Help! Stuck fins!

Hey guys.

Well my joy of having the tank back at normal temp didn't last too long, woke up this morning and thought I had lost one of the guppies: she was just laying on the bottom and the others were shoving her. She is alive though: swam off to hide when I turned the light on. But something is definitly wrong.

She is the fish I was concerned about last week cause of her behaviour. She seemed to be doing ok but today she can't swim properly. I quickly saw why: her dorsal and tail fins seem to be "stuck" together. Like clamped as if they were glued. I immediatly put her in an isolation tank (Those breeder box thingies) so the others wouldn't damage her. Other than being slightly white and her fins are clamped, she looks ok. I am looking at her now while writting, and it looks like there's this sort of white "coat" covering her back from the fin to the tail.

Any ideas what's wrong? Is it like fungus or something? What can I do? ???

 

You should separate her from the others immediately..move her to a quarantine tank and start treating her for fungus..if you don't have another tank for quarantine purposes,a clean bucket will work just as well..good luck.

 

I think it is fungus as well, but wait for someone more knowledgeable to confirm this diagnosis before you start any treatment. Your fish's dorsal and tail fins looked as if they were glued together probably because they were clamped - a clear sign of a disease. Also, check the Disease Chart on "Freshwater Diseases" board and compare your fish's symptoms to those appearing on the chart in order to make sure you've got the correct diagnosis.

 

From my experience with Fungus,clamped fins along with the white dusting are pretty strong indicators..but Isabella is right,you should wait until some of the more experienced members weigh in with their opinions..in the meantime though,I'd strongly recommend you quarantine the sick fish.

 

Oh no Richard! I didn't mean to say you're not knowledgeable about fungus. I always add "wait for someone to confirm" in relation to my own inexperience with something; in this case with fungus. I'm sorry if it came out this way, lol I was referring to my own inexperience, not yours. If you had fish with fungus, you're far more experienced than I am. I basically have no experience with sick fish. My advice comes from reading mostly and from what I've learned on Fish lore. I hope not to get any sick fish, ever!

 

This is probably fish fungus. It manifests usually soon after another disease has compromised the health of the fish and is very contagious so if you have not completely quarantined this fish please do so immediately. The spores that cause this disease are always present in any aquatic environment but usually the fish's slime coat is enough of a defense to keep them at bay, but since they have just recovered from another problem they are at risk.

Any fungual treatment can be used as a tank treatment and at this point I would treat the whole tank as well as the little sick one. The ones I have had luck with are Furan-2, Fungus Clear Tank Buddies from Jungle Labs, or anything you can find that contains nitrofurazone and Furazolidone.

I hope this helps and that your fish are okay. There are many fish that do recover but prompt treatment seems to be the key here. I will be wishing the best for you.

Rose