Unwell guppies

Hello, I’ve had my tank up and running for 6 months with no problems, guppies and mollies have been in there 4 months. I added two German rams 3 weeks ago which have settled well. Everyone has been happy and healthy until a few nights ago when I noticed an extremely fat guppy with a gravid spot at the top behind the filter, she was still alive and I thought she was sleeping so didn’t think anything of it. Woke up the next morning and she was extremely skinny and her stomach looked like it had caved in. No babies to be seen (these fish constantly have fry and never eat them so I don’t believe they’ve been eaten). Now tonight I’ve noticed part of her tail has gone and I’ve got a guppy that looks like it’s developed a curved spine(photo attached) and now the mollies and guppies are flicking off the air pipe running through the tank and frantically swimming towards the filter where there’s a strong force of bubbles hitting them as if they’ve got an itch they’re trying to get rid of. I’m very concerned they’ve got parasites can anyone help? I do 30% weekly water changes and add Seachem Prime

 

When multiple fish show signs of illness at the same time I would always suspect a water quality issue. Do you have a test kit? If so what are your water parameters. If you don't have one all I could suggest is daily water changes of 30-40 percent to dilute any issues with the water.

 

Just used test strips as that’s all I have at the moment. No nitrites or ammonia, ph is 7.5. Nitrates are also possibly 20ppm. My water hardness appears to be 180ppm though

 

Were the rams quarantined? They may have brought an illness into the tank

 

They were mixed with other fish in the pet shop and then went straight into my tank with the guppies and mollies after the usual adding water to the bag and waiting etc.
Any ideas what it could be and if there’s anything I can do before it gets worse? Thank you for your help I really appreciate it!

 

I'm not positive.

Bent spine and degrading tail would lead me to say bacterial.

But sunken belly and flashing would lead me to say parasitic.

Are there any other symptoms? Is everyone still eating, are their poops looking normal?

 

Just used test strips as that’s all I have at the moment. No nitrites or ammonia, ph is 7.5. Nitrates are also possibly 20ppm. My water hardness appears to be 180ppm though

Guppies like higher hardness levels but can cope with most water hardness levels as long as they don't change too quickly. If it were me I would try to lower your nitrates with some water changes, 20 is at the top end of the safe zone but I find guppies are prone the high nitrate problems. PH 7.5 is good. Test strips are not very accurate, I would suggest getting a chemical test kit at some stage.
Medicating the tank is an option if you can decide what the problem is. You can get general medications that treat everything but I have never used them so I can't comment on how good they are. Try asking for advice at your local shop.
One of the golden rules of fish keeping is if in doubt change some water.
Sorry I can't be of any more help.

 

All eating fine, I have noticed they are all seriously bloated apart from the one with the sunken belly. Some of the young mollies have been hiding up behind the filter all night. Poop seems to be a light creamy colour with the guppies but the mollies poop is brown at the moment

 

Guppies like higher hardness levels but can cope with most water hardness levels as long as they don't change too quickly. If it were me I would try to lower your nitrates with some water changes, 20 is at the top end of the safe zone but I find guppies are prone the high nitrate problems. PH 7.5 is good. Test strips are not very accurate, I would suggest getting a chemical test kit at some stage.
Medicating the tank is an option if you can decide what the problem is. You can get general medications that treat everything but I have never used them so I can't comment on how good they are. Try asking for advice at your local shop.
One of the golden rules of fish keeping is if in doubt change some water.
Sorry I can't be of any more help.

I’ll pop into the fish shop tomorrow and see if they recommend anything and see if I can pick up a chemical test kit. You have been a great help Thank you so much! ☺️

 

I would definitely wait and test the waters before medicating. If all that's wrong is water quality, meds can stress them out and make things worse.

At this time it doesn't seem like a clear cut illness so I'm not sure if recommend any meds without knowing what you're treating, sorry

 

All eating fine, I have noticed they are all seriously bloated apart from the one with the sunken belly. Some of the young mollies have been hiding up behind the filter all night. Poop seems to be a light creamy colour with the guppies but the mollies poop is brown at the moment

If they are bloated it may be dopsy, is there any sign of pineconing? ( Scales sticking out looking like a pinecone ) . Dropsy is a symptom not a cause but is often caused by a bacterial infection. Another cause for bloating could be constipation, this is easy to treat, just starve the fish for a couple of days then feed with some shelled pea.

 

So my tuxedo guppy has been pooping long white/clear stringy poops and his normal orangish colored back is now more white/pale. All my fish have seem to have gone through having the long stringy poops off and on but in most cases it has gone away on it's own. This guy has started hiding and is not acting like his normal self. I tried giving them peas two nights ago based on a thread I found on here but not sure he got any and if he did it doesn't seem to be helping. They are fed Top Fin flakes (looking into better food) and one sinking pellet per day. Would an antibiotic for the full tank crash my good bacteria? I do not currently have a sick tank.

 

The white stringy poop could be possibly from water quality. What are your water parameters?

 

You should treat for internal parasites

 

You should treat for internal parasites

No, not really as in some cases the stringy white poo is also caused by water quality.

 

I heard that feeding peas is actually a myth, at least for bettas (so idk what’s true). Did you test your water perimeters? How big is your tank and how often do you do water changes?

 

No, not really as in some cases the stringy white poo is also caused by water quality.

20 gallon tank, just did a 25% change two days ago and keep up with doing them once a week. Nitrite 0ppm, Ammonia 0.25ppm, Nitrates 20ppm, pH 7.8 (these have been same parameters for at least two months). The guppy was experiencing the symptoms before the water change. I do have one other fish, my big Molly, that has had brown spots on her sides for months now. She hasn't had the stringy poop in a while though. My Molly Fry seems to get stringy right after eating. My two Cory Catfish have been behaving a bit differently, staying motionless on bottom of the tank more often than they were. They do perk up around feeding time however.

