Sick guppy - black spots        3/6/19 Hi guys, <Hello Luciana,> Could you please help me? <And if you could help us, too, by not sending 18 MB of photos! Such big files fill up our email mailboxes, causing other people to have their messages bounced back. Some of us travel around the world and rely on using phones or modems to access the Internet, and it goes without saying that big files really cause problems in that situation.> I was reading through the conversations you published, but I thought it would be better to ask directly. <Sure thing.> I have some guppies living in a planted aquarium. I've done a water change 2 days ago and yesterday I noticed one of my white guppies had his tail crumpled. I went to check the parameters and they are fine (no ammonia, nitrites, nitrates), the pH has changed a bit, and the temperature, due a change on the water dropped a bit ( I live in Brazil, so it was quite hot, and now the temperature dropped, so the aquarium has went back to the usual 26 Celsius). <Guppies are adaptable, but they dislike soft, acidic water chemistry. So when you say the pH has changed, do you mean down? A steady pH around 7.5 is ideal for Guppies; anything below 7 tends to cause problems, at least with farmed 'pet' Guppies. There may well be wild populations living in softer, more acidic water conditions.> The aquarium is heavily planted (and I use dirt under a layer of 1. 1/2 inches of black basalt). <Sounds fine.> I do not know if the last change disturbed the soil or something else, but anyway, my white guppy got black spots. I've checked the other fish and they seem fine, but this guy was very upset since the change, so I'm guessing he is the only one affected. <Indeed. The two commonest explanations for black patches are these: Firstly, exposure to ammonia. This causes chemical burns, and the dark patches reflect that. The second is sometimes called Black Spot Disease, and it is caused by a parasite that occurs in ponds and other environments where its complex life cycle is viable. Neascus is one such parasite; there may be others. Because their life cycle needs snails and/or birds, this parasite never lasts for long in aquaria. But in ponds it may persist for a while, infecting healthy fish.> Besides the spot on his back and had, he had one on his tail too. I believe it's a fluke, but since I did not know for sure, I made a blue Methylene dip of 10 minutes with him <Methylene Blue is mostly for fungus, and doesn't really help much with anything else. I'm skeptical of a fluke, but since your photos are after the dip, it's hard to be sure. Flukes are very varied, and difficult to identify without a microscope. Praziquantel is the most popular option for treating Flukes, though other antihelminth medications may work better. Often you need to use several treatments for a complete cure.> He was not happy, but then went quiet. After the dip, I notice that some of the spots turned vivid red (I'm guessing it's a sign of blood) and he was very prostrated for one hour. Now he seems better, he has eaten, but he still have some black spots. The pictures are from after the dip. Could you please help me? And if you can, please tell me what I should do to prevent other fish to get sick. Cheers, - Luciana <Hope the above helps. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Sick guppy - black spots       3/7/19 Hi Neale, <Luciana,> OMG, I'm very sorry for the photos sizes! I've forgot to change it. Wont happen again. <Cool.> Actually, the pH went a bit up, from 7.2 to 7.4, my tap water is alkaline. And as for ammonia, I check the parameters one per week, 2 days before the water change it was normal (by normal, I mean less then 0,25). <You do want zero. Any ammonia is bad. Check your tap water. Sometimes this has ammonia in it. Use a good water conditioner to neutralise this.> Uhn, I have some Ramshorns on that aquarium, they were acquired in a store. They are there before the fish (this particular one is with me for 2 months, the snails are with me for 4, I guess - I have the red, and I wanted the blue ones). <Should be harmless.> Thank you a lot for your considerations. Is there any "soft treatment" that you would suggest in his case? He is quite stressed, and I would not like to go with treatment since is not possible to know if it might not be a fluke. <If the fish is happy and feeding now, I'd not treat with anything. If you are only keeping Guppies, you could add some salt, maybe 2-3 gram/litre. This will help recovery.> And thank you for your time :) <Welcome.> Luciana <Cheers, Neale.>

Guppies with PopEye       1/8/19
Hello there!
<Hi Megan, Earl this morning.>
I have an unusual issue. I have several (ha ha, a million really) guppies that were born and raised in my home. These little ones range in age but most are about 5 to 6 months old. They are in 2 separate
tanks, boys in our 55 gallon community tank (once they can be sexed anyway) and the ladies and babies in the nursery, which is a 29 gallon. The 29 is guppy only, besides 2 Amano shrimp, 2 bamboo shrimp and a large apple snail, as well as some Ramshorns. The 55 is mostly white clouds, Danios, and male guppies. Both are well established planted tanks with sand substrate. Water is almost the same for both.
The 55 has PH 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrate 10 ppm, nitrite 0, KH 3 and GH 8.
The 29 has the same except slightly higher nitrate at 20 ppm.
<Seems good. I would look into the other possible causes as shown here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwdistrbshtart.htm and
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwpopeyefaqs.htm . My first step would definitely be to quarantine the fishes in question, then observe all of the guppies for behavior that could lead to eye trauma. Sit by the tanks and watch them for at least 30 minutes particularly during feeding when an
aggressive, larger fish would be more likely to "act up". My hunch is that it's bacterial but don't rush for antibiotics until you have done this much. Only then is it time to treat them with medications, administered as per WWM's pages regarding this. Hope this helps (and please do follow up by sending us an update as to your outcome as this can immeasurably helpful to others down the road).>
About a week ago, I noticed that one of the oldest baby ladies had PopEye.
It was just one eye and after reading up on it I assumed it was from trauma and started watching her more carefully. Since I had a bunch of them in there along with babies I was concerned. I had a LOT of females and I decided to give about 10 ladies away to the LFS so there could be more room for babies. While catching them I found another lady with PopEye.
Strangely it was only one eye, same eye even. These ladies are from the same batch of babies, they look pretty much identical. And then I found another. So, that's 3 identical females at the same age with PopEye in one eye, all on the same side (the right). Really weird. Put them in quarantine.
Meanwhile, in the community 55 there is a young lad, just old enough to know he's a male, with PopEye only on the right eye. It developed overnight since I am now carefully watching the remaining guppies for anything unusual. His is worse than the others.
Anyway, my question is could this be hereditary? Why all the same eye? Why not both eyes, or any of the other fish? I have scoured this site and the internet but it seems PopEye is kind of a mystery illness. Is it even possible for it to be hereditary? I just think its very strange that it's not both eyes on any of them if it is a water quality issue. Plus they are in separate tanks. The male (most likely he's inbred) did come from the 29 of course, but he's been in the 55 for over 2 weeks now. My water is consistent and we are diligent with water changes weekly on all of our tanks, we have 5. Thank you in advance!
Megan
Re: Guppies with PopEye      1/9/19
Thanks for the response. I had read through both of the pages you linked for me before I emailed but nothing there about multiple related animals getting PopEye only in one eye and all on the same side.
<I wouldn’t put much stock in that detail, if any. 50/50 chance after all.>
When I feed them occasionally I will give Sera O-nip which is a food pellet that sticks to the glass. Its about 12mm in size. That would be a time when they could injure each other while feeding. They do love that kind of food!
I love watching them and observe them every time I feed them. They are in our living room and they are our TV! I never notice them nipping each other while feeding. Tonight is a fasting night for them so I will have to watch tomorrow.
<Fasting night?>
One of the bamboo shrimp in the 29 died while I was at work today. The baby male guppy has a white fungus on the PopEye now, and a female guppy that doesn't have PopEye has fungus on a fin. Its hard to tell but it is white colored and fuzzy. Looks the same as the stuff on the males eye. All fish in the 55 look good. No other new issues.
The quarantined fish spent most of the first day up at the surface. No gasping for air, just lethargic and almost sleeping for hours after i put them in. Now they are moving about more but the female with fungus is still lethargic. Parameters are the same for the quarantine tank as the others. A bare bottom 10 gallon, a hob filter with carbon and a small sponge filter.
All of my tanks have a sponge filter as well as a hob.
<This screams “infection”. Sponges present a dilemma in that they can’t be replaced hastily yet that means they are not quarantined.>
In the 29 gallon the substrate is Carib-sea river of doubt and also Carib-sea Tahitian moon sand, mixed. We had this in a cichlid tank previously. We had a mass die off of the young yellow labs that were in
that tank from a mystery illness. Some of them acted as if they had seizures occasionally. Some had no symptoms, but just died.
<Red alert! I’d ditch this substrate pending the outcome of the 10g tank. Remove and bleach (“nuke”) decor, rocks, gravel, the works if this illness continues.>
None had PopEye. This sand sat in a bucket for about 2 months before it was washed and then used in this tank. My boyfriend thinks its the sand.
<I am inclined to agree. Either way it’s not doing you any favors.>
I'm just stumped. I guess it must be coincidence that it is on the same eye for all of them, but not both. I'm not sure what to treat them with.
Megan
<WWM has info regarding this. Typical antibacterial medication. It is also worth considering where you have gotten all these animals. Some have surely cone from outside sources which may be suspect.>
Re: Guppies with PopEye      1/11/19
As for fasting night, i don't feed them every day. Usually every other day.
Is this wrong?
<Hi again. Ideally you would want 2 small daily feedings or more simply, once a day unless you have a special reason.
Certainly better to underfeed than to overfeed as a general rule but I'm not sure why you'd skip feedings normally.>
I'm not sure what you mean by this statement "Sponges present a dilemma in that they can’t be replaced hastily yet that means they are not quarantined."
Do you mean I shouldn't have a sponge filter in the quarantine? The one in the 29 has been there a long time. The one in the quarantine is pretty new.
<Simply that sometimes people set up a QT but bring decor or sponges (for cycling) from another tank,
which defeats the purpose of quarantine, which is to be completely clean and uncontaminated.>
I'm really surprised about the sand. I am not excited to throw out $60 worth of sand but I'll just have to if i want healthy fish. We have the same sand in our 5 gallon Betta tank. Guess that's going bye bye too. He says its cursed sand. He was right!
<Well it's not a 100% surety but you should consider: how long was this stuff sitting, damp, in a bucket (probably dimly lit), how clean could it really be and who knows what's gone on in there? It sucks to lose the money and the nice sand, but ask yourself what $60 is compared to the value of the other gear you pay for, the electricity, the food, and the animals themselves. A proverbial drop in the bucket.>
So far they are ok, the small male still has fungus on his PopEye. Will treat as directed. Thank you so much for the advice! Megan
<Please do let us know how it goes!>

