# Guppy Help?



## SahelSandWing (Mar 26, 2017)

Ok, ok, I know this is a _Betta_ forum, but its the best place i could think of for help with our guppies. 

Yesterday, we stopped by a petco to get some guppies for our 15 gallon (cycled for at least a week, no other fish in it) on my mom's request. My mom, however, did no prior research about male to female ratios, and on her request, we got 5 males and 2 females (though it should have been the other way around). 

We let the bag they came in float in the water to adjust the temperature for maybe an hour and added water from the tank gradually to help them adjust. At about two hours, they were released into the tank. 

They've been eating well, except for this one individual. A yellow female guppy with a ripped tail and a very skinny form. One of the males had harassed her earlier (chasing). I added more hiding places into the tank to help her out (my mom forbid separating her into a permanent different tank since more filters and heaters were 'too expensive'.)

She swims a lot, but stays close to the surface and hides around the filter. However, today she has been worrying me. After taking no food whatsoever for the last two days, being harassed by males, showing really red gills, and hiding, I put her into one of those cups bettas come in for separation and medication.

Now, i plan on cleaning out my 1 gal so I can offer her a better place to stay while I inspect her, but as of now, she's in one of those cups (I would let her live with one of the bettas, but I'm afraid Apollo or Aurum would attack her or get sick). 

I treated her with a bit of Bettafix since it was the only medication I had on hand, and I figured it was similar to melafix. 

Its been about 15 minutes since I isolated her, and the red around her gills has gone down a bit. One of my friends who had stopped by remarked, and I quote, "she looks defeated". 

She's been having stringy poop as well, which is a symptom of parasites. 

If this has to be removed from the forums, its alright. 

*Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?* 15 gallons
*Does it have a filter?* yes
*Does it have a heater?* yes
*What temperature is your tank?* 78 degrees F
*Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?* The filter gets the water back to the tank via the top, so some air comes in with it
*Does your Guppy have tank mates? What kind?* She has 6 other guppies living with her, 5 of which are male.

*Food:
What food brand do you use?* We're using the Aqueon tropical flakes
*Do you feed flakes or pellets?* Flakes
*Freeze-dried?* No (thinking about giving them freeze dried bloodworms later in the week)
*How often do you feed your Guppies? How much?* Twice a day, about two small pinches each feeding
*
Maintenance:
Before your Guppy became ill how often did you perform a water change? * Hadn't, it was the tank's first fill
*What percentage of water did you change?* 100%
*Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?* N/A atm
*What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?* Tetra's normal water conditioner

*Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water *before* the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):*

The store tested, but didn't give exact number, only saying certain things were safe. The employee noted that the water was a little on the alkali side, but not too dangerous. Sorry I couldn't provide more info. The water was tested yesterday. 

*Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?* The first time I (attempted to) feed her, yesterday
*How has your Guppy’s appearance changed?* Her gills got a little less red after I treated the water with bettafix, otherwise, nothing
*How has your Guppy’s behavior changed?* She's been 'defeated' looking ever since I got her, but I'm sure she has more to her personality.
*Is your Guppy still eating?* No, she swims away from any food I offer her, and she is very thin now
*Have you started treating your Guppy? If so, how?* I treated her with Bettafix
*Does your Guppy have any history of being ill?* Not that I know of
*How long have you owned your Guppy? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?* For about two days, she was suffering before I purchased her likely. 

My mom suggests that we 'return her back to the store and get a new fish', but I don't want to give up on her. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

While she may just be stressed from the petstore-new tank adjustment, I want to help her in any way possible. 


IMAGES:










(from the top, the lighting is bad so it came out very dark)










(kind of distorted from the curved wall of the cup)










(A slightly lighter top view. Note the bloodworm I tried to offer to her)


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## SahelSandWing (Mar 26, 2017)

Edit:

could a mod please move this to the 'other fish' forum?


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## sabrinah (Jan 2, 2015)

@RussellTheShihTzu could you please move this?

The most concerning part is that your tank is uncycled. A cycle takes 6-8 weeks. To speed this up you can add bottled bacteria, such as Tetra SafeStart, Seachem Stability, Dr Tim's One and Only. Just follow the directions on the bottle. Also, it would be beneficial to read the sticky on cycling under the betta care section. There's no way to know if the cycle is completed without testing the water. At minimum you need a liquid ammonia test kit, and test strips that cover the rest. The API Master Test kit is the best value but it runs around $30. 

The female guppy is obviously very thin. Take a good look at the poop of her and the others, as internal parasites are possible. Do not medicate without figuring out the problem first. Unnecessary medicating can cause more harm than good. You really need to either return the females and keep all males, exchange some males for females, or get more females. Your remaining healthy female won't he happy or healthy with the current stocking.


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## SahelSandWing (Mar 26, 2017)

Gotcha, thanks for the advice. 

One of the employees at the store said that it only took 24 hours, but I guess I should have known that petstore advice is usually far from accurate. 

I'll look around for some bottled bacteria and see if I can get my hands on some.

The other guppy's poop looks normal, it's dark, thick, and not stringy. 

My mother specifically wanted that ratio of fish, but I'll see if I can separate the males from the females.


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## SahelSandWing (Mar 26, 2017)

She died. 

This morning, at two in the morning, she was fine in the quarantine tank. At six, however, she wasn't moving and a green patch had developed around her gills and abdomen. 

I moved the remaining female guppy from the 15 gal and placed her with Apollo, to prevent harassment from the males. 

It's only temporary, since guppies like groups. Apollo has made no attempts of attacking or harassing her. 

When I showed her to him outside of the tank, he just stared and shook himself. So I let her into his tank and he swum towards her, looked at her (7 cm from her position), and swam back to his favorite spot. 

The guppy in Apollo's tank is a tan guppy with a short, black tail, so she can't be confused for a betta too easily. 

---

Swim in Peace

(still looking for the bottled bacteria online to get it via amazon since we don't have time to drive out this week)


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Please send a PM to a Moderator if you want something moved or hit the "Report" button to make your request. We aren't on 24/7 and cannot read every single thread/post but we do receive email notifications of Private Messages and reported posts. That being said, I'm not one who thinks the the Diseases and Emergencies section is just for Bettas as sick is sick and what we learn from other fish can be applied to Betta.

BTW, keep her in Apollo's tank until your Mom gets enough females for there to be a 1/2 ratio male-to-female. Or, just keep males in that tank and get the female two more females for Apollo's tank. Also, it's a myth that Betta see male Guppies as another male Betta. Probably started out as someone's "logic" from an anecdotal incident.


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## SahelSandWing (Mar 26, 2017)

Alrighty, thank you!


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## SahelSandWing (Mar 26, 2017)

While I was at school, my mom took the living female guppy out of Apollo's tank, and returned her to the store with the dead one for a refund.

She thought he was going to attack her later on. 

Hopefully when she gets fish to replace the two, I can convince her to get two males so that they don't have any females to harass.


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