I heard that feeding peas is actually a myth, at least for bettas (so idk what’s true). Did you test your water perimeters? How big is your tank and how often do you do water changes?

Yes all are within normal range. 20 gallon tank and I do water changes and wipe down once a week

 

Cories need a group of 6 or more and your ammonia should be at 0ppm ideally and mollies need a 30 gallon tank.

 

Cories need a group of 6 or more and your ammonia should be at 0ppm ideally and mollies need a 30 gallon tank.

So does this mean they will slowly die off or just constantly have issues? My ammonia has never been 0 ppm and I was told it is good to have a little ammonia in the tank to feed the good bacteria?

 

Most likely you'll have issues at least until your tank has done cycling, but on long term your tank will be overcrowded when fish grow, and they don't behave normally (stressed and shy) if they don't have enough of them to school properly.

I bet it was someone from lfs who said a little ammonia is good? Sorry to say, but no, it's not good. Your fish poop will always produce ammonia, and certain type of bacteria transforms it to nitirites, and other type of bacteria transfers nitirites to nitrates. So after tank has been cycled, you shouldn't have ammonia or nitirites in your tank, but small amount of nitrates. They build up, and you lower that concentraiton doing water changes. Live plants do help, since they use ammonia and nitrites to grow.

 

Long stringy poop is usually a sign of internal parasites.

White Stringy Poop in Guppy Fish - Is My Guppy Sick?

 

So does this mean they will slowly die off or just constantly have issues? My ammonia has never been 0 ppm and I was told it is good to have a little ammonia in the tank to feed the good bacteria?

No, its not good to have any ammonia. If you keep having ammonia, it will be lethal to your fish at some point, and it means that your tank is not cycled at all. Mollies need a 30 gallon tank, 20 gallon tank is too small for them.

Long stringy poop is usually a sign of internal parasites.

White Stringy Poop in Guppy Fish - Is My Guppy Sick?

Not really, water quality is an issues here.

 

Not really, water quality is an issues here.

Search "stringy poop" on this website, or anywhere else for that matter, and you'll get a long list of posts confirming that stringy poop is a common indication of an internal parasite.

An internal parasite is not the only possible cause of stringy poop, but is by far the most common reason. Where are you getting your information that long stringy poop is not caused by internal parasites?

 

Water quality might be an issue but you can't say it isn't an internal parasite when that is a clear symptom of an internal parasite. The tank should be treated for parasites

 

Doing water changes will help fish recover from any disease, but if there are internal parasites, all the water changes in the world won't eradicate them. The only thing that will cure internal parasites is medication.

 

Ladies and gents, if we leave arguments for later, and help jessidee88 with her issues with tank, please?

So, I suggest 3 things as follows:
1) continue water changes at least once a week, and test water daily / every other day and do small water changes when needed.
2) Treating internal parasites can be done at same time, but remember to take into account water changes and their affect to dosages
3) My favorite, adding quickly growing (stem)plants use a lot of ammonia and nitrites, and in general is good for water quality and fish in many ways than a few. They add hiding places, use ammonia and nitrites, they help protozoa to grow and that gives snacks to small fish fry when guppies eventually reproduce. On their leaves they grow usually some algae, and guppies and other fish snack on that too, so that adds natural food source and possibility for natural behaviour.

With love, MrsP.

 

Most likely you'll have issues at least until your tank has done cycling, but on long term your tank will be overcrowded when fish grow, and they don't behave normally (stressed and shy) if they don't have enough of them to school properly.

I bet it was someone from lfs who said a little ammonia is good? Sorry to say, but no, it's not good. Your fish poop will always produce ammonia, and certain type of bacteria transforms it to nitirites, and other type of bacteria transfers nitirites to nitrates. So after tank has been cycled, you shouldn't have ammonia or nitirites in your tank, but small amount of nitrates. They build up, and you lower that concentraiton doing water changes. Live plants do help, since they use ammonia and nitrites to grow.

My tank has actually been cycled for a few months now. Our tap water has trace amounts of ammonia in it so anytime I do a water change, it adds more into the tank. It was actually on here someone said ammonia is needed but it may have been because my tank was still cycling. Not sure where to go from here.. I have had these fish since December and not sure who to separate from where or what, sighs.

Long stringy poop is usually a sign of internal parasites.

White Stringy Poop in Guppy Fish - Is My Guppy Sick?

Thank you!

 

my recommendation to all my fellow fish keepers and hobbyist , you also , as I do everyone should keep some spirulina (flakes or any type) handy.
give him some spirulina as it will increase immunity of your fish, human also

happy tanking

 

I would add live plants, they use it to grow.

 

I would add live plants, they use it to grow.

I will get some! Unfortunately he was already gone this morning when I woke up. I am wondering if it was ich. Because of the white color that appeared on his body. Other fish have been acting a little out of norm. My Molly seems to be in the air stones bubbles more and the other two guppies seem to be picking at each other

 

So the guppy I mentioned didn't make it, but woke up this morning to these guys swimming around the tank

 

I suppose she could have been pregnant and in some cases female guppy will die is she has been pregnant many times and she couldn't take it any more. Congrats fish mommy on babies!

 

I suppose she could have been pregnant and in some cases female guppy will die is she has been pregnant many times and she couldn't take it any more. Congrats fish mommy on babies!

Because the unwell fish died several days ago I think it was one of my other guppies. These were however supposed to all be males per the LFS

 

Oh, right. Sorry, I didn't think about it. My brain's broken lol