buzzkill

Hi Everyone,

I recently accquired three guppies in a small gallon or so tank from a friend who I knew was just going to let them die. I got the tank clean, put in a half tank of distilled water and everything was fine...for a while. One of them is , I think a male and is very small and thin. One day I woke up and he was vertical and wobbly prompting me to have the water tested. Of course the ammonia level was too high so I moved him to another bowl while I addressed the water issue. I removed half of the water and added some fresh distilled water, go everything stabilized and reintroduced him to the tank. He seemed ok at first but then I noticed that he was frantically treading water near the top and wouldn't stop -day and night. His appetite was seemingly good so i didn't think too much of it until I found him, again, vertical, wobbly and apparently fading. I put him back into his small bowl and again he's calm..er. It's tempting to blame the water but the other two seem fine. I hate having him quarantined like this but he doesn't seem to be able to tolerate either the water or perhaps the depth. I say depth because when I put him in a bowl with shallower water he seems better and calmer. I took them to try to save them and now I feel like I'm hurting them...any thoughts or ideas? Please help me save these poor fish

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

Do you have a heater? What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? What's the water temp and what are you feeding them? Do you have an air stone? What kind of filtration are you running? Do you have a picture of him that you could post? Do his gills look red/purple?

finmama

Sounds like it might be a swim bladder problem. Im sure one of these helpful people will have good advice for you.
What is the temperature in the tank?
From the sounds of it, you didnt cycle the tank. There is a product called Bio-spira that does this quickly. These fish will also need at the very least 5 gallons for 3 of them to be healthy. I also would put a bit of aquarium salt in their tank. One tsp in a 5 gallon and then a bit when you do water changes...so half a tsp if you change 50% of water. But I wouldnt try that in the 1 gallon, you may end up with too much salt.
I would do this- Go get them a 5 or 10 gallon tank, heater, filter, Biospira. I have never used this product, but I think it only takes a few days for the tank to cycle with it. Hopefully the little guppy can hold out this long, but if not, the others can live long healthy lives in the new setup
I am quite new to fish so hopefully this is good advice and please correct me if Im wrong.
I know some people will probably think I am weird for using salt with guppies, but it has benefits and certainly wont hurt them done properly.

buzzkill

as far as any levels go, i don't know-i don't have a test kit. when i had the water tested, the ammonia level was pretty high but that everything else looked ok. the pet store told me to change maybe 20% of the water every couple days until the levels normalize. I do have a stone and a bottom filter. the tank temp is about 75 to 78 degrees. i'm definitely losing him, he's starting to flop onto his side although when i get near him he'll swim around. his gills don't look purple but he's obviously struggling. I suppose it's possible that he's just a poor thing from the get go. He's so much smaller than the other two, he doesn't have that bulbous body shape at all- he's just a little stick. I'm considering bringing them to the pet store so that maybe they or someone else can give them what they need. the little set up they came with is too small for them. I had a betta for about two and a half years and never really had any trouble. Is this tank too small for a betta?

finmama

A Betta could live in there but raise the temp at least 78-80.

finmama

still kinda small though....but much better than the cups they come in

buzzkill

thanks so much. if anything else comes to mind, please let me know.

john&jen

Buzz,
I know the setup you have, I had one and had trouble with it. I wouldn't use distilled water. Tap water with StressCoat is much better. I wouldn't waste time with salt. I used to use it, but found it was doing more harm than good. If money is an issue (I can understand) most chain pet stores test water for free. Walmart sells basic 10 gallon getups for $25. $35 @ Petsmart gets you better equipment, including a heater. I would get Biospira for a tank this size, for the cost effectiveness. I have had big luck with it and absolutely no luck in my 75 gallon tank. Three guppies shouldn't make massive spikes, just keep up with water changes. The other two may be fatter females and that could explain the size difference. I have two females that are litterally twice the size of my males. Just some food for thought. Have you seen him poo? He could be constipated...

finmama

If you trade them in for a Betta, be sure to get him a bottle of good water conditioner! Im sure you know if you had a Betta for 2 years lol

buzzkill

no he's not constipated and he'll still act like he wants to eat (tropical flakes) but he seems to be fading fast poor guy. our pet store does test the water for cheap but we're in the middle of a blizzard (chicago). i will look into the stresscoat. I only used distilled because i thought it would be pretty clean but i'm sure my friend just used tap water and of course the fish were fine. c'est la vie! Thanks everyone!!!!

COBettaCouple

I'm not totally sure without a pic, but he sounds like he's got internal parasites. It might be worth trying parasite clear tablets on him.

lalynya

I would guess there is a problem with the nitrite levels Some fish just seem to not be affected by the levels as much as other..hence what is going on in my tank...If he was previously sick before he might be more suspetable to the chemicals.

buzzkill

If he was constipated or has an impaction, what course of action do i take. Poor guy, i thought by this morning he would be gone but he's still hanging on. He's lying on the bottom on his side but he's still kicks when i get near and he's still goin' poo which makes me wonder if he is severely constipated. I took him out briefly to look at him and his gills don't appear discolored at all. And they say that pets are relaxing...

john&jen

I've had luck with freeze dried daphnia, but I think you have bigger problems. Relaxing? I think we all go through troubled tank times. Wish I could help further, but time for a moderator!!! In March dye the river, not your tank. (Subtle humor to lighten your mood.)