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Pet Forum / Aquaria / General / August 2005Sick Guppy
Hi, I am a fairly new tropical fish keeper with a 60L heated BiOrb. Looking in my tank at the moment I see one of my two male guppies is in a really bad way, he has sunk to the bottom of the tank, his gills are moving and so are his fins but he's not swimming. There is no sign of any abnormality. The tank has been established for about 4 months and the guppies have been in it for about 2 months. I also have 5 Neons, two ram cichlids and two small loaches. I recently had a big algae problem but that's been sorted for a week or more now. None of the other fish, including the other guppy, look sick. I've serviced the tank regularly and feed once a day with pellets and/or flake. The temp is in the green zone of my thermometer at about 27 degrees. Has anyone got any idea what may be wrong with him and should I leave him to see if he perks up (not looking likely) or remove him from the tank now so as not to risk the other fish? Many thanks Dave > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Dave Have you tested the water for ammonia and nitrites? How often do you do water changes? What type of loaches are they? If they are Clown Loaches they will certainly outgrow this tank quickly - done a quick calc and the current stocking level seems OK for now. I would probably do a 20% water change immediately in case it is a water quality issue (treating the water with a conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine) and monitor the Guppy. Do you have anywhere to put him if you do move him? Gill Hi Gill, No we have nowhere else to put him. Did a 20% water and filter change about a week ago with the BiOrb service kit. I am surprised to see he is still hanging on this morning but he is and has was swimming a little but only using his fins and on his side, he is bent into an "S" shape too. I am wondering if he is just injured as none of the other fish are showing problems. We have done almost weekly changes at times due to the algae problem (which we have cured by moving the tank) and used the BiOrb algae filter kit. The tank is now on a regular filter. I was worried about the number of times we were adding the stuff to clump the algae but, then again, we followed the instructions and all the other fish are fine. I haven't done a water check but I know I ought to, I won't be able to get into town to buy a testing kit for a few days though. The loaches are not clowns - I can't remember exactly which kind of loach I have but I know that I picked ones which will not grow bigger than 5-6cm and feed on algae. I will have to dig out the receipt! I have also only added fish after the 28 day service cycle recommended by BiOrb and only in quantities of 3 tetra sized fish at once (although I added the pair of cichlids together as they are fairly small) Thanks for your help >> Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > > Gill > Hi Gill, > [quoted text clipped - 70 lines] > > > > Gill Hi Dave, I'm confused as to what is going on with the filter. Have you changed it completely? "The tank is now on a regular filter." "Did a 20% water and filter change about a week ago" If you are swopping out the filter medium for new then this is probably your problem. The tank will cycle everytime you do this as you are removing the bacteria. I very rarely change my filter medium - it gets a rinse in tank water at change time just to clean off the worst of the gunk. If you actually ever need to change it only change part of it at a time. Sounds like the Guppy has a swim bladder problem - others on this NG would be better qualified to advise you on treating this - also do a Google search on it. I would do a water change right now (20%) and get that test kit as soon as possible. If it is a water quality issue then you could also try adding a product such as "Cycle" - I know other people can suggest similar products. Gill Ok Gill, Thanks for the advice - I will try a change just to be on the safe side. I will leave the guppy a while and see what he does. By filter change I mean the cartridge that you get from BiOrb that they recommend you replace every 28 days along with a 20% water change. They also do algae ones and first aid ones too (these are supposed to help treat common disorders). You have a ceramic media in the bottom (large ceramic rocks rather then gravel) for the bacteria - this you never touch once the tank is established - the filter is sponge with some kind of brown and white "100s & 1000s" in the bottom of the cartridge, it just takes particles out of the water I think. Thanks again Dave >> Hi Gill, >> [quoted text clipped - 115 lines] > > Gill |
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