scottmc21

One of my guppies has been acting a little sluggish lately, although today he is swimming around like crazy. But his fin where it attaches to it's tail seems to be losing it's color and just going almost transparent. Is that a type of fin rot? I have attached 2 pictures. The first one was him 'normal' and the second is him today.

Chief_waterchanger

I would say one of two things is wrong. (No, not fin rot)

Either poor water quality. The cure would be to do more frequent waterchanges.
-or-
It is probably being harassed by the bloodfin tetras. (they are extremely aggressive fish by nature)

I would suggest buying another tank and seperating the tetras.

If your signature listing is accurate you are overstocked. A 25g tank... the 11 guppies, swordtail, and mollies would be alright. Tetras are extremely aggressive and should be moved, in my opinion.

Good luck.

(the loss of bright red is probably stress coloration changes from being injured and or harassed)

scottmc21

Well, I know the water quality is not an issue, as I take very good care of that and do a water change whenever it is needed.

The tetras have been in the tank from the start and have never harrassed any of the fish, so I'm not at all convinced of that being the issue either. I value your opinion, but I can't agree with you on that one. In fact, the tetras are the most skittish fish in the tank and have never shown any aggression to any fish, included themselves.

I have moved the guppy into a makeshift hospital tank for 5 days while I add Lifeguard to the water. (Seems like that is a 'catch-all' medication for fungus, bacterial, etc. We'll see what happens.......

Chief_waterchanger

Good luck with the hospitalization, and I understand each individual fish has differing personalities. If yours are non-aggressive I say congrats on getting ones that are non-aggressive and best of luck with diagnosis.

COBettaCouple

i'd see about finding liquid vitamins like vitachem (from the DFS website) and/or a conditioner like novaqua+ or stresscoat to provide some all-purpose help.. garlic guard would be good too. best of luck with him.

scottmc21

Just a quick update.....
The sick guppy (Julius) is on the mend and recovering nicely. I also have to admit to Chief as the bloodfins were being aggressive....however, it was only at night when the other guppies were sleeping, apparently. 2 of the other guppies tailfins were chomped at overnight. One died within a day and I am trying to nurse the other one back to health. The bloodfins were removed (the LFS took them back). So now we have just a complete livebearer tank, and everything seems to be going much smoother. The 2 dalmation mollies square off every once in a while, but it appears they are just playing as they get along for the most part the rest of the time. Thanks for the advice once again!

Butterfly

seems like thats part of their nature but they don't usual do any harm
Carol

COBettaCouple

best of luck with the survivor guppy. do you have VitaChem or Fish Protector?

scottmc21

No, I don't have VitaChem or Fish Protector. I did a 5 day cycle of LifeGuard and I also have the temp at 82 degrees. Some of the fish have being 'flashing' on a rock, but I don't see any visual signs of ICH other than that. I have also read that 'flashing' in itself is not solely a sign that the fish have ich either. They all seem to be getting along fine now, which is good. The tank is now fully cycled and I must say I am enjoying the fish much more now that the maintenance is getting easier. The platys were the last additions to the tank and I must say I really like those little guys!

Butterfly

Flashing can also mean one or all of your water parameters are high. What are the water test readings for ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates ?
Carol

scottmc21

The ammonia is 0, nitrites have been between .25 and .50 and I have been doing water changes when it gets to .5 or higher. nitrate is holding steady at 20. The tank has been up for 9 weeks now, and the nitrites spiked about 2 weeks ago, so I'm hoping the cycle is done. (yes, I cycled with fish in the tank. Although, not all of the fish we have now....for the first few weeks, it was just zebra danios, bloodfin tetra and cherry barbs which have since been traded in as we went for an all-livebearer tank.)