Why did my guppy die?

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naturelady

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Jan 29, 2010
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This is the only one of the fish in my tank that was sick. She died while I was typing this post. It was only within the last 24 hours that she started looking bad enough that I realized it might be genuine sickness, not just that she was pregnant and wanting to hide because the other guppy picked on her.

All other fish look okay. But if it was infectious, I want to know so I can treat at first signs in anyone else.


Shorter Version of Diagnostics Form:

1. What is the size of your tank?
15 gallon

2. What are your water parameters? State the brand of test kit used.
API drop testing kit.
Ammonia & nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 5-10 ppm
pH- 7.4
KH & GH- I forget exactly, but both were around 8

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water?
Freshwater

4. How long the aquarium has been set up?
7 weeks

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
Shrimp and snails - 7 weeks
2 guppies - 3 weeks
5 habrosus cory cats - 2 weeks
3 guppy fry - 1.5 weeks

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?
No

7. What temperature is the tank water currently?
76

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium?
Yes, tank is moderately planted

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity.
HOB, filters ~150 gpm

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)?
Not currently. Had DIY CO2 for awhile.

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)?
No natural sun.
~20 watts of CFL lighting for 9-10 hours per day.

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate?
1 week ago, 30% water changed. Changed every 1-2 weeks, do not vacuum substrate.

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule?
Tropical fish flakes daily for the guppies. Sinking food for the corys 2-3x/wk

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish?
Only one fish affected (grey guppy). Started about 1.5 weeks ago. The grey guppy started hiding, and the yellow guppy picks on her. The grey guppy's belly looked big, I thought she was just pregnant, and the yellow guppy could swim faster than her, so the yellow guppy was taking advantage to be mean.
It just got worse- grey guppy hides more, yellow guppy picks more. Within the last day or so, she really turned pale, her belly looked pretty big, and her scales started standing up a bit. It seemed like if she was not actively swimming, she tended to rest with her nose higher in the air than her tail. Could have been my imagination, too.

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis.
No treatments were used

The nice thing about her dying is she finally stayed in one place for long enough that I could actually get a picture that was moderately in focus. I think I finally have the links working:



Side view, she used to have much more grey and black on her body. The white spot on the tail is not actually on the fish.



Bottom view, note the bloating. Can also see how scales stick up.

All thoughts and suggestions greatly appreciated!!
 
Last edited:

GuppyMan

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Nov 9, 2008
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Trevor
with the bloating and scales popped up- it makes me think dropsy....

but i could be wrong
 

naturelady

AC Members
Jan 29, 2010
24
0
1
WI
Okay, dropsy then. I was kind of wondering about that, but wasn't sure. If no one else is showing signs, should I treat them anyhow as a preventative? Or just be extra careful about watching and get on treatment as soon as someone else looks off?
 

THE V

Hiding from my children
Nov 25, 2007
1,931
2
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Washington
Real Name
Mr. Incognito
Dropsy is caused by several different things. It is hyperhydration caused by kidney failure. It can be caused by bacterial, viral, genetic, or even scar tissue from a previous disease.

Most of the time with dropsy the damage is too severe before you start to see any symptoms and there is nothing that can be done for the fish.

It is usually not highly contagious and you shouldn't worry too much about the rest of your tank. Feed them a well balanced diet and keep the water very clean and more than likely you will not have any other issues.
 
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