# Strange Symptom - guppy



## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

What do you think is happening to my guppies. It seems that this symptom only appears on some of the females. It has not happened on any males. The “infected” ones are getting thin and (don’t know if this is because their slim shape) their grills protrude out of the body. Sometimes I can see the grills are blood-red as if they are bleeding (a little). On the body, there are also something like blood marks but I am quite sure this is not due to attack of other fish. Sometimes their scales also protrude even if their body is thin.

For information, these guppies were given by a friend of mine. Basically they are all one family IMO. I was thinking this might be the reason – poor immune system or poor health due to interbreed. 

What’s your view then?


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

post some pictures of the guppies, maybe someone can tell ya


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Did these sysmptoms develop soon after you got them, a long time after you got them, or before you got them?
Does your friend have any more left, and if so, how do they look?
What's your pH, and how does that compare to the water in your friend's tank?


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

TheOldSalt said:


> Did these sysmptoms develop soon after you got them, a long time after you got them, or before you got them?
> Does your friend have any more left, and if so, how do they look?
> What's your pH, and how does that compare to the water in your friend's tank?


Symptoms developed after I got them, probably 2 weeks or so. 

My friend has a whole tank of guppies and always offers to give them out as they are reproducing in his tank. In fact, they are giving birth in my tank as well. 

My PH is about 7.6 -7.9. My friend is not a very keen fishkeeper, so there is no statistics. But I always do acclimatization anyway. 

Also, one of the victim now was born in my tank. Therefore, there will be no change of condition


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

Forgot to mention. There have been now about 5-6 females died because of this. For the first two, they both had lost one of their eyes before I took them out of the misery


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

If I have to compare my tank with my friend's, I have Flourish Excel (normal dosage only). But I suppose this will not badly affect the fish ?


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

your ph is way to high, that may causing the syptoms, sorry for your fish.

how long have you had the tank up and ruunning? how often d you change the filter? and how often do you do water changes?


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

According to IFGA guppies should be kept from 6.8-7.8 and many people state up to 8-8.5. I have to disagree that the pH is way too high.


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 4, 2005)

Just to clarify... I think you mean gills.

I remember reading before that gill flukes can cause bright red gills. Not sure about the protrusion, but Id geuss that could be possible. Do the fish seem to have trouble breathing? Are the gasping at the surface or laying on the bottom with exaggerated mouth movements? If so buy some medication to treat for parasites.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

guppies can do fine in aph of 7.8 but isnt that a little bit ruff on em? i always have my ph 7.3


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## doggydad38 (Jan 18, 2005)

Guppies are tough little bugger. They can live and thrive in quite diverse water conditions. What you are describing sounds like Guppy Syndrome. It's a wasting disease similar to tuberculosis. When I see a female starting to thin drastically, I cull her out immediately. No questions, bye-bye. It may sound cruel, but she will infect the other fish. Always remember to do your water changes and feed high quality foods. Also, watch where you get your Guppies from.
Tony


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

Ownager2004 said:


> Just to clarify... I think you mean gills.
> 
> I remember reading before that gill flukes can cause bright red gills. Not sure about the protrusion, but Id geuss that could be possible. Do the fish seem to have trouble breathing? Are the gasping at the surface or laying on the bottom with exaggerated mouth movements? If so buy some medication to treat for parasites.


Yes, gills ... sorry  

No difficulty in breathing. Very claim ... in fact their mouth do not open too much for breathing.

How about white poo. Yesterday one of them had white poo. Does it show anything?


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

SpoiledFishies said:


> guppies can do fine in aph of 7.8 but isnt that a little bit ruff on em? i always have my ph 7.3


I suppose liverbearers like hard water and high PH


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

doggydad38 said:


> Guppies are tough little bugger. They can live and thrive in quite diverse water conditions. What you are describing sounds like Guppy Syndrome. It's a wasting disease similar to tuberculosis. When I see a female starting to thin drastically, I cull her out immediately. No questions, bye-bye. It may sound cruel, but she will infect the other fish. Always remember to do your water changes and feed high quality foods. Also, watch where you get your Guppies from.
> Tony


It sounds like what has happened. In fact, I have lost 2 rams as well since I got the guppies. Dam it, guppies  Should I remove all the guppies in my tank including the new born babies (about 7) - they do not have any symptoms ??


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## dwool36 (Jan 31, 2006)

How many guppies did you add to what size tank? The extra bioload could have caused a mini cycle. Sounds like ammonia poisoning or Haemorrhagic Septicaemia. For the former you can fix with frequent water changes. For the latter, treat with Maracyn Two. I would check the ammonia levels first.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Okay, don't panic.

First, change 1/3 of the water.

Next, put one tablespoon of salt in the tank per gallon of water. Don't dump dry salt into the tank, but instead dissolve it water first in some container. This is a good tonic for guppies and also neutralizes nitrite poisoning, which I suspect might be at least part of your problem. It also annoys flukes a good bit in case they're present.

Next, get some MelaFix & PimaFix and dose according to the directions on the bottle. Use them together. This will help retard further infection. 

If things don't improve within a few days, then switch to some real medicine. Try to get a good look at your friend's guppies to see how they are doing. Ask him about their feces, too, to find out if they are also white.


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## Thomas (Nov 8, 2005)

Thank you for both replies.

The tank is Rio 180 - i.e. 180 litre. I am sure the no. I added to the tank is OK. The tank is well established and I only added a small number of small guppies (may be 6 or so, not remember). Anyway, I always test water and I have never had any ammonia and nitrIte.

Also this problem does not happen just after adding the new fish. The new fish was added at least 1.5 months ago. And this symptom actually stopped for at leat 2 weeks. It just came up again.

I had already tried real med - eSHa 2000, as it can deal with several diseases including internal parasite. What worries me is that someone said this is fish TB ! I just worry that this may infect my clown loaches, flash pleco etc.

Looking at the friend's tank is a good idea. But this needs some arrangement as he is not a very close friend and I have never been to his home. I will see what I can do.


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