# Guppies prego/sick??



## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

*Guppy Troubles (now m & f sick)*

Sorry I usually introduce myself but might lose one of my female guppies. So I'll just dive in (no pun intended  )

First off Ammonia is 0 Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate is under 5. Temp is about 82* F I have done only one water change since first batch of fry (a week ago or so). Fry are normal acting all are still alive. Everything seems normal my adf's and corydora's are acting fine. And the other 2 guppies 1 F and 1 M. 

The fish in question has no white spots, fuzzy patches, bloating, clamped fins or anything noticeable that would indicate sickness. She did look pregnant but now I'm not sure. She is swimming on her side and bobbing up and down it doesn't look good. I'm hoping maybe it's just complications from being pregnant and she's just acting weird. I have a video it's hard to make her out but the whole time she is on her side. She has a very skinny "string" it's bluish clear coming from her rear it doesn't look like feces so I don't know if that some pregnancy thing. Anyway I have no idea but am worried. There was another female that died very very suddenly like a week ago. She though was completely fine never acted weird it was after feeding and she was just dead floating in my java moss. I thought maybe she was the one who had babies and just died from the stress of it. Anyway any advice would be appreciated.

Here is the video: http://s145.photobucket.com/albums/r227/Thaliesin/Pets/?action=view&current=CLIP0002-2.flv


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## ragnahr (Sep 25, 2008)

looks to me that it might be the swim bladder. it kinda stops them from doing alot. (had a few of those myself) i may be wrong but from personal experience its swim bladder


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

She might have intestinal parasites, leading to the strings, or since they're blue & clear, she might have a rare condition in which the membrane around the "womb" gets ruptured. Either one is bad, but the first one is curable with medicated fishfood made just for the purpose.


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

Thanks. If it's swim bladder I've heard fasting will help or feeding peas is that true. If it is intestinal parasites what type of medicated food do I get. And can all the fish eat it safely?


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

Editing a little bit because now my male's fins are a good deal shorter and the ends are a bit white. That would be fin rot right? I have aquarium salt and and a left over fungus clear from Jungle. 

My readings I have just done before my partial water change is Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 20. I use prime as my water conditioner. My tank is been up and running over a year and a 1/2 and is cycled and all the inhabitants up until now have been very healthy and thriving. My cory's & adf's are fine and the other female guppy is fine. I just have the one female guppy with swim bladder or maybe even intestinal problem  And the male guppy with fin rot. The adf's are too blind to nip him since the guppy would be faster but idk for sure and the white edges also make me think it is not nipping. 

This is my 2nd attempt at keeping guppies, last time I had 3 guppies die mysteriously one after the other. My platies were in there too and besides being terrified and hiding they showed no sicknes whatsoever. In fact my longest fish I've had is over a year and a half and she was a fish I cycled with (accidentally I was a noob  ) and she is still super healthy and active. Is there something guppies need that I don't have I just don't get it!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Maybe. Look up guppy + melt. Some environmental conditions can make the guppies in a tank just fall apart in a day or less.


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

Not positive but...

I'm pretty sure it is swim bladder because she is still alive! It's been 3-4 days now if it were parasites or something I'd think she'd be dead by now. She basically looks fine besides the fact she cannot control her movement. So I lowered the temp to 70* and put aquarium salt in the tank and am not going to feed the tank for awhile and see what happens. Idk what else to do at this point. And I moved all the fry to another tank so they'll be safe!


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

Okay...

My girl seems to be coming back. This morning she looked the same. On her side and would just float around aimlessly. But she is now able to steady herself and be upright she tilts to the left or right every now and then but she's able to keep herself upright. She's even trying to keep up with the other two guppies so that is a good sign! I'm crossing my fingers!!


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

So today shes even better!! She is swimming with the others only thing is looks like she can't go down very deep she's at the top. But she's looking so much better I can't believe it.

So to help with healing I turned the temp down it's actually 72* and I put in the aquarium salt. And fasted the tank too. 

Question is when do I take out the salt and how many days can they go without food?


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## cherg (Mar 8, 2009)

I don't know if this will work for you but I had this same problem yesterday with a female guppy. She was acting the same way yours is. I put her in a small tank with air and added a teaspoon of aquarium salt (1 tea. for every 2 gal.) Waited 30 minutes to see how she was. She is now well and active. I have also added salt to my 75 gal. tank. You may want to try this when any of your fish seem ill. It worked every time for me.


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

Thanks yeah it did wonders. I know a lot of people are against it but obviously used at the right time and in modest quantity it sure worked out very well!

I'm also going to get an air pump asap. I have them in most of my tanks. One just stopped working out of nowhere I'm going to post on that too to see if I can fix it!


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## cherg (Mar 8, 2009)

Glad it worked for you. I leave the salt in and do my regular water changes. It is not harmful to leave it in. Other sick fish (if any) could also benefit from it. I am glad to hear that she is doing well. I have saved 4 fish that others gave up on and wanted to (stop their suffering). Never give up when there is something else to try. Good luck!


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