I have a guppy with a problem!!!

[snoopy65]

I have a male guppy with spots on it. I don't think it is ick because it doesn't look salty. This is the first problem I have had in a very long time. I took a couple of pics, but it doesn't show up very well. It looks kind of like teeny tiny cotton specs. He eats fine and is very active. No stringy poop. The white line that appears to be hanging from him is an optical illusion. Nothing is hanging from him. Tank mates - 2 Marble Angels, 2 female Guppies, 1 male guppy, countless ramshorn snails and MTS. Water params: 80 F, 0 Am, 0 Ni, 20 Na.

Here is a list of meds I have on hand:

Aquarium Salt
Kanacyn full spectrum antibiotic
Jungle Parasite Clear
Jungle Parasite Care
Jungle Fungus Eliminator
Jungle Ick Guard
Jungle Ick Care
Jungle Ick Care II
Quick Cure

All help is appreciated. I will QT him if it is determined that only he needs to be treated, but if it is something that the others could get even if I move him, I will just treat the whole tank.

I live 30 miles to the nearest LFS, so hopefully one of the meds I have will work.

[tanker]

Looks like ICK, just less ICK.
But photo is not that clear.

[snoopy65]

Trying to get some better shots.

[bettabrat]

Salt and turn the heat up baby!!!

Seriously salt is great, increase your heat to maybe 78-80 and see how that does. I did this with a batch of tetras and it worked like a charm.

I am not a big fan of fancy chemicals. A little salt goes a long way. I think it's 1 tsp per 10 gal but I don't recall.

[snoopy65]

A few more but it doesn't seem to show up very well in a picture. You can see it best in the reflection.

[snoopy65]

The tank is already at 80 degrees. Will salt aggravate it if it isn't ick?

[shawnhu]

Your tank temp will only accelerate Ich, and without salt, the newborn Ich will grow and attach to fish that much faster.

Salt will stop Ich from attaching to their host, when they are in their early stages. The heat will accelerate the adults to die off. If your fish can tolerate salt, 1 TABLESPOON per 5 gallons is the dosage.

However, if it's not Ich, and the patches seem more like cotton/fungus, I would read up on Columnaris. It's a bacterial disease, gram negative. You'll need to hit it with an anti-bacterial to get rid of that, and it's highly contagious and pretty common amongst guppies.

Please keep us updated, as that is a very nice looking male guppy.

Much luck to you.

[snoopy65]

Thanks Shawn. Well I added salt to the tank. Not enough, I have to go get some more. I read in one of the threads somewhere that I can use table salt. Is the dosage the same?

[KarlTh]

Yes. To all intents and purposes it's the same stuff; NaCl.

[snoopy65]

So I can add the same amount of table salt?

[rich311k]

Yes it is the same thing.

[snoopy65]

Thanks Rich

[THE V]

That doesn't look anything like ich to me. That looks more like fish tuburculosis.

[snoopy65]

Great!! (sarcasm) Will the salt hurt? Is it contagious? Do I need to move him?

[bettabrat]

I doubt the salt would really hurt unless it 'feeds' whatever your guppy has. I add a little salt anytime I do a WC, introduce new fish, etc and it's never hurt anything. But I am no expert. I do hope you figure it out because that is a very pretty guppy you got there.

[bettabrat]

Great!! (sarcasm) Will the salt hurt? Is it contagious? Do I need to move him?

What other fish are in the tank with him? If any, are they showing similar symptoms?

[snoopy65]

A breeding pair of angels, 1 male guppy, 2 female guppies....no one else shows anything at all. He is acting normal, just has these spots. I guess I will stick with the salt and warm temp for now.