Juvenile Male Guppy Endler's Hybrid    3/1/18 Hello! Before I begin with my query I'd like to thank WWM for providing useful, fact-based information. <Thanks for the kind words.> I wasn't even aware of the vastness of information until I began looking for an answer and spent a couple hours reading pages that dated back more than a decade! After all that time, my head is spinning with newly acquired knowledge, but I have yet to find an answer. I have a juvenile male guppy Endler's hybrid that appears to have his insides outside. All I could find online was about prolapse and tumors. <Sounds horrible. Cut a long story short, a prolapse will usually look like a certain length of digestive tract emerging from the vent (the combined reproductive and excretory opening in front of the anal fin). Expect to see an off-white tube, perhaps long and thing, but often rounded, even bun-like in shape. But centered on the vent, in any case. Anything thin and reddish-brown or pink emerging from the vent is likely to be Camallanus worms, which may even wriggle obviously. Anything more serious emerging from the vent is likely to be untreatable and probably fatal.> I know it can't be the former and I doubt it's the latter. It is not a parasite either. The fish is 0.5"-0.75" and the growth or gut is smack dab in the middle of his pectoral fins and pelvic fins. <Is it not emerging from the vent then?> It is flesh toned and about 0.375" long. He seems in good health otherwise. <If it is merely some type of growth, there's nothing you can do anyway, and it's unlikely to be contagious. May as well allow the fish to live its life, and only intervene if there's evidence that it is struggling.> I prefer to not euthanize my pets, and have 2 small tanks, 1 for each gender, for fish that would normally be culled. <Understood.> However, if this is a herniated organ, I can only assume it is painful and terminal, and I am willing to make an exception and euthanize. <If the fish is in pain -- which is difficult to define in fish, given their lack of pain receptors as we understand them -- the fish will likely be skittish and nervous. Rather like when cats are in pain they go hide under beds or wherever, unable to separate the concept of an internal source of pain from the pain caused by a predator, so they hide. But if the fish is otherwise normal, chasing about the other fish, eating normally, and so on -- take that for what it is, the best way we have to judge the stress level of the fish in question. We mustn't anthropomorphise, of course, because that can lead to animal cruelty; but at the same time, being humans, we are able to use critical thinking to try and judge if the animal is not behaving normally. Such would indicate, at the least, stress, and perhaps, whatever the fish equivalent of pain might be.> If you would like to see a photo, just request it and I'll do my best lol! I'd take it now, but after hours perusing your site, my mammalian pets are demanding attention. Thanks in advance and keep up the great work. <A sharp photo of the fish would be useful, but perhaps the above notes help as they are!> ZsaZsa <Cheers, Neale.>

Sick male guppy      9/10/17
Dear WWM crew
I have a 5 week old 70 litre tank with 9 male guppies and various live plants. I set the tank up using Tetra Safe Start with 7 guppies and monitored water daily using API liquid test kit. It's currently reading ph 7.6, ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate 10-20. I've been doing approx. 30-40% water changes daily and dosing with Seachem Prime. Five days ago I did two things that I'm now regretting. I added 2 new guppies to my original 7
(didn't know about quarantining) and later that same day I fed them all live bloodworms for the first time. All the guppies (including the 2 new ones) seem fit and healthy apart from one of my original guys (a beautiful sunset tail). Within hours of me adding the new guppies and feeding them all bloodworms (which he definitely ate) he was hovering at the bottom of the tank looking very miserable. He keeps away from the others (not that they bother him) and every time he tries to swim even half way up the tank he spirals back down and crashes into the gravel. He has a red lip where he crashed into the gravel (poor thing). He is still eating bits of flake that fall to the bottom and his poop is coloured red and a bit stringy.
He's lost a tiny bit of weight and has paled but there aren't any other visible symptoms. He's been like this for 5 days and has been hiding in one of the ornaments but comes out when he sees me (friendly little guy) but stays at the bottom. I'm worried he perhaps got a parasite from the live bloodworms or has picked up a disease from one of the new guppies (although they are both fine). Any advice would be really appreciated.
Kind regards
Andrea
<Hello Andrea. When it comes to farmed fancy Guppies, I'm not an optimist I'm afraid. The quality of what you see in the UK trade (and likely elsewhere) is barely fair-to-middling, and they are plagued with bacterial and parasitic problems best dealt with by quarantining before putting them into the main aquarium. In any event, given where you are now, the chances are this chap has some type of bacterial infection similar to Mycobacteriosis. It is definitely worth treating as per Finrot, in the off-chance we're dealing with an Aeromonas or Pseudomonas-type infection.
In the UK, a product such as eSHa 2000 is probably about as good as you're going to get without access to antibiotics from a vet. Red blisters on the skin can be Finrot, and often are in new tanks. But alongside lack of
appetite, loss of colour, and a tendency towards lethargy or unnatural shyness, all point towards the distinct possibility of something more serious. Upping the temperature a bit, to around 28 C, might help (farmed fancy Guppies are more sensitive to chilling than their wild ancestors) and if it's an option, the addition of a little salt, 2-3 gram/litre, can be a useful tonic for most livebearers. Do, of course, keep a close eye on water quality -- non-zero ammonia is a sign that the filter isn't mature, the fish are being over-fed, or there's too many fish in the tank -- so review, and act accordingly. Good advice is to not feed fish when ammonia is not zero! Do double check that your tap water doesn't contain ammonia, because you can get false positives in some situations where Chloramine has been present in the tap water but chemically neutralised by the water conditioner. To check for this, look to see if your water conditioner treats ammonia and Chloramine, draw some tap water, add the water conditioner, and then do an ammonia test. If it is not zero, chances are that the ammonia there is actually 'safely' locked away by the water conditioner. Personally, I prefer using nitrite test kits to monitor water quality immediately after setting up a new aquarium, precisely because of this problem. Cheers, Neale.>

If you look at my guppy you will see that their is something white coming out of its butt.   7/6/16 <Ah, the "texting" generation, bless them! Outgrown pleasantries and politeness -- no need to say hello, please or thank-you; straight to the point!> What is it? <Likely an anal prolapse rather than a parasite. Do read WWM regarding these; a combination of Epsom salt, fibre-rich diet, and appropriate antibacterial medications can/should help. Cheers, Neale.> More texting    7/6/16 Sorry that I got straight into it ha-ha I was really worried that it was a parasite <It's not. Some good examples here... http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/cichliddisfaq4.htm Epsom salt, fresh greens, and ideally some antibacterials will do the trick. Cheers, Neale.>

tiny black spots on bottom of breeder     5/8/16
I have a preg. guppy in breeder box. She does/did not look that preg. so I cleaned the tank, yesterday. When I finished there were 2 fry. One lived, one died. Now this afternoon there are about 10 tiny black spots on the bottom of the breeder. She do not look like fry but I guess they could be. She has been in the breeder for 2 weeks. How long should I leave her in it?
<No time at all. Despite the marketing, you're not meant to put Guppies inside the breeder boxes. Or at least you can, but it won't help. Those boxes stress the female Guppy, usually leading to miscarriages, which is probably why one of your two fry died. They were born prematurely.>
Yes, if I sound like a beginner, that is because I am one!
<Not a problem. Here's the deal with Guppies: All you need to do is ensure two things: females outnumber males, and the tank contains plenty of floating plants. The first thing is important to reduce stress. Males are horribly pushy, and if you keep "pairs" of Guppies, the males will harass female Guppies, and again, miscarriages will happen. The recommendation is at least two females per male, which is easy to do because the females are usually sold cheaply. Anyway, that's step 1. Moving on to step 2, you need somewhere for newborn fry to hide because Guppies sometimes eat the fry.
Guppies evolved in environments where newborn fry swam among plants or into very shallow water where the adults don't go. So they haven't evolved the ability to distinguish between wriggly black midge larvae (that they eat)
and wriggly black fish fry (that might be their offspring). You need to do something to even the odds! Floating plants help, and the fry will instinctively hide among them. Once they're there, you can then use a small net to scoop them up and then put the fry into the floating breeding box for a couple of weeks. That's enough time to grow them on to a size they'll
be safe with adult Guppies. That's what the breeding traps are really for!
Make sense? Once in the trap or box, you can easily feed the fry finely powdered flake food and they'll do very well.>
Thx,
EB
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: tiny black spots on bottom of breeder        5/9/16
Thank you.
<Welcome, Evelyn.>
FYI little spots were black at night, but during day they are beige.
<Fish do indeed change colour by day and night. But...>
They are really little ball shaped fry? Go figure! EB
<Do bear in mind that aborted/miscarried embryos will look like small fish with their tails wrapped around their bodies. If the "spots" aren't moving, I doubt they're viable fry. Cheers, Neale.>

