Sick Squiggles

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Fish-ish-ish

New Fish
#1
Apr 21, 2008
6
0
0
Berkshire, UK
#1
hi, i have a problem with one of my female guppys.

im new to fish keeping and when i got my first fish squiggles the woman didnt tell me about males bullying her, so i put males in and didnt think anything about it, she started acting not normal about a weeks ago;

she stayes at the bottom of the tank, ive caught her lying on her side a few times but after a while she gets back up and seems fine, her gills look a bit red inside and they move faster than normal, she isnt eating much at all, even when i feed her on her own, she seems to not have the energy to swim against the current the filter makes anymore and if she ventures out of her corner she gets knocked about a fair bit untill she goes and hides, her tail also looks like it might have fin rot,

ive looked on the internet to try find out what is wrong and i added 3 more females to the tank so squiggles is pretty much left alone now but she isnt making much of an improvement, im tempted to take her to my local shop and ask what to do but im worried the travelling might kill her
im really worried about her as she is my first fish and im very attached, everyone else in the tank is fine and the water levels are all good, is there anything anyone can suggest for me?

thanks
x
 

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Fish-ish-ish

New Fish
#3
Apr 21, 2008
6
0
0
Berkshire, UK
#3
my tank is a 60l, and i have 6 guppys in total atm, erm last time i cheacked the water all the levels of ph, nitrate, nitrite and amonia were safe for the fish, i can remember exactly what they were, i did it a few days ago, all the other fish are fine tho

and thanks for the welcome, sorry i missed that stuff out!
 

Kissyboots

Kissyboots

Superstar Fish
#4
Dec 17, 2007
1,889
1
36
Arizona
cid-461aece5d238e494.spaces.live.com
#4
Good, at least you're not overstocked. And your parameters are good. Hmmm.
If she has fin rot, that might be part of the problem that she's so weak. Do you have Melafix? It seems to work for a lot of people and I think I used it too and some point.

Edit: Do you have a picture of the tank? Just curious what it looks like. :eek:
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#5
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#5
Uh oh, I've seen that before...... are you sure your tank is cycled and your ammonia and nitrites are 0?... those are the only safe levels of ammonia and nitrites for fish (or any other aquarium inhabitant).

My guppies did that a lot because I didn't cycle the tank before putting them in.

Read this website, which was put together by MissFishy, another member of this forum: MissFishy's Guide to Fish

Try doing a waterchange.
 

F

Fish-ish-ish

New Fish
#6
Apr 21, 2008
6
0
0
Berkshire, UK
#6
all the water levels are fine, it cant be a problem with the tank because the other fish would have something wrong with them too, as they have all been in there the same time except the new females, i wasnt sure if i should put medicine in the tank ive been told it can cause more problems than it solves? should i still do it? i cant afford to get a hospital tank, i dont get paied till the end of the month and i spent all this months! i didnt know fish would be so expensive! ill put a picture up of my tank for you kissy as soon as i can tho
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#7
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#7
Some fish repond to ammonia/nitrite/nitrate poisoning differently. I had some guppies that acted like yours, while others went along their merry little way.

Have you checked your water parameters today? A lot can happen in just a few days. The ammonia content in my 10 gallon (~40L?) tank went from 0.25 to 8ppm in a matter of 3 days back when it used to have guppies and was still cycling.
You should definitely not put in any medicines until you know what is wrong with the fish. It definitely can cause more harm than it's worth. You definitely need to rule out the possibility that it could be your water parameters, though. The red gills you mentioned are indicative of ammonia burns, that's the only reason I keep pushing this idea.

Did you cycle the tank before putting the guppies in? Or did you just get your tank, add water, maybe let it run a few days, and then get your guppies? That's what I did when I first got my guppies, because I didn't know about the cycling thing, etc.... and the people at the petshopt really don't care much, they just want to make a sale.. :( That's one of the reasons many of us lose fish when first starting out.

And, OMG! Are you ready for all the guppy babies you're going to have? :D... You have 4 females now, which can drop up to 100 babies each. I was all amazed when I first saw then being born, but i was overwhelmed very babies very quickly, and just gave them all away.



Ah, which brings me to this point... is she "fatter" than a usual guppy? Check to see if she has a very dark spot called a gravid spot. If she's prego, she could very easily be more susceptible to any of the poisonings mentioned above.



And welcome to the hobby, you may soon find you yourself catch a little something called MTS, Multple Tank Syndrome. :D
 

F

Fish-ish-ish

New Fish
#8
Apr 21, 2008
6
0
0
Berkshire, UK
#8
thanks guys for all the help, but after i wrote the last message i went home to cheack on squiggles and found her dead :'( im gutted because she was my first fish and shes my second death in 2 weeks, the first one got out of the tank goodness knows how

yeh i cycled the tank before i put anyone in and the amonia is 0 i dont know why she died, i dont think she was prego she was a pretty small fish to start with, i dont think she was very well to start with either, i only got her because the place was shutting down and i was worried they were going to kill her if she didnt get sold, she was all on her own

im gunna get another tank as soon as i get payed, i think i already have mts lol, i think babys would be pretty cool, but ill probs end up giving them away too, again thanks for all the advice and support, i guess it was just too late

x
 

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