# Guppy swimming in a V-shape, accident??



## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

I am so upset. I got home from work tonight to find my blue mosaic guppy kind of stuck in between the glass of the tank and a rock. She was normal when I left at 2pm. I put her into isolation and she is still hovering just above the tank bottom and seems to have no control of her tail, it is just flopping over so she is in a V shape. She is breathing very fast and her gills look kind of swollen to me but it is very hard to tell if that is a cause or effect of an injury. She was picking around the tank so I put food in and she ate it all! She seems mostly normal except she can't unbend. 

I am thinking that some type of accident occurred and she is somehow paralyzed, does this seem plausible? I was thinking that the pleco ran into her. Where she was found is a sort of "alleyway" where the gups search for food in the gravel. Well when the pleco gets scared it flies through the water and hides in that alleyway. The problem is that the alleyway has a 45 degree angle because it follows the corner of the tank. I am thinking that my gup was looking for food and the pleco didn't see her around the corner and ran into her and broke her back or something. Could this be possible? The pleco is about 5 times her size. If not what do you think it might be?

"Blue Mama" is my oldest gup, so I should accept that she could be at the end of her life. She is at least 2 yrs old. But she has been my favorite fish. I checked the tank parameters and I am at .25 ammonia (just added a few fry to the tank, also water change due tomorrow), nitrite 0, nitrate 0, pH abt 7.8. I am supplementing her with an airstone. No other fish are sick. Any thoughts would be welcomed.


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## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

Well this morning she is still alive and eating, but still has no control of her tail. Her gills no longer look swollen so whatever happened to her must have done something to her gills. I will post a pic later if she is still alive, however I will have to put her down because she will be eaten alive if I put her back with the others. How very sad. I hate when my fish die *frown


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your fish, Niki. Hard to loose the ones you have had the most time with. Never heard of that type of injury from a fish collision, although I guess it is possible. Maybe she is still a little stressed and will get better once she relaxes. Aquarium salt may help....it does claim to calm fish. Hope she gets better. I just lost an adult Angel this weekend...he has been struggling for months. I think he is 2-3 years old....got him with a tank I bought.

EDIT : wow, when you say she is bent, you really mean it. Never seen that before in my limited experience.


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## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

Thanks Ben. Yes she was really in bad shape. I don't know what happened. I had to euthanize, there was clearly no way she could recover. Her back looked just folded in half, so strange. Her gills look a little puffy again in this pic.



I'm so sorry to hear about your angel. Bad weekend for us both.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Burial at Sea prayer:

We therefore commit their earthly remains to the deep, 
looking for the general Resurrection in the last day, 
and the life of the world to come, 
through our Lord Jesus Christ; 
at whose second coming in glorious majesty 
to judge the world, the sea shall give up her dead; 
and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him 
shall be changed, and made like unto his glorious body; 
according to the mighty working
whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. 
Amen

(Don't mean to offend any non-Christians present, just thought it might be a little fitting, in a nerdy way).


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## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

Guy, thank you!! What a heart you have. It wasn't nerdy, it was calming and kind. *thanks
Blue Mama had 45 fry about 6-8 weeks ago, I'm hoping at least one looks like her.

Where would any of us be without good fish and good friends?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

That is a cool prayer!

Niki,I am sorry you had to euth her.Does look from the pic she was in an accident.Could have happened a number of ways,but just be cautious.I think there is a type of disease that will have symptoms of paralysis,though the name escapes me.

I hope you get a few fry that look like her,she was beautiful.(and i am no fan of guppies,lol)


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