# Tuxedo guppies: Dead: Weird hole?



## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

Hi,

I bought 3 tuxedo guppies, 2 lyre-tail and 2 blue neon last week

Four days ago I found the 2 blue neons dead, they had jumped out of the aquarium

Three days ago I found a dead tuxedo in the aquarium. I took him out and he had a large whole on one of his side (next to the gill's).

Two days ago I saw one of the tuxedo's having problems swimming. He would drop down and up, turning on his body. He died a few minutes later. He did not have a hole.

Today, I just got back from work and found the last tuxedo dead. He had a hole next to the gills and this weird thing coming out. Looks like two tubes(flesh color, 1 inch long). Very weird!!!

*Question:
*
What's going on? Is this a parasite that will wipe out my whole aquarium. I have 50 other small fishes (tetra, Blue Rams, Cardinal Tetras, Danios, Pencil Fish)

Any tips? Ideas?

Thank you,


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

It seems to be Aeromonas bacteria (fungus).

There are no longer any tuxedo guppies. I still have 2 lyre-tail guppies (they seem fine for now).

*Must I treat my tank (80 gallons) with medicine?
* Will the bacteria have spread to other fishes (around 50) in the tank?

Any tips?

Thanks...


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

First thing I do with a suspected infection is a large water change of at least 50%. This reduces the amount of water borne pathogens by 50%. Treating a large tank can get expensive, and is hit and miss because of the difficulty of a true diagnosis, and the ineffectiveness of some of the medications available. If you decide on a course of treatment, another water change prior to treatment is a good idea.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Also in the future if you've not already implimented it try and get a spare tank like 10gal just for isolating any new fish coming in as a quarntine tank. 

Everyone has thier own rules for quarntine. IIRC it is 1-3 months for fish from the store. and 2-4 weeks from fish bought from other hobbyists/breeders. It is cheaper to treat a smaller tank then a large one. Also who knows how the other tankmates in the large tank will take to the treatment (ie stress if any. I've only treated 5gal tanks before).


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

*It's the Apocalypse in my tank!!!!!* I did the 50% water change but nothing happened. I need to call the fish shop as soon as it opens to ask for tips and if I can solve this.....

- Fish are dying all the time. I found 4 yesterday and this morning (white fin tetra, guppy lyretail, 2 cardinal tetra) with no tail fin. Pretty sure it's "*rotting tail disease*"

- Most of my fishes also now have white spots on them!!! It was not like that a few hours ago. I imagine that this is "*Icke disease*"

- All of this started with the introduction of guppies from Big Al's last week. All the tuxedo's died and I they all had a big hole next to the gils. I think it is the *Aeromonas bacteria*.

3 different diseases in a few days!!! This is terrible!!!! Can I even treat my 80 gallons with three different medications?

Everything was running smoothly for the past 6 weeks (new to hobby) and now it's hell.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated....

Cheers,


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## chriscro (Dec 3, 2010)

first off,

1. if these small fish are of great importance to you. buy a large fish bowl or 
something cheap even a 5-10 gal tank and isolate them from your large tank.
treat that tank with ick first because it is easiest to identify with white spots on their body.

2. while they are being medicated do massive water changes of 75% at a time for at least 3 days straight on your main tank.

3. you say you have had the tank for 6 weeks. is that before or after your cycled it?

4. if it is not cycled properly or are not sure you should test the water conditions and make sure those are ok.

5. watch very closely the fish's activities and if they are responding to the medication. i do not recommend treating for more then one sickness at a time. rather add some epson salt to your main tank every water change as well as your smaller tank if you purchase one.

6. contact where you bought them from an ask for details or go in and see if any other fish from the same batch have the same problem.

7. good luck


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

Hi,

1. The store thinks that I should treat the ick last because it kills the slowest. The tail fin fungus disease is very scary!!! It seems to kill in less then 24 hours.

2. I did 50% last night. WIll do 75% as you say for the next few days....
Question: Should I take the rocks and pieces of wood out and scrub them hard? Can the bacteria, fungus be on them?

3. I cycle it with a "bacteria bottle" and then added fish every week or so. Did lots of water changes....

- The store thinks that I will loose most of the fishes. Mentions tha tthere is no point of putting others in seperate tanks since they are probably all infected with one or more of the 3 diseases!!!!

- I wish I had never bought those "guppies". It all started with them. They are all dead now (9 of them) and their diseases are killing the rest of my fishes....

- My filter was also broken for around 12 hours last week. I fixed it quickly, wonder if all the bacteria died during this period?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

If you treat the ich with heat, you can do it at the same time as any other treatment. The reality is that you are likely to spend more on treatment than replacing the fish. I question the value of adding epsom salts, although some regular salt might be of benefit. If the underlying problem is a virus, no treatment will cure it. The fish will either survive or they won't.


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

Hi,

"Treat ich with heat" My normal temperature is set at 26C. 

How high should I go?

I just bought some medication that is supposed to treat "rotten fin disease" and "Aeromonas bacteria" It was about 30$.