Guppy Disease       2/18/16
Hi,
<Jason,>
At first I suspected my Endler's Guppies contracted Columnaris from a male Cobra Guppy I had just bought recently. I lost about 15 Endler's Guppies in my 2.7 gallon tank and about another 15 in my 5.5 gallon tank. Now I suspect that it was "Guppy disease" caused by the protozoan Tetrahymena.
How do I get rid of this disease/organism from my tanks?
<The last time I researched this was for FishChannel, here:
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/freshwater-conditions/guppy-disease-tetrahymena.aspx
So far as I know there isn't a surefire treatment. To be sure: this is a rare disease, with other bacterial infections, such as Mycobacteriosis, probably more common, even among Poecilia. It's just that telling all these apart is hard -- their symptoms are very alike.>
Should I bleach my tanks with chloral, hydrogen peroxide, or potassium permanganate?
<Certainly cleaning infected tanks and air-drying them is helpful. If you use any sterilising agents, be sure to rinse thoroughly.>
How do I sterilize my other fish (not guppies) that survived if I want to later move them to my other aquariums?
<Not sure that you can.>
Lastly, where can I go to publish this topic on your website?
<Not sure what you're asking here. If you want to write something for Wet Web Media, you'll need to run the article past Bob Fenner; I'd suggest writing to this address but with a new subject line.>
Thanks, Jason
<Welcome. Neale.>
Re: Guppy Disease       2/21/16
Hi Neale,
<Jason,>
I think I used the wrong terminology. I didn't actually mean publish my topic but post my topic as I've seen a couple of times in the past you had some pages on your website that had people asking questions and then you and/or some other representatives of the website would answer the question.
<Yes; these messages get archived for others to read, as you say.>
A few days ago, I spoke to the fish expert at my downtown Petco and he said that besides Guppies, Comet Goldfish were also highly susceptible to Tetrahymena. Is this true? He also mentioned that Comets had a somewhat better survivability, esp. if they were larger in size. Does this also correspond to what you've read/heard?
<Quite possibly. Tetrahymena pyriformis infects a wide range of fish species, including Goldfish and Carp.>
<<Very commonly found on commercial Goldfishes; esp. "comets"... I use these for "parasitology of fishes" seminars; they never disappoint. RMF>>
I now have mostly just fry in my two formerly Tetrahymena (or Columnaris or Fungal) infected aquariums- a 2.7 and 5.5 gallon. I just noticed that one of the fry in my 5.5 gallon now has some whiteness in the area by its dorsal fin. What disease could this be?
<Hard to say, but if in doubt, treat as per Finrot and hope for the best. With Guppies, running the tank at 25% seawater salinity is also an option, and this can help suppress parasites while reducing stress.>
I'll see if I can get a decent photo of it or not.
Thanks,
Jason
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Guppy Disease      2/23/16
Hi Neale,
I lost about 15 Guppies in just a matter of 5-10 days for both my 2.7 and 5.5 gallon tanks. Can Mycobacteriosis like Guppy Disease and maybe perhaps Columnaris also wipe out a large number of Guppies in just 5-10 days?
<Easily.>
The symptoms I observed were a white saddleback around the dorsal fin area and some white patches around the body.
<This is actually pretty much the standard appearance of bacterial infections of Poeciliidae; I've got a singleton Limia nigrofasciata showing precisely this symptom. Without access to a microscope, it is of course impossible to say precisely which bacterium species is involved.>
During the last 2-3 days of life many of the fish in the 5.5 gallon tank also had a white string hanging out at almost a 45 degree angle from their anuses. Does this sound like Mycobacteriosis?
<The white string is actually mucous, which is caused by irritation of the digestive tract. Often symptomatic of Hexamita infections, but really, all sorts of Protozoans and bacteria could cause this. Again, without sampling hard to say for sure. Not sure any of this helps you much. You could treat as per internal bacteria infections (something like Kanaplex for example)
but I wouldn't hold out much hope. With fast-breeding fish like Guppies, often easier to isolate and/or euthanise infected fish, optimise water chemistry and quality, and hope for the best. Most of these infections are to some degree environmental, though with intensely bred Guppies, there's some other factors in there as well, including genetics and previous exposure to pathogens on the fish farm. Cheers, Neale.>

