Need Help with Sick Guppy

[PJRP]

Hi,
I am new to keeping aquariums and currently working with my first tank. It has certainly been challenging. I began with four turquoise guppies, but unfortunately, two have died. One is sick, while the other appears to be healthy. I moved the sick guppy to a separate tank; it has lost its color, is barely moving, and has stopped eating, clearly showing signs of decline. I am hoping someone can help me identify what might be wrong and advise me on how to prevent the healthy guppy from experiencing the same issues. May be there is something I could do for the sick one. I have posted some pictures for reference.

 

[kallililly1973]

Welcome! Your best bet for a possible answer would be to fill out the emergency template to give everyone an idea of your tank size parameters how long it’s been running is it cycled etc….

 

[PJRP]

Hi Kallililly1973,
Thank you for your reply

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 5 gallons
How long has the tank been running? almost two months
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 76 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? five male guppies

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? every two weeks
How much of the water do you change? 20 to 30%
What do you use to treat your water? water is filtered by reverse osmosis and add recommended measurement of "water conditioning" from TOP FIN
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? yes

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? yes, for around two weeks
What do you use to test the water? strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: safe
Nitrite: ok
Nitrate: ok
pH: 7.2
GH: 25 ppm
KH: 90 ppm

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? twice a day
How much do you feed your fish? little, a pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? have two: Tropical Flakes by API and Fancy Guppy by Hikari (semi-floating Protein High Granule)
Do you feed frozen? no
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? four weeks to five weeks
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? one week ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I have no idea how to tret them. I added some aquarium salt as indicated in the product label
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no. Actually, he was very active
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? no active, not eating, colors faded,

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
As indicated above, started hiding, activity decreased, went to the bottom of the tank, colors started to fade, i noticed like reddish dot at the top, it is visible in the picture I attached in my first post. Not eating. I noticed a long whitish poop a couple of times. Unfortunately, died yesterday night. The remaining ones are doing well. However, I am concern they could be infected too.
thank you!

Include pictures

 

[FishDin]

You are keeping a hard water species in very soft water. The GH is about 1 (17.85ppm). It's best to choose fish that will do well in the water you have. People that use RO water must reminerlise it for use in aquariums. Fish need those minerals to survive. There are a few ways to do this. You could add a product designed for the purpose such as Seachem Equalibrium. You could add calcium carbonate (crushed coral or limestone) or Magnesium sulfate (epsom salts). The Equalibrium and Epsom salts are added with each water change while the coral or lime stone is added to the filter or substrate and allowed to dissolve over time. Shoot for a GH of 8-12 (140-225ppm). The goal is to raise the GH to the appropriate level and then keep it there without big swings up or down.

There may be other things going on as well. Did you put the fish in before the cycle was complete? You didn't give numbers for the tests. Ammonia is safe at -0- as is nitrite. If the tank was cycled, those numbers would have been at -0- before you added fish. 2 weeks is a quick cycle, tho not impossible. Keep nitrates low 0-10ppm with weekly water changes.

Putting fish in an uncycled tank will cause biological stress to the fish as will keeping hard water fish in such soft water. This stress can weaken the immune system and make the fish more suseptible to illness and disease.

Topfin water conditioner is simply a dechlorinater. I is necessary, but it does not address the issue of low water hardness.

 

[PJRP]

Thank you very much for the help. I will increase the GH in the tank as you recommended. I think I place the fish after the cycle was completed. I was checking the parameters and everything was ok but the GH was low. Should I use Seachem Equilibrium to increase the GH? Thank you again.

 

[FishDin]

Yes, that might be best. Mix it into your fresh water when doing a water change. It may not fully dissolve and can make the tank a little cloudy, but it will clear up soon as it fully dissolves. I would premix it and agitate / stir to try to disolve as much as possible before putting in the tank. If you mix it up to the target concentration with each water change it will gradually raise the tank concentration until you hit your target. That way the fish are not shocked by a sudden change. For example, if you do a 50% water change with GH 10 water (about 180 ppm) your tank GH would increase by half that amount leaving you with GH (5 plus the small amount you already have in there that you mentioned). At the next water change you would add your new GH 10 water to the GH 5 that's in the tank which would result in a GH of 7.5 and so on. I used those amounts (50% water change and GH 10) to make the math easy for this example. If you are doing smaller water changes, that's ok. It will simple take longer to reach the target GH.

To help your fish recover I suggest keeping the water as pristine as possible by doing weekly 50% water changes at least for now even if testing shows no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. If your fish don't recover you at least will know what to do for when you add more guppies. Also, when fish are ailing it can be helpful to lower the lights or turn them off, if you don't have live plants, in an attempt to reduce stress. Without plants, the lights are there for your viewing pleasure. The fish don't need them.

