# Guppy - Clamped Fin



## jen_jen_ng (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi everyone~

My poor guppy girl has clamped fin. She just finished giving birth to her 2nd batch of fry a few days ago.

Before she was about to give birth, she was still eating fine. 
Right after giving birth, she lost her appetite. I thought it was due to exhaustion. But this behaviour persisted for a couple of days.

Now, she would try to eat the food but then spits it out. It is also now evidently that she has clamped fin. Also, I notice her spine is not as straight...





*What should I do?* (feel free to write your opinion, ultimately, i know it's my decision to make)

*Treat it?* - How? Any brand to recommend?

Sighhh, *when to consider euthanasia?* (again, difficult one to answer, but any opinion is welcome)

Thanks a lot,
Jennifer >.<


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

I wish I could help but my knowledge of guppies is very limited.

I know that after a few births and when they start to put on a few years, their spines are no longer as straight.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

How old is this guppy? Males try to impregnate female guppies extremely early and if they become pregnant too early and their body isn't developped fully, there is a risk of them dying. If the guppy was fully matured then the issue may lie with birthing, which is stressful and extremely tiring for the fish so they need a lot of rest. Males are the source of this stress since they chase females around all day, so it would be best to put her in a hospital tank, warmer water and high aeration helps metabolism and increase appetite as well as being more comfortable for her. Right now, best bet is to make her feel safe, have tons of rest in a stress-free environment, euthanasia shouldn't be considered yet since she is still recovering from birth. Keep us posted on her condition and hopefully she makes it. Any other input on cures guys? I wrote pretty much all I can think of at this moment.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> How old is this guppy? Males try to impregnate female guppies extremely early and if they become pregnant too early and their body isn't developped fully, there is a risk of them dying. If the guppy was fully matured then the issue may lie with birthing, which is stressful and extremely tiring for the fish so they need a lot of rest. Males are the source of this stress since they chase females around all day, so it would be best to put her in a hospital tank, warmer water and high aeration helps metabolism and increase appetite as well as being more comfortable for her. Right now, best bet is to make her feel safe, have tons of rest in a stress-free environment, euthanasia shouldn't be considered yet since she is still recovering from birth. Keep us posted on her condition and hopefully she makes it. Any other input on cures guys? I wrote pretty much all I can think of at this moment.


I think another female or 2 in the hospital tank may help her. If this is post-birth depression then it may help give her a bit of company, I know that sometimes when I isolate my pregnant shrimp they often drop due to stress. Even if it's a specimen container with some gravel and a bit of water flow.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I'm not too familiar with guppies, the company is hit and miss, either she enjoys the company or they outcompete her entirely for food


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Looks uncomfortable. Didn't appear to have total swim bladder control. No clamped fins I could see. Breathing looked ok. Spine is deformed but the fish can still live with that. It really doesn't look that screwed up. I think it might be fine.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

AquariAM said:


> Looks uncomfortable. Didn't appear to have total swim bladder control. No clamped fins I could see. Breathing looked ok. Spine is deformed but the fish can still live with that. It really doesn't look that screwed up. I think it might be fine.


So is the loss of apetite just post-birth depression?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Joeee said:


> So is the loss of apetite just post-birth depression?


Has the fish lost weight? If there were an issue with the swim bladder (fish is always at the exact same depth) it would not want to eat and alter it's buoyancy.


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## jen_jen_ng (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi everyone, thank you for the replies!

(having troubles getting quick email notifications from gtaa lately, still no notifications about any of your posts yet, it's a good thing i logged on gtaa before going off to bed)



Philip.Chan.92 said:


> How old is this guppy?
> If the guppy was fully matured then the issue may lie with birthing, which is stressful and extremely tiring for the fish so they need a lot of rest. Males are the source of this stress since they chase females around all day, so it would be best to put her in a hospital tank, warmer water and high aeration helps metabolism and increase appetite as well as being more comfortable for her.


I don't know how old is the guppy. I got her two months ago from a fish store.

I have a divider that separated her from the rest of the males. After she gave birth, she gets to stay there alone with her fry. Where she's staying has a lot of plants.



AquariAM said:


> Didn't appear to have total swim bladder control. No clamped fins I could see.


Currently, she's staying mostly at the top, and not moving much. Her fins look pretty clamped to me. Have a look closer at her caudal fin (tail), it is particularly observable that her tails are clamped tightly together - it should be more spread apart (have a look at the first guppy in my signature pic, that's her when still healthy)
- let me know if you need a better current vid/pic or if it's not clamped fin but something else



AquariAM said:


> Has the fish lost weight?


Umm... it is difficult to tell if she has lost any weight since a couple of days ago she was really big n pregnant. But she looks about the right size as when she's not pregnant

Thanks all,
- Jennifer >.<


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

It just looks like she is recovering from giving birth, give her some time and keep her seperated from the males.


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## jen_jen_ng (Apr 20, 2010)

Sighhh, I recorded the vids earlier today and was planning to upload it tonight to show you a clearer view of my guppy girl's condition.
But now it's too late for that. A few minutes ago, I went to check up on her... and found out she didn't make it 

I still want to post the vids up in case it can help someone else later when they encounter something similar, perhaps to identify it or w/e. If you have an explanation on what is it or how to prevent/diagnose it, that would be great for future reference. I took a closer look at her today and noticed little white fuzzy stuff on her sides near her tail (you can see it too in the 2nd vid below).

*Please note: the vids may be quite an uncomfortable thing for some to watch.*

Clamped Fin Sideview





Jennifer


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Clamped fins are dorsal anal ventral and pectoral fins held against the body. By definition the caudal fin can not be clamped. It's closed indicating discomfort but the fish is far from on the way out ATM.


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## jen_jen_ng (Apr 20, 2010)

ahs, i see~
it seems my guppy girl has those signs too (in the recent vid) but my attention was more drawn to the caudal fin and thought it's part of the symptom for clamped fin >.<

thanks for clarifying, AquariAM^^

- Jennifer


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Awww so sorry to hear the news jen! From what ive read, bent spine in guppies is kinda common and can be caused by a bunch of reasons such as diet, disease, genetics, old age, or sometimes no apparent reason...so it would be hard to pin down the reason easpecially if theres no other obvious signs of distress... Pro breeders cull any baby guppies with bent spines from what I read- alot due to overbreeding . 
I do remember years ago when I kept female guppies breeding, occasionally some females experienced this after pregnancy, sometimes ud see a couple babies too that had bent back as well...
Sometimes at lfs ull see in guppy tanks a couple of guppies with bent backs- i always choose ones who look straight... 
Theres some posts about the clamped fins/ also baby guppies with pin tails in that guppy forum i sent you also. 
At least she gave you some nice babies to remember her by


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