dual guppy death

[stbrigid]

I have a 10 gal tank with

1 dwarf puffer
1 bumblebee goby
3 neon tetras
2 harlequin raspboras
1 oto
and (did have) a pair of fancy guppys. They have been doing fine... the female has had 2 batches of fry, eating well, swimming fine ect... I removed another dwarf puffer from the tank about 2 weeks ago because he was shredding the male guppys tail, the male was doing ok... he was swimming and eating fine. Then, 3 or 4 days ago he started to look bloated, and then his scales started sticking out from his body. When I got home yesterday... the female guppy (she had looked fine the night before) was dead! The male was very lethargic and this morning when I got home the male had dark patches toward his tail and body. I decided to "put him to sleep" by putting him in a cup of water in the freezer.
The pair had been eating alot of live blackworms... (that were intended for the puffer and goby) and less and less flake/granule food. All of the other fish look and act healthy. I dont want to make the same mistake twice.... but what am I doing wrong??? What does this sound like... disease? All these fish are smaller that 1"... could there be too many fish in the tank? Help!!

[PumaWard]

I don't think you have overstocked your tank too much... however, have you taken Ammonia and Nitrite readings? By the sounds of it, your male guppy had dropsy...which as far as I know, is not contagious. Dropsy is mainly caused by stress, in this case it may be from dirty water conditions. Also, black worms are known to cary diseases which affect tropical fish health.... Instead of feeding them to your fish, you should feed your puffer snails and the rest of your fish blood worms, tubifex worms, and mosquito larvae once or twice a week. The rest of the time I would feed them flakes... or pellets, which ever you prefer. Also, take care not to over feed your fish, as this can lead to ammonia spikes (which lead to nitrite spikes) because of extra waste and uneaten food.

A little extra on dropsy:
Dropsy is usual caused by a bacterial infection in the body cavity of the fish, the infected area fills will gas, which will eventually kill the fish if left untreated... Other dropsy cases are caused by a virus or parasites, and sometimes the body cavity fills with liquid instead of gas. I'm not sure how to treat it, but there is a ton of information on fish diseases as http://www.fishyfarmacy.com The only problem with this site is that it doesn't tell you what caused the disease...

So get back to us with your water readings so we can find out if that's what caused problems with your fish. Good Luck :)