Guppies darting at my arm while cleaning tank?

This is not a quarantine tank it is my 55 gallon guppy tank. My fish are darting off my arm when I clean. They don't dart any other time. Is this an illness or just a greeting? It only started after one of my big mommas gave birth. I am trying to decide if I should treat for illness or not. My water had a small spike in nitrites but had been corrected. I just did a 50% water change and cleaning tonight when I noticed the darting so I will test water tomorrow.

 

I would definitely test your water and let us know the parameters. If they're showing no other sign of illness, then I would NOT treat for anything. They may just be curious. My tetras go to my testing tubes to try and eat them every time I test my water, so they may just be exploring. Keep an eye on their behavior and let us know the parameters when you have them.

 

I would definitely test your water and let us know the parameters. If they're showing no other sign of illness, then I would NOT treat for anything. They may just be curious. My tetras go to my testing tubes to try and eat them every time I test my water, so they may just be exploring. Keep an eye on their behavior and let us know the parameters when you have them.

I will be treating for bacteria. The woman that gave me the fish let me know that some of her fish have columnaris. I looked it up and sure enough that is what the fish have.

 

Wait, you think your fish have Columnaris??? Can we have pictures? Water Parameters? Columnaris is an extremely deadly disease. It can kill within 24 hours, I know, because my first betta got it. How long have you noticed these symptoms?

 

This is not the best photo but it is as good as I can get of her. She is the only one with this spot on her back. I noticed the darting last night and the spot today while I was testing.

Ph 8.0
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .5

 

1. You ammonia is too high. I’m not a cycling expert but I’m sure mattgirl or some other cycling expert can help.

2. Is the fish quarantined? Remove the fish in question from the tank immediately, just to be safe. Your fishy lives are at stake.

3. Has the fish gone through any stressful environment lately?

4. Are the scales bleached out? Is it flat agains the scales or white and fuzzy?

Here’s a link about identifying columnnaris. Look at the part where it talks about how Columnaris is sometimes referred to as saddleback disease.




Also fill out the emergency template.

 

Definitely looks like columnaris . I don’t think your ammonia is to high, 0.25 really isn’t that bad and can be easily fixed by doing a water change. Often columnaris can hit hard, and kill fast. Hopefully you have a slow moving strain. The fast moving strains can be hard to treat.

 

Definitely looks like columnaris . I don’t think your ammonia is to high, 0.25 really isn’t that bad and can be easily fixed by doing a water change. Often columnaris can hit hard, and kill fast. Hopefully you have a slow moving strain. The fast moving strains can be hard to treat.

I have started treatment already and she is heavily pregnant. I believe she already had it and I didnt notice it until to late. So fingers crossed they will all feel better. I figured at this point it is best to treat all fish as 90% came from the same tank. As for my ammonia that is the lowest i get out of the tap so I am still working on lowering it on a regular.

 

I have started treatment already and she is heavily pregnant. I believe she already had it and I didnt notice it until to late. So fingers crossed they will all feel better. I figured at this point it is best to treat all fish as 90% came from the same tank. As for my ammonia that is the lowest i get out of the tap so I am still working on lowering it on a regular.

That’s good you already started treatment. What treatment are you using? I agree, it’d be a good idea to treat all the fish.

 

Probably a greeting guppies are sociable

 

Probably a greeting guppies are sociable

They’re most likely irritated by the columnaris.

 

That’s good you already started treatment. What treatment are you using? I agree, it’d be a good idea to treat all the fish.

The lady at the petstore told me to use melafix so that is what I am using.

 

The lady at the petstore told me to use melafix so that is what I am using.

Melafix can actually be dangerous to young fish and will not treat columnaris. I highly recommend using furan-2 and kanaplex. When used together they’re highly effective against columnaris.

 

Melafix can actually be dangerous to young fish and will not treat columnaris. I highly recommend using furan-2 and kanaplex. When used together they’re highly effective against columnaris.

Ok, I will have to wait until the shop opens again

 

Ok, I will have to wait until the shop opens again

I’m not sure of the exact dosage but if you look at some websites they’ll have some dosage recommendations.

 

I would raise temp and add aquarium salt if you want too.

 

I would raise temp and add aquarium salt if you want too.

Raising the temp speeds up the life cycle of columnaris and could make things worse. The salt could help, but is unnecessary.

 

I would raise temp and add aquarium salt if you want too.

I already have the temp as low as they can have it to help kill it off. If I raise the temp it will kill my fish. This illness likes heat. I add salt as I need to and I already did that the other day with my water change.

 

I looked up some information Gypsy13 had posted previously. For some reason the quote isn't working on some of the older posts, so here's the quote:
"Overdosing with kanaplex can kill BB. Using the correct dosing schedule it won’t. Columnaris has several strains. Fish may die quickly. Or may seem to. The bacteria may involve internal damage not seen until it becomes external. Saying columnaris will kill in 48 hours is incorrect. It may.

New Fishes kanaplex works much better against columnaris when used with furan2 as mentioned in an earlier post."

from this thread:
Columnaris. Sigh. | Freshwater Fish Disease and Fish Health Forum | 374728

And this is the dosing schedule she would always post for it:



as you can see in this thread:
Is This Fungus On My Cory? | Corydoras Forum | 377454

--UGH Fishlore keeps posting while I'm typing tonight--

Sorry for the multiple edits to get that posted.