Guppy Fungus

[jaxmom293]

My pregnant guppy has developed a fuzzy-like fungus on her side/back area. She appears to be ready to drop fry any day but now that she has contracted this fungus, will the fry survive if dropped? Can she be saved? It started on Thursday, 3 days after I introduced a new pair of guppies to the tank purchased from a LFS. The male (bought on Monday) died this morning and my other female (also bought on Monday) is in hiding behind the heater. I do not know what kind of disease this is? Could anyone tell me what I should do to try to save the rest of my fish, especially my pregnant guppy? I've attached a picture that I just took. She does not swim much so I've put her into a breeder to keep the male away from her. Any help is greatly appreciated. Oh, & I checked the water yesterday and again this morning.....all levels are within range. Thanks.

 

[shawnhu]

Saddle back columnaris, it's deadly if not treated right away. It's a hard to treat disease. If you have meds redily available, try a gram negative antibacterial, such as Maracyn 1 and 2.

Tetracyline may also work, but I would say that this guppy may be too far gone.

She looks paralized from the bacterial infection, and probably have been unwilling to eat for the last 2 days. This tank may need to be sterilized to avoid re-occurance, and always quaranteen new fish.

Good luck.

 

[jaxmom293]

Thank you for your help. I think you are right about her being paralyzed but she has been eating just not nearly as much as usual. The only medicine I had readily available was a fungus clear tablet which I used. She is still alive and will hopefully make it. I will still sterilize the tank. I've heard about keeping a separate tank available just for new fish but for how long? I have another pregnant guppy, will her fry be affected by the medicine I put in their tank? Thank you.

 

[mister_han]

im new to this forum and im sorry to see that your fish has saddleback columnaris. I recently set up a 60g with only guppies, 2 snails, and a molly. After setting everything up I got some new fish and I began to notice some white stuff growing on most of my guppies. Slowly they began to die one by one and I had around 30 guppies in there and a week later I only had around 10 left. I used Mardel to treat it and did a 20% water chage daily with aquarium salt. The guppies stopped dying and everything seemed normal now and since then I've added around 15 more guppies and have around 50+ fry swimming around. hope you get rid of this problem

 

[mel_20_20]

You have to jump on this immediately if it is columnaris. Quarantine, big water changes to keep water pristine. Broad spectrum antibiotics. Keep the water on the cooler side of the comfortable range for guppies, because columnaris likes warmer water.

I used Maracyn and Maracyn II for a severe bacterial infection that had progressed to septicemia and did daily 90% water changes. My Brochis recovered.

Check the medicines sticky at the top of the forum to look to see if a specific antibiotic is recommended for columnaris. I know that it is urgent to start addressing the situation immediately.

Mr_Han was successful with Mardel with guppies in a similar scenario. That may be the best choice, I don't know, but you must act quickly and quarantine the guppy and start treatment.

 

[shawnhu]

Columnaris is not a fungus, so most anti-fungal medicines will not be effective against this disease. It's a gram negative bacteria, and it will affect pretty much everything in the tank and feed off it's skin. If severe enough, it will penetrate into the fish, and paralize it as you can see with your guppy. The fry will also be affected, but their immune system may be able to fight it off, for the time being.

Low water circulation, low O2 levels, and warm water promotes this bacteria to reproduce. If you can, quaranteen affected fish to a smaller aquarium, and medicate with Maracyn I and II, and bleach the main tank. New fish from unknown sources like the LFS should be left in quaranteen for 4-6 weeks to cut down the risk of losing your main stock.

Don't be discouraged, but make this a lesson to use quaranteen measures when dealing with new fish or plants.

Wish you and your guppy luck.

 

[jaxmom293]

I lost her and her unborn fry yesterday. It was sad and this took her quickly. I do not have any guppy fry in this tank, they are in a tank of their own along with platy and molly fry and all seem to be just fine. None of the other fish look like their infected. Once she was gone, I removed the remaining fish and have sterilized the tank. I threw out the 3 plants I had in there as I didn't know how to sterilize them and didn't want to risk the infection being passed back into the tank. I will be getting some of the Maracyn and Maracyn II to keep on hand for future outbreaks (hopefully never needed). I will definitely quarantine new fish. Thank you once again for your help and concern.
~ Sue ~

 

[mel_20_20]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Sue. I think it is a good idea for you to go ahead and get the antibiotics to have on hand. I plan to always have a good supply in my fish first aid kit.

Again, I'm so sorry you lost your guppy and her babies. You did everything you could, and coming to AC was a good thing. These guys will help and support you through times like this.