Questions Regarding Four Situations. Guppy sys., dis. concerns      11/7/15
Dear Wet Web Media Crew,
Greetings from New Mexico!
<Hola from San Diego; antes de!>
I wrote once before about a guppy problem. I'm concerned about a number of issues and am writing in the hope of getting sound advice from one or some of you. I admire your know-how, and am grateful.
Situation 1: Gas Bubble Problems?
The guppies I wrote to you about before are thriving (curious, vivacious, eating well, interacting with me and each other very well), although the clear 'bubbles' on their dorsal fins persist. The guppy I'd written to you about earlier still has the white cyst through his dorsal fin, but seems unaffected by it. I've been trying to research what the problem could be.
I'm still stumped on the whole, but wonder if there is something occurring between the daytime pressurized CO2 and the nighttime air stone 'relationship' that could be causing gas bubbles to develop, if that is what the clear bubbles on their fins are. I run the CO2 at 2-3 bps. As it the usual, the timer turns off the CO2 at night and immediately turns on the air stone. The air stone is vigorous, so I added a valve that allows me to regulate it.
<Good>
I have turned it down to a gentler bubbles release. I saw some images online that showed fish with gas bubbles covering eyes and other body parts. Also, I understand that gas bubbles can damage fish internally.
However, I don't quite understand about water column gas exchange and pressure, or even if this is what's causing my guppies to get the clear bubbles under the skin/scales on their dorsal fins. I'm very worried about unknowingly killing my fish. To add, only three male guppies out of 7 are exhibiting this symptom. Can you shed any light on this situation?
<I've written, and it's archived on WWM; a piece on the condition of emphysematosis in fish (koi in this case); but don't think gas super-saturation is an/the issue here.... though the dissolved CO2/carbonic acid may be a factor in some other way. I'd try cutting it way back to see if this has some effect on the Guppy cysts. Otherwise, my guess on the cause here is Microsporidean; a group of single-celled Protozoans, parasites>
Aquarium Parameters:
20 gallon (cycled since January 2015)
HOB filter that cycles water at ~92 gph, (modified using Biohome Ultimate Media, course, medium and fine filter sponges)
25-30% weekly water changes with properly treated water (more changes when administering meds, as instructed per med treatment)
Dual HP T8 lighting, 18 inches above tank
Fully planted
Fertilizers: Flourish Root Tabs (under swords and Echinodorus), and Flourish Trace every other day
EcoComplete substrate
Rocks and Mopani wood (all well-prepared before adding, and have been in the tank since February)
PH: 7.8 Ammonia: 0 Nitrites: 0 Nitrates: always <20 Temp: steady at 77F
<Fine; do you know your water hardness? Need to know, have sufficient GH/KH to resist the cyclic effects of using CO2, provide for nitrification...>
Situation 2: Male Guppy with Clamped Fins from Unknown Cause
Three weeks ago I purchased two male guppies from a breeder to begin my own breeding program, 1 Half Black Yellow Leopard and 1 Green Lyretail.
Beautiful boys! The HBYL began sporadically clamping his fins. He seemed fine otherwise and was eating well. The GL did bully him so I separated them into their own cycled QT tanks. I researched causes, and decided I was going to have to treat in-the-blind, so to speak, since I couldn't find anything definitive and I don't own a microscope. I've ordered one, by the
way. Obviously since I'm using past tense, the HBYL died last night after first treated him with 1/2 tsp. of aquarium salt per gallon, then after a water change and a couple of days of activated carbon with a Furan product.
I performed many water changes for the week he was not doing well before his death. It seemed that once he stopped eating two days ago, he quickly spiraled no matter what I did to help him. Too, I think the Furan product even at half the dose was too much for him. The QT is being sterilized today.
Now the Green Lyretail has a partially clamped dorsal fin with no signs of unclamping for the last two days. So, I'm concerned about his health. What do you suppose this problem is?
<Don't know; and my confidence in conjecture here is low; too low to simply speculate. Modern "Guppy lines" are tenuous to put it simply... many are very weak... compared w/ fancy Guppies of decades ago. Too much careless in-breeding is oft-cited as a principal cause; but water quality of source/tap nowayears is likely also a strong factor>
How can I treat him with success (hopefully)?
<? Would presume knowing cause>
I am stumped. I read profusely about Columnaris. I am unsure if this is the problem as there are what, 4 different strains? The only exhibited symptom has been clamped fins out of the multitudes of symptoms that are possible.
Situation 3: Pregnant Guppy with Possible Parasites
Since purchasing the male guppies from the breeder, I decided to purchase four females from her program, 2 of each of the types described above. One Green Lyretail died during shipment, the other GL has long white poo.
Guessing parasites. The females are in their own 10 gallon cycled QT right.
She has not eaten vigorously since I've had her for a week and a half. She rallies with the other girls at feeding times, yet takes food into her mouth and spits it out. The 2 Half Black Yellow Leopard females are vigorous and scooping their food like steam shovels. By looking at the GL, I expect to have fry within a week or less. One HBTL should drop her fry a
bit later, and the other HBYL is still early in her pregnancy. I don't expect fry from her for a few weeks. What is safe to treat a pregnant guppy with that will not adversely harm her fry? Also, do you have any suggestion as to how I can encourage the non-eating GL to accept her food. I feed them Angel's Plus The Works Flakes, which has garlic in the base mixture. I did try thawed and rinsed blood worms this morning, but I really don't like to feed blood worms very often.
<I would not period.... implicated in disease all too often. See WWM Re>
My fish get too lethargic, except the 2 Corydoras who LOVE them.
Situation 4: Guppy Nursery with DIY Moving Bed Filters  
I've set-up a 10 gallon aquarium for my 3 pregnant females to be used only during their fry drops, and to grow out their young for a couple of weeks.
Then I plan to transfer them to their respective larger tanks, one for each fry drop, until I need to separate by sex. The reason for proceeding this way initially is economical. My budget allows me to add 2 tanks to my rack system every week. I already have cycled sponges for the new tanks.
Another economical decision and out of curiosity, mostly the latter, I decided to make DIY moving bed filters. I understand from numerous sources they are reliable...quite. I followed the instructions in this video presented by the PondGuru. When I first set up my main tank I learned about Biohome Ultimate media from him and felt confident in his experience.
Here's the link:
<Links didn't come through as such>
How to Make an Excellent Moving Bed Filter |
| | | | | | | |
| How to Make an Excellent Moving Bed Filter |
| |
| View on www.youtube.com | Preview by Yahoo || || |
I understand that this type of filter takes longer to cycle. is there any way to make cycling progress faster?
<Yes; adding bacteria cultures (some are much better than others; see WWM Re); using some old filter media, placing used substrate, mulm from an established tank, live plants, a bit higher, though steady temp.; again, all gone over on WWM>
I'm adding nitrifying bacteria to the water column according to the bottle instructions. The filters appear to be functioning very well. However I am curious to know if this is sufficient enough for a fry nursery, or any tank for that matter.
<Can only "tell" by testing>
Should I attach these filters to another type of large debris filtration/removal device?
<Possibly>
Once fry are in the nursery, I can imagine cleaning the bare bottom of the tank will be a challenge. Any suggestions are most welcome.
I think that covers everything. My apologies if acronyms are frustrating. I thought it would help shorten your reading time. I'm looking forward to hearing your excellent advice, and thank you so much.
My best, Stephanie
<It strikes me that you are "so into" and sophisticated an aquarist that you might want to join up w/ other fancy Guppy keepers... there are online Guppy Groups.... and buy/secure your stock from breeders rather than local fish stores.... These too can be sourced through the various Guppy Associations. I'd be looking on the Net Re. Bob Fenner> 
Questions Regarding Four Situations Neale's go     11/8/15
Dear Wet Web Media Crew,
Greetings from New Mexico!
I wrote once before about a guppy problem. I'm concerned about a number of issues and am writing in the hope of getting sound advice from one or some of you. I admire your know-how, and am grateful.
<Will do my best.>
Situation 1: Gas Bubble Problems?
The guppies I wrote to you about before are thriving (curious, vivacious, eating well, interacting with me and each other very well), although the clear 'bubbles' on their dorsal fins persist. The guppy I'd written to you about earlier still has the white cyst through his dorsal fin, but seems unaffected by it. I've been trying to research what the problem could be.
I'm still stumped on the whole, but wonder if there is something occurring between the daytime pressurized CO2 and the nighttime air stone 'relationship' that could be causing gas bubbles to develop, if that is what the clear bubbles on their fins are. I run the CO2 at 2-3 bps. As it the usual, the timer turns off the CO2 at night and immediately turns on the air stone. The air stone is vigorous, so I added a valve that allows me to regulate it. I have turned it down to a gentler bubbles release. I saw some images online that showed fish with gas bubbles covering eyes and other body parts. Also, I understand that gas bubbles can damage fish internally. However, I don't quite understand about water column gas exchange and pressure, or even if this is what's causing my guppies to get the clear bubbles under the skin/scales on their dorsal fins. I'm very worried about unknowingly killing my fish. To add, only three male guppies out of 7 are exhibiting this symptom. Can you shed any light on this situation?
Aquarium Parameters:
20 gallon (cycled since January 2015)
HOB filter that cycles water at ~92 gph, (modified using Biohome Ultimate Media, course, medium and fine filter sponges)
25-30% weekly water changes with properly treated water (more changes when administering meds, as instructed per med treatment)
Dual HP T8 lighting, 18 inches above tank
Fully planted
Fertilizers: Flourish Root Tabs (under swords and Echinodorus), and Flourish Trace every other day
EcoComplete substrate
Rocks and Mopani wood (all well-prepared before adding, and have been in the tank since February)
PH: 7.8Ammonia: 0Nitrites: 0Nitrates: always <20Temp: steady at 77F
<Gas Bubble Disease almost never happens in freshwater tanks. That's because Gas Bubble Disease (basically a type of gas embolism) requires the water to become supersaturated with oxygen, and for that happen you need water that is being mixed with air extremely vigorously. It is therefore more common in marine tanks (particularly older designs) that rely on
trickle filters, wet/dry filters, and other types of filter where water is sluiced over biological media exposed to the air. These types of filters aren't much used in freshwater tanks. While the same thing might happen if you had lots of strong powerheads or canister filters using spray bars, rarely do aquarists use these devices in sufficient quantity for the water
to become supersaturated with oxygen, and therefore the risk of fish absorbing unusually high amounts of oxygen is pretty small. Carbon dioxide concentration in a planted aquarium should never be high enough to cause gas embolism, so while there are reasons to be cautious about using CO2, causing Gas Bubble Disease isn't one of them. If you added too much CO2, your first problem would be a dramatic drop in pH, followed by suffocation-like symptoms as the fish start gasping for air at the surface.
Almost always, when aquarists see bubbles on their freshwater fish what they're seeing are gas bubbles or even silt trapped on the mucous of the fish. Completely different problem, and much easier to fix by simply improving mechanical filtration and/or turning down any aeration by a small amount. When aquarists genuinely see bubbles underneath the mucous of
freshwater fish, then the problem is usually a bacterial infection causing some sort of decay. Gas bubbles become trapped in the decaying tissue, which become visible.>
Situation 2: Male Guppy with Clamped Fins from Unknown Cause
Three weeks ago I purchased two male guppies from a breeder to begin my own breeding program, 1 Half Black Yellow Leopard and 1 Green Lyretail. Beautiful boys! The HBYL began sporadically clamping his fins. He seemed fine otherwise and was eating well. The GL did bully him so I separated them into their own cycled QT tanks. I researched causes, and decided I was going to have to treat in-the-blind, so to speak, since I couldn't find anything definitive and I don't own a microscope. I've ordered one, by the way. Obviously since I'm using past tense, the HBYL died last night after first treated him with 1/2 tsp. of aquarium salt per gallon, then after a water change and a couple of days of activated carbon with a Furan product.
I performed many water changes for the week he was not doing well before his death. It seemed that once he stopped eating two days ago, he quickly spiraled no matter what I did to help him. Too, I think the Furan product even at half the dose was too much for him. The QT is being sterilized today.
Now the Green Lyretail has a partially clamped dorsal fin with no signs of unclamping for the last two days. So, I'm concerned about his health. What do you suppose this problem is? How can I treat him with success (hopefully)? I am stumped. I read profusely about Columnaris. I am unsure if this is the problem as there are what, 4 different strains? The only exhibited symptom has been clamped fins out of the multitudes of symptoms that are possible.
<There are, unfortunately, a wide range of bacteria that affect farmed Guppies. Finrot and 'Mouth Fungus' (= Columnaris) are two of them, but Tetrahymena is another (so-called Guppy Disease). To save me writing everything out again, let me link you to a piece on Tetrahymena I wrote a while back:
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/freshwater-conditions/guppy-disease-tetrahymena.aspx
On top of these, there's a lot of Mycobacterium infections among farmed Guppies that are difficult to treat (basically, untreatable so far as small fish go). Again, let me direct you to some reading:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_2/mycobactera.htm
In all honesty, once you've treated for the common bacterial infections, things like Tetrahymena and Mycobacterium are pretty much dealt with by euthanising suffering fish, optimising living conditions for the survivors, quarantining any newcomers, and hoping for the best. Let me stress the importance of optimising living conditions (social interactions as well as diet, water quality, water chemistry) as well as the significance of quarantining in terms of ensuring these nefarious bacterial infections can't spread. I'd like to say the ornamental fish market had a 100% track record of ensuring contagious diseases were carefully controlled at each step of the chain from fish farm to retailer, but I can't. Indeed, Guppies are among those fish "bred to a price rather than a quality" and UK retailers have often complained to me how difficult they find maintaining them without significant losses, sometimes losing money on them by the time the few survivors have been sold for only a couple pounds a piece. Some have gone so far to say they'd like to stop selling them, but the demand remains so strong they have no choice but to take the risk.>
Situation 3: Pregnant Guppy with Possible Parasites
Since purchasing the male guppies from the breeder, I decided to purchase four females from her program, 2 of each of the types described above. One Green Lyretail died during shipment, the other GL has long white poo.
Guessing parasites. The females are in their own 10 gallon cycled QT right.
She has not eaten vigorously since I've had her for a week and a half. She rallies with the other girls at feeding times, yet takes food into her mouth and spits it out. The 2 Half Black Yellow Leopard females are vigorous and scooping their food like steam shovels. By looking at the GL, I expect to have fry within a week or less. One HBTL should drop her fry a
bit later, and the other HBYL is still early in her pregnancy. I don't expect fry from her for a few weeks. What is safe to treat a pregnant guppy with that will not adversely harm her fry? Also, do you have any suggestion as to how I can encourage the non-eating GL to accept her food. I feed them Angel's Plus The Works Flakes, which has garlic in the base mixture. I did try thawed and rinsed blood worms this morning, but I really don't like to feed blood worms very often. My fish get too lethargic, except the 2 Corydoras who LOVE them.
<Guppy fry are very tough, all else being equal. So feel free to use most fish medications as required; antibiotics certainly, antihelminths should be fine too, Methylene blue is fine for sure, as is salt/heat for Whitespot. Formalin and copper are risky with all fish, let alone fry, so if you use those, observe and act accordingly. I've used eSHa 2000 and eSHa EXIT with livebearer fry, and would heartily recommended obtaining those two medications in particular.>
Situation 4: Guppy Nursery with DIY Moving Bed Filters
I've set-up a 10 gallon aquarium for my 3 pregnant females to be used only during their fry drops, and to grow out their young for a couple of weeks.
Then I plan to transfer them to their respective larger tanks, one for each fry drop, until I need to separate by sex. The reason for proceeding this way initially is economical. My budget allows me to add 2 tanks to my rack system every week. I already have cycled sponges for the new tanks.
Another economical decision and out of curiosity, mostly the latter, I decided to make DIY moving bed filters. I understand from numerous sources they are reliable...quite. I followed the instructions in this video presented by the PondGuru. When I first set up my main tank I learned about Biohome Ultimate media from him and felt confident in his experience.
Here's the link:
How to Make an Excellent Moving Bed Filter
<Link didn't come through.>
I understand that this type of filter takes longer to cycle. is there any way to make cycling progress faster? I'm adding nitrifying bacteria to the water column according to the bottle instructions. The filters appear to be functioning very well. However I am curious to know if this is sufficient enough for a fry nursery, or any tank for that matter. Should I attach
these filters to another type of large debris filtration/removal device?
Once fry are in the nursery, I can imagine cleaning the bare bottom of the tank will be a challenge. Any suggestions are most welcome.
<Transferring a substantial amount of live media from an established filter to a new one is the only sure-fire way to jump start it without any cycling. Adding water from an established tank has barely any effect because the bacteria stick to solid surfaces; they don't float in the water. On the other hand, adding floating plants or even plants with feathery leaves helps a good deal because they're covered with bacteria.
Magic potion bottles sold in aquarium shops have had mixed reviews. Some people find they work, others think they don't, and the scientists debate whether they should work at all. So, whatever. Use/don't use, as you prefer but keep track of things using an ammonia and/or nitrite test kit (I recommend the latter for a variety of reasons).>
I think that covers everything. My apologies if acronyms are frustrating. I thought it would help shorten your reading time. I'm looking forward to hearing your excellent advice, and thank you so much.
My best, Stephanie
<Most welcome. Neale.>
Re: Questions Regarding Four Situations      11/14/15
Good day Bob!
<Steph>
Thank you for sharing your know-how!
<A pleasure to share>
If it is true that microsporidia are hard to get rid of because of the spore stage, then it makes sense that if I utilize Hikari CyroPro (contains cyromazine:N-cyclopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine)____my understanding is that this is a cyclopropyl derivative from melamine) to kill off any possible host parasites, such as Helminth types, then this will break the cycle?
<Am not inclined to be encouraging here. For one, am just guessing as to the pathogen....>
Hm, thinking now, it most likely will not. So it seems that one recourse could be to break down my entire aquarium and start over. But this is an extreme measure in my mind. I read an article wherein researchers performed a study using UVsterilizers to test the efficacy of killing/controlling a microsprodial form that effects the gills in Zebrafish. So I just set up my UV sterilizer in that aquarium in the hopes of ridding/reducing the water column of any free-floating microsporidia. Without a microscope and knowing what to look for, I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed until my microscope arrives.
Regarding the clear ‘bubbles’ on my guppy’s dorsal fins, I've turned down the CO2 a bit and will watch for positive effects. Thank you for that suggestion. You asked me what the KH/GH are in the aquarium. They are off the charts and have been since I started that tank last January. I decided that I could see no adverse effects on the guppies, Corydoras and Otocinclus (surprisingly), so I've not tried to change it in any way. You asked me about KH/GH. Our water is as hard as a rock here in the desert. I tested just now to get a current reading, as follows:
KH: 125.3ppm
GH:304.8 ppm
<Wow; liquid rock!>
I'll see what I can find on the Internet about this and the CO2 cycling relationship. I read your emphysematosis article, by the way. What a disconcerting situation. I bet they were glad to have you and your partner’s expertise! Koi are expensive, and all I want to do is raise guppies!!! Chuckle! I cannot imagine finding myself in that kind of situation.
<Not fun.... needing to remove and weigh and inject each fish>
About the moving bed filters…I’ve added a course sponge to the filter. The water is clear and the readings are excellent thus far. As I should, I’m keeping an eye on the parameters. The male Lyretail Guppy is no longer clamping his fins and has become a little terror. So much so that I had to move two guppies with very long tail fins so he’d leave them alone. They gave him “what for” when they had the chance, but could not out swim the terrorist! The males are separated according to how they get along. So in the world of male guppies, all is right there.
Other things: 1 Half Black Yellow Leopard dropped her fry over two days time. The Green Lyretail is dropping her fry as I write. All is well there, and life goes on toward new mysteries to solve.
I heartily agree with you about fancy guppies from LFS. They are weak and often don’t survive a day or even a couple of weeks. Too many people buy and return dead fish and the ridiculous cycle perpetuates. I purchased my breeding stock from specific breeder who sells on Aquabid. Having had way too many deaths of LFS fish when I began this venture, I no longer buy from them.
You mentioned online forums. Yes. I am a member of many forums. I find it is hit or miss, mostly miss, when asking questions. But I do conduct quite a bit of research on them and of course, Wet Web Media. WWM is by far superior!
<Ahh>
Thank you for your response. As always you have been supportive and helpful. No need to write back because we are both very busy people. However, if you have the time I am curious if you readily know anything about the KH/GH and CO2relationship after you see my tank readings above.
Thank you, and my best, Stephanie
<Am wondering if you have a sticky keyboard. A bunch of your words are run together here. Mmmm. Bob Fenner>
Re: Questions Regarding Four Situations       11/15/15
Hi Bob,
Thanks for writing back. I'll use Word and do a cut and paste the next time I need to write.
<Okay>
Our shared emails are the only one's that have words jammed together this.
<? Strange>
Nevertheless, if you decide to post our correspondence on WWM, I apologize for the hassle.
<Appreciated>
Thank you once again for always being patient and so very helpful.
Best, Stephanie
<And you, BobF>
Re: Questions Regarding Four Situations; guppy dis.        11/20/15
Good day Neale,
<And to you, too.>
First, let me tell you how very informative your articles are. Thanks for the links!
<Welcome.>
Sorry to have taken so long to write back. I’ve been busy with life and new fry of two guppy types!!! The Green Lyretail female who would not eat up to a week after shipment is heartily feasting at feeding times, and has dropped her fry.
<Cool.>
She only had five live fry, the rest she miscarried most likely due to stress.
<Agreed, but pedigree Guppies often have lower fertility than wild Guppies. Age is another factor. So in reality, oftentimes folks get relatively small batches of fry from their Guppies, maybe 20 fry, which is far fewer than the numbers they read about in books.>
I believe she’s holding the rest as I can still see eyes around the gravid area. She’s doing great overall showing no signs of stress or ill health.
Please see my responses below in brackets.
<Oh, sheesh.... this really isn't the easiest way for us at WWM. In future, just write a new email if possible.>
<Snipping away masses of text for clarity...>
<Something weird going on with your emailer or our browser... having to put spaces between words.>
I do have a water circulator in that tank that is scheduled to turn on and off throughout the day and night, less at night so the fish can rest. The tank is an open top rimless with plenty of surface agitation, so it seems that there would be enough going on to off gas. Or am I wrong in my thinking?
<Nope. Sounds fine, but I'd have the water circulator on 24/7. Fish don't "rest" in the way you do, and if the water is too strong for them at night, it's too strong for them in the daytime too. Review your fish's requirements and adjust any filters, powerheads or airstones accordingly.>
So then, what you’re suggesting is that the clear bubbles I see on some of my male guppy dorsal fins are caused by bacteria. I’ve begun running my UV sterilizer in the tank. Will this, perhaps, aid to improve the situation along with the usual weekly water column maintenance? Too, what is a good general anti-bacterial treatment for this situation to pair with good maintenance and good fish care?
<Here in the UK I use eSHa 2000 for Finrot and suchlike. In the US aquarists have access to antibiotics, which can be very effective if used correctly. Your retailer may be able to help, but I'd be leery of Melafix and the other plant extract medications as being a bit unreliable and sometimes problematic.>
<Snippety snip.>
The male Green Lyretail has unclamped his dorsal fin and appears to be fine. I looked at the fin with a magnifying glass and now see that it naturally comes to a point. The widest part is now open, so this is good. I'm keeping an eye on the situation, and of course keeping the tank well maintained.
<Good.>
Thank you for sending such an informative link. I’ve read about Guppy Disease and have never seen any evidence on my guppies, nor Ich, knock on wood! But do I understand you in that Tetrahymena is not as visible to the naked eye as Ich? If it is readily in the water column like so many other peskies we sometimes battle, then is it possible that even with extreme care in water column and fish maintenance our fish could “get hit”, so to speak, at any time? Sometimes it’s challenging to tell when guppies are in the beginnings of not being well; they eat, they interact well, they poke around, seem fine, etc. Then Boom! There’s a problem. How frustrating when I keep a close eye on my fish and the habitat!
Here’s a challenge that reared its ugly head late last night: One of my Half Black Yellow Leopard females, the first to drop fry (November 8th),suddenly has the classic white cottony fungal growth on her vent area. The original ‘patch’ fell off. I suctioned it out of the tank and disposed of it. It quickly developed again, and fell off—and so it has gone throughout the day. I’ve been ridiculous about keeping the environment clean because I read that post pregnancy it is vital to keep females in a clean environment. This makes sense due to the fact that the vent does go through a certain amount of trauma during fry drops. This female’s vent has been a little swollen and ever so slightly pink.
<Hmm...>
The tank is a bare bottom 10 gallon used for keeping only three female guppies of 2 types. Daily, I perform a small partial water change, and suction out feces and food from the bottom. I test the water column daily. It is great. No cloudy water. The temperature is 78degrees F. Since last night I’ve been slowly adding aquarium salt. Right now the total dose is up to one teaspoon. Should I add more salt? I know guppies can take a fair amount of salt. I'm unsure of how much is too much.
<Farmed Guppies will handle teaspoon/gallon quantities without any trouble. I don't like the spoon/gallon approach though. Much better to use standard units; something like 5-6 gram (about one teaspoon) per litre (about one quarter of a gallon) is ideal for Guppies and Mollies. That would be a specific gravity of about 1.003, about one-tenth the salinity of seawater. So not enough to stress your filter. But some (soft water) plants might object.>
This morning after a larger water change, I started a course of Maracyn and Maracyn2. I do not have Methylene blue or I’d give her a dip. However I do have a product that contains both formalin and malachite green.
<Effective, but toxic to you and your fish if overused.>
The dosage is 1 dropper gallon. Can I dip her in this combination of chemicals? How long should I leave her? I’ve read so many different instructions about dipping methods. Too, it depends on the recommended ppm, type of fish, problem being remedied, etc. I’ve found no sure advice online. It gets frustrating. Some say a few seconds, and others say about 20 to 30 minutes. Of course, I know to remove any fish that shows signs of unexpected stress. Thoughts?
<Follow the instructions on the packaging. These should be 100% safe for Guppies and other common fish (Angels, Danios, Tiger Barbs, that sort of thing). You need to be careful with loaches and catfish though as they can be more sensitive.>
Yes. We are in agreement regarding here. I no longer purchase guppies from my LFS. Too, I have purchased some guppies directly from breeders who subsequently have been crossed off my list for various reasons. It’s a learning process for me as it is for everyone who wants to keep, breed, and enjoy guppies. The mycobacteria article is a jewel. Thank you for sharing the link. It seems, though, that in the end those of us who cannot obtain most of the treatments on the list and have no veterinarian who treats fish nearby must simply do the best we can. It was good to learn about the efficacy of immersion treatments. I do feed my fish medicated fish foods when needed. However the bags of food lose their efficacy after about 6 months. Nor can they be frozen.
<I wonder if they can, but they don't want you to! Better to sell you a new batch of medicated food! No particular reason medications should be harmed by freezing, and many chemicals are kept that way precisely to avoid decay, not least of all food!>
So I’m going to switch to preparing my own medicate foods, as needed. Can you suggest any current books on guppy care that include ‘how-tos’ for prepping foods, i.e. ratios, etc.? As I wrote to Bob Fenner, the internet is so hit or miss regarding specifics, not to mention there is too much mixed information and I don't want to bug you all too much. However, I’m so glad you are here!
<I am not aware of any. I would find a decent Guppy forum in your country/region, and join up. The American Livebearer Association and the British Livebearer Association are two such venues.>
The guppy I thought might have parasites now has normal feces. She is the one with the post-pregnancy fungus problem. She seemed very hardy after arrival from Michigan. So my hope is that she'll pull through and level out with good care. I'm feeding baby brine shrimp to the fry. I plan to feed BBS to the females after I grow them out a bit and feed with vitamins and Spirulina. Yes! I'm witnessing first hand how tough guppy fry are now that two females have dropped their fry. Thank you for being so supportive! I’ve read that copper is not so cool. So I’ve kept it out of the fish medicine cabinet. I did use a formalin product while trying to save my only Half Black Yellow Leopard male. I learned my lesson, unfortunately with his death as a result. I learned that he was much too weak to be able to handle such a harsh treatment. Other than that it might have been best to euthanize him scene he was so far gone...and so darned fast. As I said, I am learning to know the signs for the problems I have had to deal with to date. What are the US equivalents to eSHa 2000 and eSHa EXIT?
<Not sure there are any. I really rate these two products and find them effective and good value. Perhaps eBay or similar would help? But in most situations, an antibiotic would be better than eSHa 2000, and salt/heat can work as well as any anti-Whitespot medication if the disease is caught early.>
Since writing to you I have further modified the DIY moving bed filters. They are functioning very well especially since I added beneficial bacteria Filter Balls I normally use that I purchase from Great Wave Engineering here in the US. I do know about transferring live media, and have done this in the past. I did not with the new breeding tanks because I had to re-cycle my main tank after using meds. Now that it's fully cycled again I am going to make a sponge stack to place in the corner in order to have live media at the ready in the future.
The daily fry tank maintenance has become very straightforward. Guppy fry have great instincts; they quickly learned to get out of the way of the airline tube syphon. Regarding live plants in the breeding tanks: I’ve avoided that due to always, and I mean always, getting beautiful plants that carry bad stuff even after quarantine. It seems that every time I add new plants to my main tank my fish battle some kind of problem. The cories and Otos never have problems, only the guppies. I suppose this points to your discussion about how poorly they are bred in most cases. While I try not to, perhaps I’m stirring up too much substrate during planting. Nevertheless, those are fine suggestions, and I thank you, Neale! Never fear, my liquid test kits are my best friends, as they should be for all of us. Neale, I thank you for your response. I hope my formatting comes through without glitches. Bob had trouble with my emails. I hope this time it will be smooth sailing. You are all very patient and generous. Thank you for being here for us!
Best to you, Stephanie
<Most welcome and glad to help. Neale.>
Re: Questions Regarding Four Situations        11/20/15
Good evening Neale,
Gosh. I'm really frustrated about the formatting and not responding to you correctly. Please accept my apology.
<Not a big deal so don't worry too much.>
I'll check into the two livebearer associations you recommended. Just since starting the salt, Maracyn, and Maracyn 2, my female guppy is perking up.
<Excellent.>
No more white cotton fungus. The slight vent swelling is gone and the ever-so-slight pinkness is gone. I appreciate the warning about toxicity when using formalin and malachite green. Since she's doing much better I'll forgo using it.
<Agreed.>
I've found a source for the eSHa 2000 and eSHa EXIT. I agree with you about Melafix and Pimafix. Thanks for reiterating! Thanks too for being patient with my emails. I wish you and the rest of the fine folks at Wet Web Media
a wonderful upcoming holiday season, if you participate.
Best, Stephanie
<I love Christmas! So thanks. Cheers, Neale.>

