# Sick guppy, bent spine and skinny



## masmba (May 18, 2013)

I have a sick guppy. I have looked up symptoms and can't seem to figure it out. She has a bent back and has thinned out a LOT. To the point where her eyes and mouth look too large for her body. She has always been slightly smaller than the other female guppy, but I always thought maybe she was younger. She isn't eating much that I have noticed. Last night she was swimming near the top. Now she is hanging out on the bottom under a decoration. She's still alive though. Other than this, there are no other symptoms. No skin maladies. The rest of the fish aren't affected and appear normal. I looked up the bent back and all I can find is that it could be old age (I don't know her exact age, but we got her in July), it could be a birth deformity (I never noticed it before now), it could be malnutrition (the other fish are thriving and getting the same food) or it could be fish TB (I don't know how to tell for sure on this one). Now I'm a bit scared to put my hands in the tank and it needs to be cleaned. I usually clean weekly, but had family in town so it's a week overdue. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

There is an illness that affects guppies and other livebearers in this way, and as far as I know, it is a gradual decline with death inevitable. Sorry. If the other fish in the tank show no signs of illness, and your water parameters are all good (temp., ammonia, pH, nitrates, nitrites tested using a reliable test, not the strips) then you can do very little to help. I do not like throwing meds at a tank, unless I have a pretty good idea of what I am treating--it is just too disruptive of the whole water cycle, often causing as many problems as it treats. If you have a hospital tank, it wouldn't hurt to remove him from the other fish, but if they have been with him this long and have shown no similar symptoms, it may not make a difference, and it will be even more stressfull to the already weakened guppy. 

Do not be afraid to clean your tank; fish-to-human disease transmission is fairly rare. Of course, it is never a good idea to place your hand in any tank if you have open cuts or wounds, due to bacteria in aquarium water which can ener the wound. Water changes are always a good thing!


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## masmba (May 18, 2013)

I kind of thought we might lose her after reading about this same problem in other guppies. I tested the water this morning and the only thing high was the nitrates and those are always high because I have them in my tap water. They are usually around 20-40, today they were 80. Eeek! Pretty sure that was because of no water change last week. So I put on gloves and changed the water just now. I vacuumed the gravel, but I didn't move any decorations to vacuum under them due to the fact that my gloves only went to my wrists. Most of the time I just reach in (after washing my hands of course), but reading about fish TB, I saw that it can be passed to humans. I don't have any large open cuts, but I do have a still healing small cut on my hand. I don't have a quarantine tank so I can't move her. I don't like to add chemicals to the tank either, unless needed of course. The only thing I ever add is the dechlorinator with water changes.


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## masmba (May 18, 2013)

She died overnight. I still don't know why, but I don't think it was fish TB. Still no symptoms in any of the other fish. I'm keeping a close eye on them though, just in case.


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