Sick Female Guppy

[piscespoisson]

:1zhelp: IF THIS IS TOO MUCH WRITING, skip to the last two paragraphs, I need help!

One of my oldest females (purchased 2 May, tank set up 11 April) has been looking rather bad since mid December and I can't see the same signs/symptoms in any of my other fish - guppies,neon tetras and bristle-nosed catfish. She's eating and rather active, though hasn't been pregnant since mid December.

First off she had a 'tear' in her tail fin which widened to ~ 1/3 but has stayed the same since, her other fins are a tad scraggly aswell. Her body became a bit white behind the upper fin. The next thing to happen was that her body sort of bent a little, maybe due to her loss of tail fin and she started to shrink. I noticed within the last week that her scales sort of stick out a little, not sure how long that's been the case. Within the last fortnight she's lost a drastic amount of weight and is really pale and I noticed today that the gap in her tail is very defined.

I've asked at my pet store but forgot to mention the skinny-ness, bent body and scales sticking out. So I'm not too sure about the advice, also he was more into the Dog department as there were no aquarium gurus on shift. I'm considering taking her to a fish store but don't really want to stress her out with the move. I love her alot, especially since she's hung on for so long while I've had a hectic work life. Is it stress, overcrowding or an illness? :huh:

If anyone can help I'd really really appreciate it!

Water parameters are right, 50 litres, 26 degrees, three live plants, six tetras, two catfish, snails, heaps of fry, ~ four females & seven male adults. I feed them hikari tropical micro wafers every second day and do a 20% water change once a week. The pet store guy said it was white spot - but she's not spotty and to treat with a multi cure (for white spot, velvet & fungal diseases).

I tried to take a good photo of her but it's hard because the water's green due to the medicine which I've been doing for a week & so the activated carbon is removed (also should I quarantine her and medicate seperately - if it's even necessary, the pet guy said if one's sick there's more but the rest look a-ok...). The photo shows the scales, white patch, bent body, fins and she used to be larger than the fish on the right (it also shows that I need to clean the tank exterior).

 

[knight4th]

Pathogens can sometimes be hard to diagnose in fish espcially if you dont know what your looking for. It could be a parasitic infection. Is it viral, it could be bacterial, and if it is trying to figure out if it is a gram negative or gram postitve infection will be key to determining what antibiotic you use. It could also be fungal though unlikley considering true fresh water fungal infections are very rare but its always a possible suspect. It could also be neoplasty (cancer) if it is the only thing you can do is make it comfoftable as most fish with neoplastic cases will likelyt die from a bacterial or viral infection due to a suppressed immune system long before the cancer gets them. But based on your description and what i can see in the picture i think your guppy has coulmnaris also sometimes referred to as (body fungus). Symptoms can vary from case to case but for the most part you see white patchy spots were scales may or may not be missing parts or whole sections of the body can become paralized. In the picture your provide there is a white patchy spot directly behind the dorsil fin and from that spot on the body goes limp which may or may not be a sign of this disease. Coulmanaris is a gram positive bacterial infection and is easliy treated with erythromycin (250 mg activity per 10 gallons). You could also add some salt to add electrolytes and aid in curing the bacterial infection it will also help re-hydrate the fish if it has become dehydrated. The section of the tail fin missing likely is not a symtom of this and may be a result of a secondary bacterial infection, could also be over agression from a horny male or just the tanke mates picking on her in her weakend state. Also test the water again i know you said all water params are good but post what the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, hardness, alkalinity and pH are an experianced aquarist may be able to pick up on something slight in the water conditions that could be unfavorible that a novice may miss