sick guppies : (?

Question

What do you do when you have a sick fish and other fish that still seem to be healthy? Should I put it in a separate container? Leave it in the tank? Flush it? I CAN'T DO THAT IF HE'S STILL ALIVE! :( What is a way to "humanely uthanize" a guppy??
(Is it true that giving guppies peas can help to cure bloat? My guppy that I think has bloat wasn't eating the food flakes that I usually give him, but he ate the zucchini I put in there..yesterday he seemed better and was eating and swimming just fine, but today he's laying on bottom of tank. Still alive)
Okay, if you didn't understand that, here's my situation: I have one male guppy that I described above. According to "magic man" he probably has bloat or dropsy. I have one female whose whole body looks so thin (she eats just fine) Same symptoms as when male fish 1st got sick. She's pale and swimming wobbly. I have one guppy who has been pregnant for over a month and I still haven't seen any fry in tank. Have plenty plants 4 them to hide N

Sorry if that was really hard for you to understand. 1. I ran out of characters to work with. 2. I'm really worried about my fish! If you have any questions or didn't understand something, please post the question and check back later. I'll add something to answer your question. THANKS TO ANYONE WHO CAN HELP ME! I've been asking questions about this same fish for weeks!!

(Magicman, please tell me what you think I should do. You seem to know a lot about fish!!) Thanks!!!

Answer 1

check out the following website for dropsy. http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hddropsy.htm
it also has good info on fish and other illnesses.

the most humane way I have heard of uthanizing a fish is to boil water and drop the fish in it. the water will kill it instantly. I have never done this, but many experienced fish peole have suggested this.

also check your ph and water conditions...temp should be around 77, ph around 7.0-7.5...

also chewck out this site:
http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/swim_bladder_disease/

Answer 2

It sounds like lots of new things are going on since your last question. Knowing that it's several fish can kind of change things a bit. First let me make sure I understand the situation. You have a male guppy that is fairly big and having trouble swimming correctly. He also wasn't eating but is now. He was better for a day after eating a little zucchini, but back to laying on the bottom and not swimming correctly. Also a female that is normal sized but also having trouble swimming. And lastly a female that seems OK but hasn't given birth and she's been pregnant over a month. If I missed something be sure to let me know, but I'll go on that being right.

Since it's more than one fish acting funny, but not the whole tank, it's probably not water conditions, but it's a outside possibility. You can do a good water change and be sure your temperature is OK. In the 75-80 F range.

You don't say anything about spots or anything looking weird about them so we will rule out external disease or parasites. Since it has spread to other fish and not all the fish with the problem are fat I don't think it's dropsy or bloat anymore.

It still could be any one of several things.

They could be constipated. Even though the female is normal looking, she could be constipated a bit. Try not feeding another day then feed them eat a bit of pea or other really high fiber food. Peas are generally the best because they are so soft and most fish will eat them. It might take as long as 2 days for this to help much so give it a little time.

It could also be a swim bladder infection. If this is the case the peas will not help and the female will probably start getting fatter. Since now more than one fish has the problem, it's safe to assume the infection is contagious and you would need to treat the entire tank. To treat the problem you will need a good antibiotic. The best for this type of problem is Furanace because it is better absorbed into the fish than many others. You should treat as the package says, but treat for 10 days to 2 weeks. Also feed them medicated fish food during this time. Be sure to get the type for infections, not the kind for parasites.

There are still other possible causes, buit they are all pretty long shots and it's most likely to be one of those two things.

Based on all the info being as I understand it, one of those should cure the problem.

As for the female that hasn't given birth yet, all you can really do is hang in there and wait.

MM

Answer 3

This is what I think might help:
1. Check if the aquarium is not too small or if it is overcrowded, for what you said is just a few fish but I don't see the size of the tank anywhere.
2. Clean the aquarium and the gravel; since I have baby fish in my tank I can not use the gravel vacuum so I move the water at the bottom with my washed hands and get a lot of dirt moving around in the top of the tank for the next step. You can also do this by making some current getting water from the top and then adding it again to the tank but moving it with my hands works faster, just be careful not to overstress your sick fish and since you mention he is already crashed on the bottom try to clean the gravel without disturbing your fish to much.
Remember: do not tear the aquarium apart while you do this since you could be doing more damage than helping. You need top keep the good bacteria that you already have in your tank.
3. Do a 20% water change every day until your fish gets better. If you did not use the gravel vacuum and had to get the dirt moving around you will get a lot of it out in this step. It is incredible what fresh non-chlorinated water can do to for a fish (I like to use cycle and amquel to treat the water and they help a lot)
4. Check the water temperature. Guppies should be kept in a range of 78 to 82 F degrees.
5. You may want to add aquarium salt to kill any pathogens in the tank. You can add 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. You only do this once.
For what you said you don't see any white spots on it so I don't think it is a fungal infection.
If you think it might be dropsy you could use Maracyn-Two as fast as possible, but dropsy is very hard to cure and you need to treat it early. I lost a fish due to dropsy, thankfully none of the other ones got sick, the thing is that most of the time when you know for sure it is dropsy and you see the scales are pointing outside of the body it is too late to cure the fish. I am sorry.
I do not believe in euthanizing anything, I believe that as long as they are alive and fighting you should try to save them.