Newbie Question About Guppy Bump-Lump-Growth       9/22/15 Hi there Everyone! <Howdy Steph!> First, let me tell you how much your combined expertise has helped since beginning my freshwater aquarium in January of this year. It's my very first 20 gallon high planted, pressurized CO2 ecosystem...well, my first go at serious fish keeping ever. I've taken on this responsibility with gusto having researched every single aspect of properly keeping a balanced tank and its inhabitants. I love guppies, so for now (even at risk with no females) I'm keeping 5 male guppies, 1 female Corydoras trilineatus, and 2 Otocinclus catfish of undetermined sex. This will change in another month when I go to a larger aquarium with a more diverse community of fish. I plan to keep my current tank going to try my hand at careful guppy breeding after much research. The male guppies get along pretty well because I've arranged the plants, rocks, and Mopani wood to break up lines of sight and to offer some retreats, when necessary. <Ahh!> Of course, they feed well together. Two of the guys do posture for dominancy or territory, but there have been few incidences of chasing or tail fin nipping. The fish behave as I expected them to with only one (the most gentle natured) who retreats to his established territory under some Cryptocoryne plants next to a large rock if there's too much posturing going on. At first, I was worried about him, but he does defend his territory upon the rare occasions that one of the most dominant males decides to visit when he's there. So with all males, things seem normal even though I understand that keeping all males guppies can be stressful for them. Here's some basic tank info, as I see so many other websites requiring it when asking a question: -20 gallon high rimless; dual T5 HO lamp (10 inches above); heater (average 76 F; small water circulator; modified HOB filter, pressurized CO2 @ 2-3 bps-EcoComplete substrate-Well planted variety -Flourish Tabs -Leaf Zone Plant-Summer cooling with pre-treated water ice cubes (can get up to 85 F in that room with outside temp @ 105 F). <Leave the lights off, and the top open on these days; try positioning a fan to blow across the tank/water surface> I'm trying to work with the water I have available and to not use unnecessary chemicals.-Once weekly water changes (more when needed) w/ pretreated tap water (it's very hard; I live in southern New Mexico)-API Liquid Tests; -PH 7.6 <Ours in San Diego, CA is about 800 ppm TDS, regular pH 8.2-8.4.... "liquid rock". Both good for guppies> -Ammonia 0 -Nitrates 20 -Nitrites 0-Fish are fed Angels Plus The Works flakes, occasional live brine shrimp that have been given vitamin B complex, once weekly fasting, and skinned peas. I keep the entire line of Angels Plus medicated and recovery foods for the guppies, if needed.-Catfish are fed 1 daily sinking wafer. Not sure the wafers are the best brand/balance for them, but they love them. -As yet, I do not have an arsenal of liquid meds since any problems that have occurred have been remedied with healthy water, medicated fish foods, or salt in the small QT tank (no plants). I hope this is enough information. Long introduction aside, I was away for two months for my graduate studies and left my aquarium in the hands of my husband, with written instructions. He was busy with two large sculpture commissions and did not care for the aquarium/inhabitants enough or properly. I'm sure you can imagine what I came home to...a mess, to say the least. He's very forgiven. (chuckle) However, since returning home I've lost two guppies (down to the 5 now), one from something unknown and one to Camallanus Worms. As a precaution, I've just completed the second Levamisole treatment according the instructions on loaches.com, and all fish seem to be fine. One fellah suddenly developed a clear fund filled 'blister' on his dorsal fin. I could see that it had burst by the next morning. Then, in the same place a white bump-limp-cyst has emerged that goes through the fin, being larger on one side than the other. I've been watching him and see no difference in his behavior at all. After researching to death, I can get no definitive answer to what it is. I have some guesses, but I'm still not sure. I read your information about Lymphocystis, looked at tons of images, read forums, etc., and still wonder if this it that. Now, another guppy has the beginning of tiny growths on his dorsal fin...no clear bubbles, only tiny growths still covered with his metallic scales. Can you help me diagnose this from the poor images I took with my cell phone? <Can guess only> I understand that Lymphocystis is a contagious virus. I read that if it is that, the growths can break apart and infect other fish and lay in the substrate. Should I QT and treat Ritz (red/orange and yellow guy) and Flash (blue metallic guy)? With what and how? What should I do about the 20 gallon aquarium? I've attached some images. Thank you for any advice you can offer. My best to all of you, Stephanie <Thank you for your reporting. Can't say definitively what these "blisters" are due from... could simply be environmental... the heat, perhaps.... T'were it me, mine, I'd double treat here; with another anthelminthic (Praziquantel) for possible worms, and DTHP/Neguvon.... for crustaceans.... just in case these marks are expressions of Lernaeids/Anchorworms. Please do search on WWM, take a close look, and decide for yourself the best course of action. Bob Fenner>