Your fish in the hospital tank should get the same treatment (raising GH) as the main tank.

By the way, RO water is not healthy for any fish, even those that prefer soft water. Hard water fish like guppies are just going to be more affected by it.

 

[Fishfur]

The fish in the images has a fairly large wound on its back. Do you have any idea how long it has been there? It looks a bit inflamed so there could be infection in it.

With such low GH the fish will be having a lot of trouble controlling their internal fluid balance (osmoregulation) and that will mean they have no energy to spare for healing. It can also make them appear lethargic. The sooner it gets amended the better.

You may find Replenish is easier to dose accurately than Equilibrium.

Equilibrium dosage is 16 grams per 20 gallons and that will raise GH by 3 degrees.

For 5 gallons that’s only 4 grams, which is impossible to measure accurately without a scale that measures in milligrams.

Equilibrium also takes awhile to fully dissolve and the water can look quite hazy until it has fully dissolved.

Replenish is a liquid and the dose is 5 millilitres per 10 gallons, or 2.5ml per 5 gallons to raise GH by 1 degree.

It’s very easy to dose it accurately with a syringe.

Accuracy in dosage matters because you want the GH to remain the same with every water change. If you try to eyeball the dosage, it won’t be the same every time.

Best practice is to dose the booster into a 5G bucket and give it a good stirring. Then use it for water changes. 5 gallon tanks never contain exactly 5 gallons - can be much less than that due to displacement from substrate, decor, etc.

Equilibrium also takes awhile to fully dissolve and the water can look hazy until it has fully dissolved.

 

[PJRP]

Yes, that might be best. Mix it into your fresh water when doing a water change. It may not fully dissolve and can make the tank a little cloudy, but it will clear up soon as it fully dissolves. I would premix it and agitate / stir to try to disolve as much as possible before putting in the tank. If you mix it up to the target concentration with each water change it will gradually raise the tank concentration until you hit your target. That way the fish are not shocked by a sudden change. For example, if you do a 50% water change with GH 10 water (about 180 ppm) your tank GH would increase by half that amount leaving you with GH (5 plus the small amount you already have in there that you mentioned). At the next water change you would add your new GH 10 water to the GH 5 that's in the tank which would result in a GH of 7.5 and so on. I used those amounts (50% water change and GH 10) to make the math easy for this example. If you are doing smaller water changes, that's ok. It will simple take longer to reach the target GH.

To help your fish recover I suggest keeping the water as pristine as possible by doing weekly 50% water changes at least for now even if testing shows no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. If your fish don't recover you at least will know what to do for when you add more guppies. Also, when fish are ailing it can be helpful to lower the lights or turn them off, if you don't have live plants, in an attempt to reduce stress. Without plants, the lights are there for your viewing pleasure. The fish don't need them.

Your fish in the hospital tank should get the same treatment (raising GH) as the main tank.

By the way, RO water is not healthy for any fish, even those that prefer soft water. Hard water fish like guppies are just going to be more affected by it.

Thank you very much! your help is greatly appreciated. I started the water changes with a higher GH. As you mentioned, it will take few weeks to reach the ideal GH. So far, my guppies are very active and, to my eye, are healthy. I will also stop using the RO water. Thanks again!

The fish in the images has a fairly large wound on its back. Do you have any idea how long it has been there? It looks a bit inflamed so there could be infection in it.

With such low GH the fish will be having a lot of trouble controlling their internal fluid balance (osmoregulation) and that will mean they have no energy to spare for healing. It can also make them appear lethargic. The sooner it gets amended the better.

You may find Replenish is easier to dose accurately than Equilibrium.

Equilibrium dosage is 16 grams per 20 gallons and that will raise GH by 3 degrees.

For 5 gallons that’s only 4 grams, which is impossible to measure accurately without a scale that measures in milligrams.

Equilibrium also takes awhile to fully dissolve and the water can look quite hazy until it has fully dissolved.

Replenish is a liquid and the dose is 5 millilitres per 10 gallons, or 2.5ml per 5 gallons to raise GH by 1 degree.

It’s very easy to dose it accurately with a syringe.

Accuracy in dosage matters because you want the GH to remain the same with every water change. If you try to eyeball the dosage, it won’t be the same every time.

Best practice is to dose the booster into a 5G bucket and give it a good stirring. Then use it for water changes. 5 gallon tanks never contain exactly 5 gallons - can be much less than that due to displacement from substrate, decor, etc.

Equilibrium also takes awhile to fully dissolve and the water can look hazy until it has fully dissolved.

Hi FishFur, thank you for your post and tips. Unfortunately, my guppy in the picture die. The four remaining are doing ok. I followed the doses you recommended. Yes, it gets clouded as was also mentioned by FishDin. However, it clears after some time. Again, thank you!!