Tavel

Hey all,

My little sister has an unheated baby bio-orb with 3 male guppies in it (4 gallons). She recently came to me screaming "my fish are eating each other!". They weren't eating each other, but one of her guppies has a very frayed tail.

I think it's been nipped down because she doesn't feed her fish every day (kids, pff) and perhaps they're competing for resources. The guppy in question is much smaller than the others, even though they were purchased at the same time. My other thought was over crowding. 4 gallons is kind of small. Either way, she said they fight constantly.

All the chemistry is just peachy:
pH: 7.2
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: <20ppm
Temperature: 65F (low, but within range)

("thank you, big brother, for making me change the water twice a week" she says")

I moved the injured guppy into my 20H with 3 other guppies that pretty much ignore it. It doesn't seem sick because I see it sparing occasionally, but maybe guppies are just dumb. (no, guppies ARE dumb).

What do you folks think

froggypat

It sounds like it might be finrot is he losing his tail I dont know much about it but if you do a search maybe you can get a pic of it. Of course he could have been nipped but I have male guppies together and ive never seen them do this. Hope this helps Pat

Tavel

thanks man. I can't spend the money on antibiotics so I hope it just recovers on it's own. The warmer water should help, but beyond that there's not much I can do for it.

btw: I know that should be "subject TO aggression"...but I can't seem to change it, haha.

COBettaCouple

Beautiful Guppy. I think he can recover and regrow his fins. If you have anything like liquid vitamins, that would help. I'd keep the gups more at around 76F, especially the injured one.

Sometimes male guppies will get nippy with each other, especially if they feel crowded. I would guess that's what happened with these guys as they'd need about twice that much room to not feel crowded.

Tavel

haha thanks, check out my other three guppies. She has two more fancy guppies, but I don't have pics of those.


the multicolor is named Mr. Gupples and the red tux are named Bert and Ernie. For future reference, don't let girls name fish.

Anyway, thanks for the input. I don't think this guy is going back into the bowl, it's just too crowded. I hope it regrows it's tail in full, it was really pretty before.

Fish have amazing healing abilities though. My sun catfish had half it's tail bitten off by the turtle...the meat and bones, not just fin rays. It grew back completely after 3-4 months! needless to say, the turtle isn't in the community tank anymore

COBettaCouple

They're beauties and Mr. Guppies looks like he might have some Endler in him.

MissMTS

Nice Guppies! I really like Mr. Guppies BTW I like the names. Girls can name fish too, maybe some boys just can't appreciate them....LOL!

Tavel

That's Mr. Gupples with an L, hahaha.

What's endlers? I just though there were guppies and fancy guppies...haha

MissMTS

LOL! Maybe that is a little wierd, but still cute. How old is your sister?

Tavel

My sister is 15...but my fiance named Mr. Gupples on the ride home. But you're right, girls' names are cute.

(I would probably name him Slasher, or Skeletor or something. lol)

MissMTS

Oh don't get me started!

Tavel

lol.

The blue guppy now has clamped fins, I think I'm going to prepare a hospital tank today. I think I'll use one of those 2.5 gallon "critter cage" terrariums.

Tell me, is a room temperature of 72F sufficient for treatment of fin rot? It's kept constant by a space heater so I'm not worried about fluctuation. (the coldest it ever got was 69F when it dropped to -5F outside )

I picked up some Maracyn Plus just to keep around in case fish get sick, and I think I'll use some on this guy. I didn't have it before because I never saw it at the store, and the other medications are WAY to expensive ($12-$15 for ONE treatment period?!)

MissMTS

I honestly think that it is better to keep tropical fish between 76 and 78 degrees. Tanks do better with an internal heater instead of being heated by the temp of the room. I honestly don't have much experience when it comes to treating finrot, but hopefully someone else who knows more can be of more help. A 2.5 gallon is a fine hospital tank for a guppy. Just make sure that it has a filter. Water quality is really important, especially when a fish is ill, so be careful, because your tank won't be cycled. You may have to do daily water changes. Good luck with you guppy.

Tavel

Thanks, I did keep that guy in the hospital tank for about 3 days. I prepared it as I said, but filled it with water directly from the aquarium. It clouded up somewhat, but all the chemistry was in spec.

However, I noticed the other guppies showing signs of fin damage. So instead of waiting to see what happens, I removed the charcoal and medicated the whole tank. Then I put the blue guy back in, I think he liked having his own tank, lol.

Maracyn Plus indicates to use at the first signs of illness, so that's what I did.

Tavel

The guppy wasn't responding to antibiotics so I moved it into a real hospital tank. It's probably going to die, but i guess it's still possible for him to recover.