I have 3 adult guppies (2 females, 1 male) and 3 fry in a 10 gallon tank. I also have 2 otos, java moss on slate, and a marimo ball. 1 tablespoon of salt in the aquarium. Water is changed (at least 20%) and tested (API) weekly, if not twice a week. I use Prime with every water change. Ammonia=0 ppm, Nitrite=0 ppm, Nitrate=less than 5 ppm.
A few weeks ago I noticed that my guppies were looking tired--hiding in strange places with very low water movement (behind the outflow of the HOB filter, under the prefilter sponge), disinterest in eating, not a whole lotta mating going on--that's when you KNOW a gup is ill, right
. I dropped half a pea into the water to see what they'd do. Went NUTS. Devoured the pea. Figured at that point my flake food was somehow compromized, so I got some good spirulina-algae flake food and feed them once a day. (The otos really like it too, apparently.) The male got big and chubby, everyone got better color within about 24 hours, adult fish more active (the fry actually had to hide now), thought everyone was better and I was out of the woods. Then I noticed one of my female gups had a cotton-looking mouth with some pink gills and the now slightly less chubby male had a red anus. After some internet searching, I believe my guppies might have columnaris?
So here's the question:
Is this what I think it is? How do I treat this without causing harm to the otos, fry, and plants? I was going to try a salt bath, but didn't think the otos and plants would hold up to that much salt. I can move them to a temporary home, but didn't want to stress my little otos unnecessarily. I'm also wondering if otos can get this disease, and if so, I'd like to treat them as a precaution.
Thanks
A few weeks ago I noticed that my guppies were looking tired--hiding in strange places with very low water movement (behind the outflow of the HOB filter, under the prefilter sponge), disinterest in eating, not a whole lotta mating going on--that's when you KNOW a gup is ill, right
. I dropped half a pea into the water to see what they'd do. Went NUTS. Devoured the pea. Figured at that point my flake food was somehow compromized, so I got some good spirulina-algae flake food and feed them once a day. (The otos really like it too, apparently.) The male got big and chubby, everyone got better color within about 24 hours, adult fish more active (the fry actually had to hide now), thought everyone was better and I was out of the woods. Then I noticed one of my female gups had a cotton-looking mouth with some pink gills and the now slightly less chubby male had a red anus. After some internet searching, I believe my guppies might have columnaris?So here's the question:
Is this what I think it is? How do I treat this without causing harm to the otos, fry, and plants? I was going to try a salt bath, but didn't think the otos and plants would hold up to that much salt. I can move them to a temporary home, but didn't want to stress my little otos unnecessarily. I'm also wondering if otos can get this disease, and if so, I'd like to treat them as a precaution.
Thanks