Mmmm.

Re: Newbie Question About Guppy Bump-Lump-Growth    9/24/15 Greetings Mr. Fenner, <Salutations Steph!> Thank you for your response. I read many posts in WWM and did not discover anything like what my fish have. So, as a just in case measure, I'll treat them as you've prescribed. If anything significant occurs I'll report back to you all. Thank you very much for your time and expertise! My best, Stephanie <Glad to assist your efforts. Bob Fenner>

Re: Community tank... guppy hlth.         8/17/15 Sorry to bother you again. I have 2 guppies hiding together. One male and 1 female. All the other fish are fine. There is no signs of aggressive behaviour in any of the fish. <Are these new? Recently added? How big are the Angelfish? Do bear in mind Angels can/will eat small male Guppies, and even if they fail, their predatory attempts can stress small Guppies.> They were all introduced on the same day. The only water quality issue is nitrates and nitrites are both high. <There you go. Water changes, don't feed in the meantime, optimise filtration until such time as nitrite is zero. Fish react poorly to environmental stress, and often appear scared. They are, I suppose, because they can't swim away from what's "hurting" them.> I only have the test strips at the moment. I do plan on getting a proper test kit soon. My plan of attack at the moment is to do daily water changes. I've never had issues like this before. This tank has been rocking just fine for 3 years. <Curious. When was the last time you cleaned the filter? Might be overdue having the media rinsed, either in buckets of aquarium water or else a running tap with water the same temperature as the tank.> It was my winter tank for the pond goldfish. In the summer I would keep a couple cheap feeder minnows in the tank and keep filters running. <Hmm...> This year I lost my goldfish due to those irritating pesticide planes. Guy started spraying too early and nailed the pond dead on. <Not a problem I have to deal with!> I kept tank running and a week later a friend moved and in the process his tank broke We checked the water in my tank, added a heater and as soon as it was ready his 2 angels and 5 surviving tetras went in. They did just fine. A month later his new tank was ready so home they went. My tank sat full of water, heater on, filter running but no fish for a week. I then added the current fish load. Considering the size of my golds (both were about 8 inches and were my pride and joys) and how much waste they produced, is this spike simply due to a new cycle starting? <Might be, if there was a substantial (at least a few days) period between the last of the old fish being removed and the first of the new fish being added. Without a source of ammonia the bacteria go dormant. Luckily, they grow back much quicker once you add the new fish, so cycling shouldn't take anything like the time it does for a virgin tank. Should be settled within a week, I'd guess. Of course if the filter media was removed and dried out, like you broke down the tank and had it in the basement, then yes, you're cycling from scratch, and that'll take a month or so.> I will try to get you a pic. Also, these 2 guppies have been strange from the get go, so is it possible that I just ended up with weak stock? Thanks for any input. Bre <Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Community tank         8/17/15 The angels are small, one has a body size of a silver dollar, the other 3 have nickel size bodies. <So they're very young.> I changed out the filter media yesterday morn, vacuumed the bottom and did my usual 20% WC. I tested yesterday and both nitrates and nitrites were on the high side of "safe". Today after noticing the 2 guppies I tested and the results said nitrates and nitrites were midway through the unsafe "zone" on the strip. I immediately did another WC of about 30%. Should I up that to 50% until things get back to normal? <Yes; and do also test your tap water in case there's nitrite and/or nitrate coming in from there.> I really don't want to loose these 2 little guys. On that same note, I don't like to use chemicals. <As a scientist, I'll merely comment that's a meaningless statement. What you certainly want to avoid are those chemicals that are toxic to fish, such as copper and formalin. You're wise to minimise their use as medications, and better still, avoid and use something else. But water's a chemical, and you're want to use it, and antibiotics are, used properly, no risk at all to your fish.> With goldfish I learned that water is everything. <Yes.> Good water means no disease, and happy fish. <Coupled with right diet and right tankmates, yes.> I had 1 round with Ich right after I bought the goldfish, and treated them with a couple drops of tea tree oil. <Hmm... unlikely the Melafix did anything here. It's fairly unreliable, and has, at best, a mild antibacterial effect. Do understand fish have some resistance to Whitespot, and in good conditions can even acquire some degree of immunity. Salt/heat is the safest treatment.> I'm lucky that I caught the illness early or I think I might have had to break down and use the brand chem.s. <See above; used correctly, they're fine. Like a lot of things in life, the devil's in the details, whether it's something trivial like fish tank medications or a big issue like GMO crops, blanket statements about them being good or bad can lead you into undesirable situations. Specifically: holding off using medications because you prefer not to can mean you pass the ideal time frame for treatment, and when you eventually do use those medications, chances of success are lower.> I hope that the water issue will fix the "sick/unhappy" guppies. Any special diseases I should keep an eye out for? Just in case? <I'd simply keep the lights off (unless you have live plants) to reduce stress, keep up with the water changes, and hope for the best. They don't look damaged or sick.> Sending pic of whole tank and the biggest angel. Bre <Looks a nice tank. Big water volume and robust filtration should sort things out in time. Cheers, Neale.> Re: Community tank         8/17/15 Thanks again. Will take your advise regarding everything. I will let you know the outcome of these guppies. Bre <Cool. Good luck, Neale.>

