Guppy wounded or sick? Help!!

Guppy was in my 37g tank when I saw this big red wound on him and it was in the same place my other guppy had (he died). Does it look like fish attacked him or some disease or sickness?

water quality is fine 0 ammonia and nitrite.

I put him in isolation and put some salt and catappa leaves in….anything else to do?

 

Sorry to hear about your fish. It's a tad hard to tell what's going on in the picture, but from my perspective it looks like an open wound. You have the best view of the fish so if from your perspective it looks more like a sore rather than a wound, then something a bit more serious might be going on.

What is the stocking of you 37 gallon? Any rough decor or decor with tight spaces the gup might've squeezed into?

Daily water changes are a good place to start, especially since we aren't 100% on what's wrong. Unless he's having trouble swimming, I would raise the water level in the quarantine tank and start with 30%- 50% changes daily.

 

From these pics, I just can't see it clearly of what's going on...

 

It does look a lot like an open wound. My oldest guppy, Lolli, passed from an ulcer 2 years old. Ulcers are dark red and deep under the skin. Is this what your guppy has?

I've heard guppies are more prone to wounds or diseases in low pH/GH. Do you know what these levels are in your tank?

It's also a good idea if you fill out the emergency template

 

It does look a lot like an open wound. My oldest guppy, Lolli, passed from an ulcer 2 years old. Ulcers are dark red and deep under the skin. Is this what your guppy has?

I've heard guppies are more prone to wounds or diseases in low pH/GH. Do you know what these levels are in your tank?

It's also a good idea if you fill out the emergency template

It does look a lot like an open wound. My oldest guppy, Lolli, passed from an ulcer 2 years old. Ulcers are dark red and deep under the skin. Is this what your guppy has?

I've heard guppies are more prone to wounds or diseases in low pH/GH. Do you know what these levels are in your tank?

It's also a good idea if you fill out the emergency template

Sorry to hear about your fish. It's a tad hard to tell what's going on in the picture, but from my perspective it looks like an open wound. You have the best view of the fish so if from your perspective it looks more like a sore rather than a wound, then something a bit more serious might be going on.

What is the stocking of you 37 gallon? Any rough decor or decor with tight spaces the gup might've squeezed into?

Daily water changes are a good place to start, especially since we aren't 100% on what's wrong. Unless he's having trouble swimming, I would raise the water level in the quarantine tank and start with 30%- 50% changes daily.

What is the water volume of the tank?
37g
How long has the tank been running?
About a month
Does it have a filter?
Yes
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What is the water temperature?
79
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
-snail
-Molly
-tetras

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
25-30% each week
What do you use to treat your water?
Tetra decorinator
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Both

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes
What do you use to test the water?
Liquid API test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.9

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
Everyday
How much do you feed your fish?
small piece of flakes
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Tetra
Do you feed frozen?
Yes-bloodworms sometimes
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
Yes-daphnia

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
A week
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
Yesterday
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
My other fish died with this same thing but I didn’t see it on him before he died.

-Eats normal
-Behaviors normally
-swims normally

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Salt and catappa leaves

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
The big red wound on the side of his body which randomly appeared Yesterday

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

-I’ve had my guppies for 8 months now and decided to move them to the 37g. They were fine the first week and then the guppies starting have the red wound on them and died before I spotted the red wound. 2 of the guppies have died and I don’t know what happened.

i use the same water that I used when they were in their 5/10 gallon tank and do the same water changes and everything. That’s why I’m assuming it’s a fish attack.
-but the one in the pic I got recently to make up for the last 2 that died.

I’m out rn but when I come back, I’ll take a closer look to see if it’s an open wound and take more pics.

But idk since the others guppies that died had the same thing.

Also I don’t think that there’s any sharp places.

this is what his tank looked like if it helps.

 

What is the water volume of the tank?
37g
How long has the tank been running?
About a month
Does it have a filter?
Yes
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What is the water temperature?
79
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
-snail
-Molly
-tetras

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
25-30% each week
What do you use to treat your water?
Tetra decorinator
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Both

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes
What do you use to test the water?
Liquid API test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.9

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
Everyday
How much do you feed your fish?
small piece of flakes
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Tetra
Do you feed frozen?
Yes-bloodworms sometimes
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
Yes-daphnia

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
A week
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
Yesterday
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
My other fish died with this same thing but I didn’t see it on him before he died.

