Guppy Disease?

[Fish-Addict]

I have a guppy which when he seems to be stressed, get white tufts all over his body and fins; I am assuming it is fungus. I have read about Guppy disease and my guppy seems to have the same symptoms as it, BUT he only gets it when he is in my smaller quarantine tank, or being bullied by another guppy/fish. As soon as I move him or the aggressive fish, the tufts dissapear overnight. He is the only fish of mine which does this.

Is it guppy disease just from being stressed?

 

[DrNo]

Stress from a "bully" can absolutely cause illnesses to erupt in many specimens.

Fungal infections are ususally rare in the context of our aquariums, but guppies (and other livebearers) are one of the few species that are susceptible to true fungal infections out of the gate (a.k.a. guppy disease).

I would concentrate on increasing you water changes (daily is optimal, using conditioned and temp. matched water). The bullying must be stopped; any possibility of a rehome, a divider in the tank, or to otherwise separate the specimen? Odd that the guppy gets the condition when he is the smaller QT tank; please describe your QT tank and how you cycled it.

 

[jenazen69]

Are you sure it isn't just a change is slime coat due to stress?

 

[Fish-Addict]

Thanks for the replies guys . DrVader, the quarantine tank is a five gallon, and it has a platy in it to keep the cycle going. I do water changes once a week on all tanks. The QT tank was cycled using a fish-out method and has been up ad running for around a year. The bullying has stopped now, as i moved the aggressive guppy.

Jenazen, they are white tufts, not the thick slimy stuff they get when they have a slime coat problem.

Thanks

 

[DrNo]

In that case, the specimen is likely experiencing bouts of illness in response to episodes of stress. If the bullying has stopped, the best bet is to concentrate on providing very clean water (I'd up the water change regimen to at least 2-3 times a week for a while) and otherwise avoid all stress. Consider reducing photoperiod, traffic around the tank, etc. A pic (if possible) would be ideal so we can see exactly what this looks like; depending on the physical appearance, I might recommend an associated treatment for a bacterial outbreak vs. true guppy disease. In the interim, extra clean water never hurts...