For the "ich" problem. The store mentionned that I should wait until the othe rtwo major problems are solved.

Cant wait for the end of the work day to add the medication......


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

*Question:*SHould I or should I not do massive water changes during the treatment period (4 days).

Store said not to do it, this board mentions I should......

Thanks,

I also hope that there will be fish left when I get home. Half of them look in pretty bad shape....


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

Asterix said:


> Hi,
> 
> "Treat ich with heat" My normal temperature is set at 26C.
> 
> ...


For the ich treatment you will need around 30C or higher for about 2 weeks.
What medication did you get?
Finrot can be the result of a bacterial infection which causes a more ragged rotting and fungal infection has a more evenly rotting and will produce a white edge. Sometimes, both types of infection are seen together. 
For fungal infection you can catch the fish, and dab malachite green directly on the fungus with a Q-tip. This is extremely effective. Repeat treatments may be necessary. 
For bacterial infection use antibiotic treatment. 
If the fish is still eating, the best bet is an antibiotic food. Tetra makes one that works well but buy the one for bacterial diseases and follow the directions on the can.
I use Furan 2 with great results. Furan 2 will combat a wide variety of gram-positive & gram-negative bacterial diseases.



Asterix said:


> *Question:*SHould I or should I not do massive water changes during the treatment period (4 days).
> 
> Store said not to do it, this board mentions I should......
> 
> ...


It looks like you been doing alot of WC but just do another 50% WC before you med the tank. When you are using medication follow the instruction on the bottle it should tell you when to do the next WC.


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

Hi,

The store recommended _SENTRY AQ _MARDEL (Maracyn). It is a powder and is supposed to treat the Finrot and the Aeromonus disease.

For the "ick" I will have to wait to treat. I'm kind of worried to raise my temperature to 30+C. Catching the fish and treating with a Q-Tip will be hard. I only have small fishes, would be impossible.

I will then do another 50% water change (last one was last night, also 50%) as soon as I get home. I will then use the medication.

Day 1 = Medication
Day 2 = Mediacation
Day 3 = Nothing
Day 4 = Medication


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

If you start to increase the temperature slowly say over night from 26C to 30C is not a problem for most fishy.
BTW, it has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

Fancy goldfish are susceptible to ich and usually when a new shipment arrives in the winter they are infected with ich and I have to treat them with 1% salt solution and temp at 30C many times and these are cold water fishy.

Also, it has been found that Ich stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

You purchased these guppies at the Big Al's in Mississauga, correct?

I've been there quite frequently lately, and I've seen the tuxedo guppies there each time. In fact I've been watching the tuxedo guppies closely, considering purchasing them, but purchased some yellow cobra guppies, and a couple females from the 'assorted female' tanks from there about a week ago. 

They've been quite healthy in the tanks that I've seen, and I've never noticed any dead or diseased fish. This is unusual for me because I know that Big Al's generally isn't too vigilant about removing sick or dead fish, and I've generally found their stock to be of poor quality, given past experiences.

Just to be certain, can you give your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

I'll let you know if I experience any problems with my guppies.


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## Asterix (Feb 5, 2011)

*RECENT UPDATE:*

1. All of the guppies are dead, 9 total. Last one must have died last night. Back tail fin was completly gone, he was fine 24 hours ago!!!

2. I thought that I treated the *Aeromonus disease *+ *Rotting fin disease* with the Maracyn medecine. Hope it will not infect again!!!

3. *Ick disease*, still in the tank. More fishes are being contaminated. I raised tempereature to around 30C - 31C. I'm also using Ich-X medication

4. German Blue Rams: They have just started getting sick. I think its *Mouth Fungus disease *and *Cloudy Eye *disease They are both at the bottom of the tank, not swimming and one of them has this whitish bubble covering his entire eye area. It's also starting on his second eye. His lips are also very white!!!!

What is going on!!!! Those stupid guppies from Big Al's (Mississauga) destroyed my tank. Apart of the guppies , I must have lost another 15 fishes. It's been a vicious cycle since the first disease arrived, its now completly screwed up......

Any tips? Is it time to *NUKE MY TANK*? Get rid of plants, fishes, rocks, gravel etc? So much money lost!!!

Thank you,


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

That sounds... terrible. It's probably been suggested to you, but you might want to consider a small quarantine tank in the future. Whenever I buy fish, I usually put them in there for a week although it kind of sucks because typically it has nothing in it.


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## stim (Apr 20, 2011)

*Guppies*

I've had issues with guppies as well, and I did buy some at BA Mississauga. Not the Tuxedo, but some other types, and not quite as drastic as your losses, but I have been losing one or two a week.

Do your deceased look like the one in the picture I posted at: http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24918

I tried treating with Furan-2, but the time noticing they were ill until they died was so quick.

Simon


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

Stim,

Do a google image search on saddleback columnaris and compare.


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## stim (Apr 20, 2011)

Yeah, figured it was Columnaris, though I never saw any fluffy stuff.

This article was very helpful: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html

Simon


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