Please help... red sore on guppy

Finney

Small Fish
Jun 17, 2005
18
0
0
#1
I just noticed this afternoon that one of my male guppies has a bright red sore on his body, a little bit behind his head. There is nothing in the tank that could have hurt him (only other guppies, a platy and some cories) so I am guessing it’s bacterial. He is acting sluggish, mostly just staying in the same spot in the upper 1/3 of the tank. His mouth is opening and closing very often, but none of the others are doing this. He seems to be bloated.

The tank (23 gallon) is cycled and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate = 0 ppm. pH = 7.0. Another guppy (yellow in color) has developed small red streaks on both sides of his body and a red streak in his tail. He is acting normally. They were all interested in eating this morning and did not have any redness until this afternoon.

I do not have a hospital tank so I have put the guppy with the red sore in a 1 gallon kritter keeper. There is no heater and no filter. The main tank has temp 75 F but I am afraid the 1 gallon will suffer a drop in temperature, since the room temperature is only about 65 F. I have wrapped the 1 gallon in tinfoil to preserve some of the heat. I added fresh, treated water and 1 tsp aquarium salt and 1/10 tsp Melafix (says it’s good for open wounds, etc.)

Will he be ok in the 1 gallon as it is setup? I’m not allowed to get another tank, and heating or filtering it is not possible. I have an battery powered aerator, but it is very loud and I can't let it run overnight (landlords upstairs). I will run it every now and then to get some oxygen into the water. The alternative is keeping him in the main tank, but I don’t want this to spread to the other fish. I will not feed him and can change the water daily.

Does anyone know what this mysterious redness may be due to? I hope he survives and the others don’t get this, but if things get worse, what can I treat the tank with? I have Maracyn 1 and Maracyn 2 on hand, but I’m worried that these meds may be too strong for the cories? I'm going to the LFS tomorrow. A book I have suggests antibiotic medicated food?

Please help asap! I really want to help the little guppy and prevent the others from suffering too! Thanks.
 

Finney

Small Fish
Jun 17, 2005
18
0
0
#3
The little guppy died a few days ago. I believe he had Bacterial Hemorrhagic Septicemia, but he also developed signs of dropsy (scales sticking out). I'm currently treating the main tank with Maracyn 2 because the yellow guppy still has red streaks on his tail and body.

Any suggestions on how I should clean out the kritter keeper and net I used for the sick guppy (as I sometimes use the kritter keeper for water changes on another tank)? I don't want to risk contaminating my other tank. I have had it soaking with a vinegar and water solution.

Thanks