-Eats normal
-Behaviors normally
-swims normally

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Salt and catappa leaves

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
The big red wound on the side of his body which randomly appeared Yesterday

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

-I’ve had my guppies for 8 months now and decided to move them to the 37g. They were fine the first week and then the guppies starting have the red wound on them and died before I spotted the red wound. 2 of the guppies have died and I don’t know what happened.

i use the same water that I used when they were in their 5/10 gallon tank and do the same water changes and everything. That’s why I’m assuming it’s a fish attack.
-but the one in the pic I got recently to make up for the last 2 that died.

I’m out rn but when I come back, I’ll take a closer look to see if it’s an open wound. But idk since the others guppies that died had the same thing.

Also I don’t think that there’s any sharp places.

Thanks for the detailed answer. Where did you get the guppies? Unfortunately, due to severe inbreeding, guppies, like many other domestic fish, are often immunocompromised. Sometimes, instead of spending hours trying to figure out what disease killed the fish, especially with perfect water parameters and pH like your tank has, it's best just to blame it on a weakened immune system due to poor breeding standards, inbreeding, or "bad upbringing." Of course, it could also be your tetras attacking them, as almost every tetra out there is a fin-nipper (fun fact: piranhas are tetras.) Perhaps the tetras are attacking the guppies. In this case it could be weakened immunity, infection, or stress that kills them.

 

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What is the water volume of the tank?
37g
How long has the tank been running?
About a month
Does it have a filter?
Yes
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What is the water temperature?
79
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
-snail
-Molly
-tetras

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
25-30% each week
What do you use to treat your water?
Tetra decorinator
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Both

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes
What do you use to test the water?
Liquid API test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.9

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
Everyday
How much do you feed your fish?
small piece of flakes
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Tetra
Do you feed frozen?
Yes-bloodworms sometimes
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
Yes-daphnia

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
A week
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
Yesterday
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
My other fish died with this same thing but I didn’t see it on him before he died.

-Eats normal
-Behaviors normally
-swims normally

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Salt and catappa leaves

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
The big red wound on the side of his body which randomly appeared Yesterday

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

-I’ve had my guppies for 8 months now and decided to move them to the 37g. They were fine the first week and then the guppies starting have the red wound on them and died before I spotted the red wound. 2 of the guppies have died and I don’t know what happened.

i use the same water that I used when they were in their 5/10 gallon tank and do the same water changes and everything. That’s why I’m assuming it’s a fish attack.
-but the one in the pic I got recently to make up for the last 2 that died.

I’m out rn but when I come back, I’ll take a closer look to see if it’s an open wound. But idk since the others guppies that died had the same thing.

Also I don’t think that there’s any sharp places.

Thanks for the detailed answer. Where did you get the guppies? Unfortunately, due to severe inbreeding, guppies, like many other domestic fish, are often immunocompromised. Sometimes, instead of spending hours trying to figure out what disease killed the fish, especially with perfect water parameters and pH like your tank has, it's best just to blame it on a weakened immune system due to poor breeding standards, inbreeding, or "bad upbringing." Of course, it could also be your tetras attacking them, as almost every tetra out there is a fin-nipper (fun fact: piranhas are tetras.) Perhaps the tetras are attacking the guppies and stressing them out. In this case it could be infection or stress killing the guppies.

i got them from petsmart….my mistake…my local fish store is an hour and a half away so I wasn’t able to go there.

I don’t think it’s the candy cane tetras since I haven’t seen them attack other fish besides their own kind.

 

It does look a lot like an open wound. My oldest guppy, Lolli, passed from an ulcer 2 years old. Ulcers are dark red and deep under the skin. Is this what your guppy has?

I've heard guppies are more prone to wounds or diseases in low pH/GH. Do you know what these levels are in your tank?

It's also a good idea if you fill out the emergency template

It seems as thou it is slowly spreading I do think it may be an ulcer? what should i do? I also saw him brush up against a fake plant to itch the red sore

 

It seems as thou it is slowly spreading I do think it may be an ulcer? what should i do? I also saw him brush up against a fake plant to itch the red sore

The best thing you can do is move him to a hospital tank, increase temp to 82F, add aquarium salt, feed easily digestible food (high protein, pea, garlic, spirulina,) and if needed, antibiotics or antibiotic-laced food.

Melafix, Betadine, Aquascape Ulcer/Bacterial Infection Treatment, using tannins (catappa), or several other treatments may work