Answer 4

Putting them in another tank will not solve the problem. The problem comes from poor water conditions. The best way I have found to help sick fish is to do 20% water changes daily (make sure the temperature of the new water is the same as the tank water & add water conditioner drops , such as Sart Right or Stress Coat to it before pouring it into your tank), add aquarium salt ( I use Doc Wellfish's ) according to directions for fresh water fish, keep the lights off & the heat down ( I took the heater out of my 46 gallon guppy tank & things are going great ). If the sun shines on the tank, cover it with a blanket. Try to keep it as dark as possible. This reduces stress. We have a really good aquarium store here that specializes in fish breeding & showing. They told me that medications will only kill the fish if water changes are not done first. The reason the fish are sick in the first place is because of poor water conditions, if you add medications to bad water, the water becomes toxic & will kill the fish. They basically told me to forget the medications & keep up with daily water changes until all are better. Then do weekly changes from then on. You will lose some fish, but it will work in the long run.
The fresh water being added to your tank, so I have been told, will make a pregnant fish go into labor. I was told to do this when one of mine had a "stuck" pregnancy & it worked.
As for uthenizing fish, I read some where to put them in a small container & stick them in the freezer. I guess it puts them to sleep & they go peacfully. I'm not too sure about that. I just usually let nature take it's course.
If you are putting fresh vegetables in the tank for the fish, this could be part of the problem. Fresh vegies are good for the fish, but not for the water. Make sure all the uneaten food is removed before it starts to rot & float about the tank.

Hope this helps.
Good Luck!

Answer 5

well I depeds on why the fish is sick asto wether you need to isolate and treat or treat the tank. Ich for example is very contaigous so the others will probably get it too...You may want to turn the heat upto about 80-82* and add salt to the water(non iodized) sea salt or aquarium salt. this would kill ich. Any way back to toppic ; if you need to uthanize a guppy the fastest and most humane way to do it is to put it into Very hot water. ( I know this may sound crul but it kills instantly trust me.) water you can barly put your hands in streight from the hot water tap in the kitchen/bathroom is plenty hot enough.(@least in my house). Yes I have heard of a deskinned pea helping with bloat due to constapation. Bloat is ushally from a swim blsdder infection and most cures fail (sorry)( the fish may have a fish form of tuberculosis(TB) ushally caused by stress,cool temperatures and bad water conditions. of corse if the fish is still swimming normal and has bright colours this is probably not what your fish has(TB). And in a comunity tank especially if there are more adult guppies they often are eaten before having a chance to hide.

Answer 6

I'll mention a few possibilities I haven't seen here yet.

The thinness of your fish could mean an internal parasite or fish tuberculosis. The first can be treated, the second, unfortunately, cannot.

Fish TB can be spread to humans, so you should follow precautions such as wearing gloves when working with your tank.

See cammalanus and piscine tuberculosis in the first link below. I've also included a diagnostic chart as a second link that may help you figure out another diagnosis if none of these or what's been mentioned above sound likely - the chart also gives treatment options.

Good luck with this!

Answer 7

You could put it in a sick tank with fresh water and the same temperature with plants in but dont feed it. The guppy will probably swim in the plants and dies in peace. If you have a vet in your area phone him up and he'll tell you what to do. You should never feed fish the food that humans consume. If you want to feed fish vegetable matter....get a Gorami Gorami they are cute fish at 4" and with some luck they will grow to 2 feet on vegetable matter.

Answer 8

This has happened to me before and this is what i did-I put the fish in a small tank seperate from the others,next i put fish conditioner(you can buy this at a pet shop...do not use hair conditioner!!!)in with it,then i put it in a very quit room and didnt bother it for about 7 hours i went to go check on it and it was swimming around good as new!!!

Answer 9

Should your guppies be beyond repair, the safest and most humane way to euthanize them is this.

Take a small cup, put ice and water in it and stick it in the freezer for a minute or two. Take it out, remove the ice cubes, and place the guppy in it. It works almost instantly and it's nicer than squishy, flushing or putting it in the freezer until it finally freezes. I use this method to cull deformed fry, and terminally ill fish.

Answer 10

attempt to get her some woman acquaintances. guppy's breed like rabbits. they breed approximately each month and have approximately 30 to 2 hundred fry at a time. she is in all risk only very lonely. how vast is the tank and that i will supply you an estimate on what proportion acquaintances to get her. and no would desire to feed her lots. it could additionally be that shes hiding because of the fact of undesirable water high quality. feed two times an afternoon on the main. their stomachs are the dimensions of their eyes. and purchase a gravel vac to bathe the tank.