re: Community tank       8/18/15 So last night the temp in tank exceeded 85°F. I do not have air conditioning so I removed the top and angled a fan to blow across the water. I also added 2 frozen water bottles. <This will work nicely. Indeed, 1-litre or bigger ice cream cartons are the best. Get at least two, freeze one while the other is in use, and rotate them as required. Provided there's some cold water in the tank, the fish will swim in/out the cold water current. Also try lowering the waterline a few cm so that outgoing water from the filter splashes about. This helps to drive off CO2 and absorb O2. Finally, ensure water circulation is as good as possible so that oxygen is distributed around the tank. Up to 30 C/86 F is not lethal to most tropical fish; indeed, Angels and Gouramis positively thrive in such conditions, but the more low-end species (Corydoras, Danios, Neons, etc.) will be sensitive to low oxygen levels at high temperatures, so that's your worry rather than temperature as such.> I managed to lower the temp to 82°F after a stressing 4 hours. The female molly dropped 2 fry and died. The tiny little guys swam into the plants. I do not know if they survived the night with the other fish. The male guppy is gone. I can't find him anywhere. I moved (gently) the caves and plants. I even checked the floor in case he jumped out. There is no sigh if him. Water testing this morning shows everything in the high end of "Good" but I think I will continue with the WC for the next couple of days. Its going to be HOT so I'm guessing that the hot water can cause spikes fast. <Possibly, but only if oxygen levels drop and the filter bacteria remove too much oxygen from the water (bacteria trump fish when it comes to oxygen, and external and internal canister filters especially are very demanding of oxygen because of their design.> Plus it will help keep oxygen at decent levels. I now only have one guppy. Will she be OK in there with the others, or should I (after the water is cleared back to healthy) get a couple more? Bre <Guppies aren't social as such, and adding additional males certainly doesn't help. Extra females can be useful though. Nonetheless, adding any additional fish while the tank is suboptimal in some way isn't recommended. Cheers, Neale.>

See-through and swollen abdomen      5/28/15
Hi there guys,
I have a fish tanks that have both male and female guppies. I have double the amount of females to males so that there is no fighting and to try give the females a rest.
<Cool.>
They have fry but I give what survives away. Yesterday I noticed that one of my females abdomen's is blown up hugely. It is almost like someone has pumped her up with a bicycle pump, it is also completely see through.
<Sadly rather common. Difficult to pin down. Can be constipation (in which case Epsom salt helps) but can also be infection (treat as per Dropsy, again Epsom salt, ideally with an antibiotic) or, most seriously of all, dead/decaying fetuses (no real cure, and would euthanise such fish as they'll die anyway). This last condition is sometimes associated with protrusions from the vent. Do see my pictures of a (dead) female Halfbeak on this page:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/halfbeakfaqs.htm
While not a Poeciliid livebearer like your Guppies, the basics are the same.>
This means I can literally see the other side of the tank through her poor body. My first thought was that it might be bloat/swimmers balder but she doesn't seem to be having any trouble with swimming.
<Do try the Epsom salt treatment as a "first pass"; do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/SaltUseFWArtNeale.htm
...towards the end of the article; and also:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/dropsyfaqs.htm
Dropsy is sometimes treatable, but not always.>
She neither sinks nor floats nor looks like she is struggling at all. She is also not off her food and still seems to poop with no problem. I have been keeping a close eye on her. I also watched to see how the other Guppies are treating her in the tank and they don't seem to be picking on her or treating her any differently. If it was not for the bloated see through body I would think she was totally normal. Any help you could give me I would be most grateful! Thanks in advance.
<Most welcome.>
Hannah (A huge fan)
<Yay! Neale.>

Bloated guppy           5/12/15 Hi again!! How are you? <Fine Ms. C; thank you> One of my male guppies has a very enlarged tummy. He feels in good form, eating, swimming etc. but is quite big. I think it's dropsy as I have been busy and have not changed the water tank in like 6 weeks. I also have far too many fish (being trying to give them away) 10 gallon tank - 9 guppies I took him away on a 2.5 gallon tank, put about 3/4 teaspoon of Epsom salt and same amount of salt. <Good> I changed 50% of water on main tank and added regular salt to it. I think one other fish may have it but his tummy is not crazy big so it may not be. Is there anything else I should do? I have some tablets for fungus and bacteria - should I use that? <I would continue with the Epsom salt treatments, replacing as you change water (I'd use the water from your ten gallon for change outs); and not treat either system as yet (more potential trouble than it's worth)> Thanks a lot!!! C <Welcome. Bob Fenner> Re: Bloated guppy      5/13/15 Thanks! how often do I change the water on the isolation tank? <I'd likely do (from the main tank) every two-three days> and how much Epsom salt and aquarium salt shall I put? <About a level teaspoon for the 2.5 gallons> Should I replace the water I take from the main tank with new water plus salt or just new water? <The latter; just new water. Bob Fenner> Re: Bloated guppy      5/13/15 Thanks! Fish still alive - eating well too <Ah, good. B> Re: Bloated guppy      5/13/15 So I change the whole water for the isolation tank? <I'd only change half at most> Re: Bloated guppy       5/19/15 Hi! <Hello there> The fish is still alive, eating well, moving well but still baloney :) I have done the water changes with Epsom salts twice - how long until he goes back to normal ? <Mmm; could be days, weeks; perhaps forever. The bloating may be due to something incurable. I'd keep on doing what you're doing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Bloated guppy        5/20/15 Thanks Bob. I will keep giving him eps salt baths - at what point in time will be safe to put him back on the main tank! <Is safe anytime. B>

Re: Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!! Help       2/8/15
Neale,
How are you?
<Well, thank you!>
I have another weird case. Remember my second female that was pregnant? She had her fry 3 days ago. Only one baby survived they were tiny and I think the fish ate them. She is not well though - she is at the bottom of the tank, almost not moving and she is getting redder (like small blotches almost like tons of burst blood vessels) she stopped going for food today.
Her insides are not out like the other one, but something is very wrong.
What should I do?
Thanks for your help
C
<Without a photo hard to say, but this doesn't sound good. As always, review environmental conditions, and ideally isolate the ailing fish. Bullying and persistent mating attempts are common reasons for livebearer females to become stressed, and this turn leads to all sorts of health problems as well as miscarriages or premature broods with few/no viable fry. Review, and act accordingly. There are no easy cures that I can think of for fish in the situation you describe. Could be bacterial of course, indeed, that's quite likely, but probably secondary to some other problem, including stress and disruption of gestation/labour. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!! Help       2/10/15
Thanks Neale,
I think it was stress that lead to bacteria. She unfortunately died yesterday.
<Too bad.>
I took all the fish out the tank on Saturday and put them on 3 different temporary tanks, females, males and fry. I treated her in the main tank with an anti fungus antibacterial remedy that turned the water blue. But I guess it was too late. :(
<Seems so.>
Now my question is what to do with the other fish. Do I clean the original tank completely and start again?
<No. That would unsettle/kill the "good" bacteria in the filter.
Opportunistic infections are latent in all tanks, even healthy ones, but don't do any harm unless the fish are weakened. So provided your other fish are healthy and kept properly, there's no reason to try and eliminate ALL the bacteria in an aquarium.>
Or do I just do a 25% water change or more to get rid of the medicine?
<Yes. Maybe 2 or 3 such changes across the week. But most medicines decompose within 24 hours, so it's really not a big worry.>
I bought a screen and will put the grunion one side and the 8 boys on the other - I will leave the last 3 small females on the 5 gallon tank on their own. 2 of them look pregnant too - I don't want them to die - is that ok?
<Seems to be. What's the Grunion?>
Thanks a lot
C
<Most welcome. Neale.>
Re: Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!! Help       2/10/15
Thanks... The grunion was my phone autocorrecting "the fry" go figure...
<Ah, I see. Grunion are fish of course, which is what threw me. Cheers, Neale.>

