# Guppy Spasms :(



## CollegeFishy (Nov 2, 2005)

My new guppy is having some kind of twitchy seizure or something. He'll scoot around the tank, and then stop short, tense up, shimmy sideways and then keep going. What is he doing? Is he going to die? Will he take the others with him? :help: I've never had a tank on my own before, is treatment going to fit into a college budget? Help!


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

Im not sure what is going on there..hopefully someone will answer you soon!


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Sounds like Shimmy, which is an actual name for the problem. It is also known as livebearer disease. You can use Start Right with either Molly Bright or Shimmy Blocks. Typically they get this because there is a lack of electrites. I have never seen a fish come out of it though


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Before we go on to try and help your problem, do you anything about CYCLING a tank, PH of your water, what the NITRATE, NITRITE, and AMMONIA levels are in your tank? You might need to research these things. If however all of these things are up to scratch, then there could be some harmful toxin in the water, or if nothing seems to be wrong with the water, then a small amount of salt will almost certainly stop the shimmering by killing off hidden parasites and maybe it will correct the balence of the fishes swimbladder if this is the problem.
Good luck.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Or maybe there's nothing wrong at all, since guppies can be spastic little buggers sometimes. Actually, by the description, it sounds rather a bit like he's doing his little mating dance. Are there any female fish in the tank which might have his attention?

Oh the other hand, he might have some problem. A full investigation is required to figure out if that's the case.


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