another tank and put the fry in but it looked a little empty so we got some guppies. Little did we know the pair would spawn again so soon...  Seems like removing the fry makes them want to mate over and over again as we have new eggs (3rd batch) under the rock. And yes, lesson learnt, when we get another tank they will get separated. Anyways... Thank you!


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