BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Can anyone see anything wrong with this guppy? Photo taken the day I got him... dead within days. He's an imported guppy and within days of introducing him to my tank he deid... and then 7 of my existing NZ bred guppies. Ammonia, Nitrate and nitrite levels are all fine. pH 7.2. I can't see anything physically wrong with the fish that have died . (other than being dead!!) but now what is worrying is one of my highfin platys has stopped eating and is clamping his finds. The guppies never displayed this behaviour I just found them dead. I'm thinking it's a mystery disease that comes with some imported guppies and I don't know where to begin in order to treat my tank. I dosed it with prazi last night in case it's parasites.. but would parasites act so quickly?? 7 fish dead within a week of the new guy . Any help would be appreciated. I didn't have a Quarantine tank set up and now I'm paying for it but I still need to do something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 any treatments I do will have to be done with the other tankmates in mind... kuhli, choc zebra plec, otos, platy, gourami., rainbow shark. It's a well established tank and I ahven't lost any fish for so long and now it looks liek I'm going to lose my livebearers . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Clamped fins indicate external parasites - you could dose formalin - nasty stuff though. Can you isolate them by floating a container inside the tank and placing them in that , with an airline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 hi adrienne I dont have any formalin , Ive got meth blue and acriflavin, levamisole, prazi , and furan 2(which I am loath to use in a community tank!) Ive added 5 teaspoons salt (155L) . Would external parasites act so quickly ?...my existing guppy started dieing the day after the imported one.. just fished out another two. I think I've spotted something in the last half hr, will take some pics and upload shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Maybe its something your existing guppies had but were more immune to that has knocked off the new one first as no resistance was built up. I await your photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 this is the female import that i got with the snakeskin, she has flicked herself a couple of times bit otherwise is eating, swimming normally. Is that white poop .. or a worm? photos of the sick fish next post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 one of the little wildtypes that's on his last legs (fins) . I euthanized him after this photo. the tip of his pectoral fins are white/ eaten away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 this is the male platy I'm worried about, he has been quiet today and sometimes clamping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 this female platy has been behaving normally but I just noticed something white down beside/above her anal/ventral fins . sorry the photos aren't that great. it looks more worm like in real life, like something is attached rather than discoloration but I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mts sufferer Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 I've seen this happen before in a group of about 70-100 young guppies that I had bred (no direct relation to imports that I know of). Their eyes and body seem to darken slightly- as you can see in the last photo of the one resting on the bottom, they get the shimmies, clamped fins and flick themselves periodically, they rest on the bottom of the tank or on a leaf and they don't really gasp as such but they sort of have their mouth hanging open a bit also like in the last photo of the guppy resting at the bottom. But strangely they still ate food as they did normally. I have no idea how this "mystery" disease was introduced into my tank as no other fish had been introduced or plants/ornaments. Ammonia, pH etc was normal. I tried treating with salt, meth blue Wonder Tonic stuff, increasing temp, water changes, changed some of filter media etc nothing worked, every single one died over about two weeks :tears: (there was no other species of fish in the tank). So good luck and I hope you find a cure to this, keep us posted as I'm interested to find out if it affects other fish and if there indeed a cure if it ever happens to me again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 did the wildtype guppy you put down have a white mark on him? if not that looked like an internal parasite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 did the wildtype guppy you put down have a white mark on him? if not that looked like an internal parasite the white seemed to be on the fin itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 there are five guppys left. two are definitely flicking themselves. Found the shark eating a dead guppy . yuck.. hope it's not going to transfer to him. so far, only the livebearers seem affected.. (guppies and one-two platy) all the other fish are fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 this female platy has been behaving normally but I just noticed something white down beside/above her anal/ventral fins . sorry the photos aren't that great. it looks more worm like in real life, like something is attached rather than discoloration but I'm not sure. hmmm, it could just be her holding her fins up tightly I guess.. either way, something is wrong for her to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 If the fish do have worms, what you might be seeing is the worms