TB or results of Camallanus treatment in guppies       1/18/15
Hi,
<Hello Eva,>
I'm hoping you can help me with a problem I've been having in my freshwater tank. I came home with a couple of new guppies in October and they had Camallanus worms.
<Not uncommon in farmed livebearers, particularly in the US for some reason.>
I ended up with my whole tank infected. After trying several things I was finally able to get my fish store (not the one that I bought the sick fish from) to sell me some Levamisole, which took care of the worms.
<Indeed.>
Since they were treated the one neon I had developed a crooked back and died. I figured that he had worms inside him that died and that was why he got crooked and of course died.
<Possibly, or a reaction to the medication, or simply a coincidence. Neons and Guppies require fundamentally different living conditions, so it's unlikely (read: practically impossible) to provide optimal conditions for both. To recap, Neons want cool (22-25 C/72-77 F) water that's soft and slightly acidic to neutral (1-12 degrees dH, pH 6-7). By contrast, fancy Guppies are more sensitive to cold their wild ancestors, so need warmth (25-28 C/77-82 F) and want water that's at least medium hard and slightly basic (10-25 degrees dH, pH 7-8.5). There's a strong argument for adding a little salt to the aquarium where Guppies are kept (2-3 gram/litre is sufficient, and won't affect most hardy plants) and they also do very well in proper brackish conditions too (around SG 1.005 being ideal). As you can see, there's little overlap between their requirements. In hard water,
Neons basically die off one by one, rarely living more than a year, while Guppies are persistently disease-prone when kept in soft water. Chilling weakens Guppies, making them sickly, while overheating Neons shortens their lifespan still further. You could probably keep both if you had precisely 10-12 degrees dH water, pH 7-7.5, at 25 degrees C, but very few aquarists
get that kind of water out of the tap, most either having soft water or hard water depending on what's supplied by their local water company (and do note, softened water as produced by domestic water softeners is not the same thing as naturally soft water, and actually shouldn't be used in a fish tank).>
Now I have a guppy that is also developing a crooked back. My question is:
Could the crooked backs be related to the Camallanus worm infestation or is it probably fish TB. If it's TB do I just give up on the tank and the 20 or so fish in it?
<Do see above. Check the temperature, hardness and pH, and combined with luck and/or genetics, you may well have your answer right there.>
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
<Most welcome.>
Warmly,
Eva
<Neale.>

Bloated Male Guppy     1/10/15
I'm hoping you can advise me. One of my male guppies Firetail is about 6 months old. He is living in my 20L FW tank with 13 juvenile male Endler's.
<Is this "20 gallons" or "20 litres"? If that latter, far too small for Guppies.>
Firetail has had a bent spine since I got him - I was given him as a tiny fry from a local aquatic shop.
<Quite a common deformity. Sometimes genetic, but surprisingly often a result of poor care (dietary shortcomings for example) at some stage of growth.>
Despite his deformed spine he normally dominates his tank mates 13 or so small Endler's type juvenile males born from my Guppy females who are housed separately.
I keep the males in this 20L tank for a couple of months until they are old enough to take to the aquatic shop who sell them on. But Firetail has become a "pet" because of his deformity. So he has been living in the tank about 6 months now.
<Cool.>
Since Sunday Firetail has been bloating. He is still eating but he is finding it difficult to swim below the surface. Today he is finding it hard to control his direction when swimming in the current from the filter. I have fed him some pea today to help if he was constipated, but he seems to be passing faeces OK.
<Good.>
I'm feeding a pinch of good quality flake twice a day (no more than they eat in about 2 min) - some days I feed them small amounts of mashed up boiled fish.
<I would not (often) use this for Guppies, which are essentially herbivores in the wild, additionally consuming partially indigestible mosquito larvae. Between the cellulose of the plant matter and the chitin of the insects, there's a lot of "fibre" in their diet... all too often lacking in aquaria.
Protein sources like fish meat aren't a useful addition to their diet.>
The water parameters are stable (normal for this tank): Ammonia 0.25ppm Nitrates <5ppm Nitrites 0ppm PH 8 temp 79'F.
I do a weekly water change of about 25-30% and wondered if I need to change the substrate as its been in the tank for about 9 months. Other tank mates are two cherry shrimp a couple of assassin snails and a small clan of FW
snails (about 10 remaining). The tank is planted and has small floating plants, some hornweed and a large rock. The other fish in the tank are all behaving normally and seem to be healthy - everyone is eating and being active. Please advise on what I can do to help Firetail recover. I have read that sometimes deformed fish can develop organ problems, but I want to
help Firetail recover if I can.
<Would adjust diet and perhaps use Epsom salt as well; do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/SaltUseFWArtNeale.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/gldfshmalnut.htm
Goldfish and Guppies have reasonably similar diets, so much overlap there.>
Thanks for your advice
Gabrielle
<Welcome. Neale.>

Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!! Help     12/26/14 Hi, my female guppy just had 2 fry last night and she Seemed to be pushing out a large red bump. This morning The lump is outside her body but under her skin- the Size, shape and color like a raspberry She is getting tired. Tail dropping Please help - could she have had a prolapse? <Sounds like it. Very difficult to treat. Adding Epsom salt to the water can help, as will reviewing aquarium conditions. To recap: Guppies need hard, basic freshwater or brackish conditions (10+ degrees dH, pH 7-8; optionally with a little salt added). Ammonia and nitrite should be zero. Do read here about prolapses: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ParrotDisTrtF.htm Also here about a different livebearer exhibiting a similar problem where the reproductive system becomes infected: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/halfbeakfaqs.htm Good luck, Neale.> Re: Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!!      12/26/14 Help Neale, Thanks for your reply. <Welcome.> The fish did not make it overnight - she was very tired. :( I did put aquarium salt the first night when I saw her distressed. <Ah, do understand Epsom salt and salt-salt (such as aquarium salt) aren't the same thing.> Here are some pictures for you to see just in case - I just want to make sure this is not something my other fish can catch. <Nothing attached. But no matter: these situations are not catchy, though the underlying stress that led to one fish getting sick and lead to the same thing in other fish.> Looking closely at the thing. It looks like it had some eggs that did not developed and by the end of last night it got little white dots on it. <Indeed. Do review my comments on the Halfbeak in the link sent earlier.> I completely cleaned my tank today with a 50% water change just in case. I wanted to ask you about the carbon filter - I was told never to replace it or change it. Today when I lifted it up it was covered with yuk- slimy grayish yuk. I cleared it under running water and put it back in. Is that ok? <Carbon removes organic compounds from the aquarium, including most fish medicines. On top of that, it only works usefully for about a week after being added to the aquarium. Unless you change carbon every week or two, it's a waste of space in your aquarium. Replace with more biological media unless you need to specific benefits carbon provides. Contrast the freshwater situation with the marine, where carbon is very useful indeed: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwfiltrmedart.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_7/volume_7_1/carbon.html Make sense?> I have a 10 gallon tank and had 2 adult females and 10 fry. The fry are now about 1 inch long and they are mainly boys. Which I think were the ones that got the female adult pregnant. <Stress likely a factor; when female livebearers are harassed by the males, miscarriages and other uterine complaints are commonplace. Do remember to keep at least 2 females per 1 male. Best to rehome surplus males as required. Or add males (no females) to community tank elsewhere, reserving females for the breeding tank. 10 gallons is a bit small for Guppies, but doable if just one or two males and a half dozen or so females. Adding floating plants will be useful, too, by providing shelter for the females.> Now I have the 1 female adult, the 10 fry of 1 inch and the 2 baby fry from the girl that just died Thanks for your help C <Cheers, Neale.> Re: Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!! Help       12/27/14 Sorry about the photos. Here they are. <Grim. Yes, I'd put this down to some sort of uterine problem. Pretty rare with livebearers, but kind of like breech births in humans, these sorts of problems do happen. Hard to say what the underlying problems are. So as usual, genetics, water chemistry/quality, and external stress factors such as diet and male Guppies could be considered.> I will buy a heater for a spare tank I have and will remove the 3 girls left before they get too stressed too. <Sounds prudent. Unless you have a burning need to breed your fish, it's often easier to keep just the one sex. I like the female Guppies to be honest, their personalities are often sweeter and they are usually that bit hardier than the males.> Which biological media do you recommend? <Doesn't really matter. They're all good nowadays. So go by your budget. The premium brands (such as Eheim Biomech or even Siporax) do work well, have long useful lives (decades, even) but budget brands are pretty reasonable. For many folks, things like Fluval Bio Max is the sweet spot between price and effectiveness. But honestly, even medium-fine gravel can do the trick! If all else fails, stuffing compartments loosely with filter floss works nicely.> Here are the photos Thanks C <Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Female guppy pregnant had 2 fry and now a big red lump!!! Help       12/27/14 Thanks a lot for all your helpful advice and knowledge!! I have medium gravel in the aquarium and will be getting some bio media today. <Cool.> I took the adult female out this morning. She seems to be pregnant (gasp) I can see pink eggs. I do hope she does not go through the same. I did not realized the little guys could reproduce just yet. And they are her fry so now I am worried. <Male Guppies become fertile between 2-3 months of age. In the wild this is a non-issue: they'd be far too small to get past the adult males and attract the females. But in the confines of the aquarium their regular social behaviour doesn't work. Much the same as why the eat their fry. In the wild the fry instinctively go into very shallow water where no other fish go. So adult Guppies don't need to avoid eating their babies because they wouldn't encounter them, and instead snap at any small mosquito-like morsel they come across. But in the aquarium, such morsels are likely to be their fry.> My daughter enjoys seeing the fry being born and taking care of the babies. She thinks fish are awesome as they can swim as soon as they are born while we humans cannot walk for months! (Her words) so I did let them breed a couple of times. <Fish are somewhat more nuanced than that. Even something like Angelfish produce fry that take some days from hatching until they can swim, during which time the adults look after them. Indeed, Angels and other cichlids usually extend brood care for some weeks after that even. Other fish are planktonic for weeks or months before becoming true free swimmers. Herring and Cod would be like that, as well as most reef fish (Nemo included!). It is indeed relatively rare for fish to be born as fully formed youngsters, something like 10% of fish doing so if you include sharks and rays (most of which give birth to live young). Fish reproduction is astonishingly diverse. A few even produce "milk" for their offspring, famously Discus, where the fry graze special mucous from the flanks of the mother and father. I'd heartily recommend getting something like a Dorling Kindersley book on fish or sharks for your daughter to peruse. Of all animals, few exhibit such extreme diversity. Don't even get me started on intrauterine cannibalism in sharks! Terrifying, bizarre and brutally efficient.> I had a couple of males and the 2 girls. The boys died if a case of itch and the girls and 13 out of the over 70 fry did too. I was quite attached to the girl who died and the one isolated fur having survived the itch that killed almost all my fish :( I will let you know how it goes with her pregnancy :) <Good luck! Neale.>