Fish issues

[jade71301]

I have 6 guppies in my tank, and 3 of the 6 have split tails, or ragged tails. What can cause this? Can you maybe help. Here is a pic of the worse one. They look healthy except for the tails.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/Jade71301/33.jpg

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I do a water change every week along with a cleaning of gravel. Also I don't have a testing kit. Also I have tons of green algae forming and can't figure out why. Lighting is only from 7 at night till 10ish.

 

[Smalltank3]

I don't know about the guppies tail. It seems very confusing for that to happen. For the lighting, what is your wpg?

 

[Lotus]

It looks to me like the guppies have fin rot. You should get a medication that says it works on fin rot. I have used AP Anti-Fungus sucessfully for fin rot.

 

[Smalltank3]

Does fin rot really split the tail like that?

 

[Pure]

Is this just the males this is happening to?

 

[jade71301]

I only have males. I put aquarium salt in the tank hoping maybe that will help. I am thinking of taking a water sample to the pet store and have it checked, and see what she says.

 

[Pure]

Kinda what I was thinking. They are doing it to each other. The boys need some ladies to curve their aggression. I've seen this plenty of times in our male tanks. Melafix will help heal it, but it's going to keep happening until they get an outlet for their pent up hormones.

 

[jade71301]

but I can't put a female cause i don't want a tank full of guppies ty. SO nothing I can do i guess?

 

[FreddyJ]

I have used Melafix with great results. I can't say that the split tails on my fish (caused by aggression) were ever that bad though... I keep an eye out for it to try and catch it early. I rearrange tank decor too, and seems like I can never stop buying enough rock to keep my kids with enough places to escape to when they are being picked on. Good luck! Try the melafix.

 

[jade71301]

One question though if i get melafix, will his tail come back normal? Also will I have to take out any bags or sponge from the filter for treatment? Also do you think I am overstocked for a 5 gal with 6 guppies one being a small feeder guppie.

 

[jumpfreak26]

well, technically your overstocked, looking at your sig, you could put 6 guppies in there fine, just water changes will have to be bigger which shouldnt be bad since its a small tank. but im not sure about apple snail wastes.

 

[FreddyJ]

Make sure you take out any carbon or filter containing carbon while you treat your fish. The carbon will inactivate the Melafix if you leave it in and so you'll just be flushing money down the toilet. I don't know if they will grow back completely, but I think it's worth a shot. In the long run though you gotta try to find a way to scale back their aggression or else you are going to be buying melafix on a continual basis, and that might not be good for the fish, and certainly not good for your wallet!

 

[Seleya]

How long has this tank been set up?