coming out as a result of dosing with prazi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 If the fish do have worms, what you might be seeing is the worms coming out as a result of dosing with prazi. thanks I'll monitor the situation and if nothing more becomes evident, I'll give a 2nd dose in a week to be on the safe side. update - well this is disappointing -- my Chocolate Zebra is dead... so not limited to just the livebearers. My choccie zebra was 3 years old and I really can't find any marks or signs of disease on him at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Prazi should be dosed day 1, day 3 and (I think) day 7 to be totally effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Prazi should be dosed day 1, day 3 and (I think) day 7 to be totally effective. ok... Is it too late to set up a quarantine tank which would be unclycled? I'm thinking of isolating the male platy and treating him separately to see what he responds to... starting with salt and another doe of prazi. He's still not eating and the female is a little sluggish today as well but it might be too much to put her in the QT tank as well., It's 21L. Or do I just treat the whole tank again and get a QT tank underway with one of the unaffceted guppies. (I only have 5 left) I'm still baffled by the dead zebra. The only other fish that have been affected are live bearers and my zebbie has been a robust healthy fellow. (Or girl as the case may be) She's been exposed to both salt and prazi before so I don't think that killed her. Could it really be parasites that have so rapidly and aggressively killed off so many fish within days of introducing the import? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird73 Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 virus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinox Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 really weird, i have not heard of a issue like this before apart from where water params are out of control. Hope you figure out what it is so you don't loose any more fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2013 virus? that's my feelings.. I just can't see how a parasite would act so quickly but prazi is supposed to be gentle so thought no harm in trying that first. But I'm not sure it's helping. really weird, i have not heard of a issue like this before apart from where water params are out of control. Hope you figure out what it is so you don't loose any more fish. well I've tested all the water params and they seem fine and it's a well established tank. The only changes have been the two new import guppies so it stands to reason the problem started with them . The male was the first to die, The female is doing ok. I have only 4 guppies left now , If the female survives I hope she can give me some nice babies and repopulate the tank with healthy guppies. The MALE PLATY is now dead and to my horror the female was being relentlessly attacked by my rainbow shark.. chasing, biting and tumbling her around. By the time I got her out, it was too late to save her. The shark must have seen easy prey because she was weakening. The plan is now to set up my Quarantine tank, I'll use the healthiest guppy left and if it does OK I'll wait a few weeks and try again with some new fish - they will go into the QT tank first with the cycler guppy . (my test specimen!) I regret not having quarantined those import guppys. I had shut down the QT over Christmas when my parents were housesitting so they didn't have too many tanks to look after. I never got around to cycling another tank. I normally have a small 21L tank going with a couple of guppys in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2013 oh there is one more thing .. I doubt it has any bearing but I'll mention it. When I bought the two import guppys I also bought a bottle of stress zyme , thinking I'd give the filter a boost. I'ver occasionally used TLC but they had run out. I've not used stress zyme before but presumably it should be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 14, 2013 Report Share Posted April 14, 2013 Never heard of Stresss Zyme affecting fish like that so doubt it has anything to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2013 Never heard of Stresss Zyme affecting fish like that so doubt it has anything to do with it. i didn't think it would be the culprit but people always ask "what's new" . I'm going to give a floating bath of acriflavine/meth blue to the remaining guppies and hope I don't lose any of the other fish. I want to avoid dosing the whole tank , because I have kuhli and rainbow shark and Ottos in there that might not take kindly to the meds. Not sure how pearl gourami cope with meds.. have never had to treat them . I'll leave the prazi for now.. I'm not convinced that parasites could act so quickly and aggressively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 I'm going to give a floating bath of acriflavine/meth blue to the remaining guppies and hope I don't lose any of the other fish. I want to avoid dosing the whole tank , because I have kuhli and rainbow shark and Ottos in there that might not take kindly to the meds. Not sure how pearl gourami cope with meds.. have never had to treat them . I'll leave the prazi for now.. I'm not convinced that parasites could act so quickly and aggressively. well the meth blue/acriflavine seems to have helped, the sluggish female guppy has now perked up and I haven't had any more losses. fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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