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Fancy Guppy has red tail infection

2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Beaches 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,

about 36 hours ago, I noticed that my fancy guppy has developed a red infection at the edge of his tail fin (see attached photo). There is a larger red area of infection at the top corner, as well as a much smaller red area about 2/3 of the way down on the trailing edge. The photo was taken about 3 hours ago and the larger area has doubled in size since I first noticed the problem.

Otherwise, he is acting normally, is very active and has appetite.

He is the lone fish in a 10 gallon tank. Temp is 78-80, pH 7.8, kH 50, gH 70, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. Tank has been set up since June, and there have never been any detectable levels of any nitrogenous wastes ( even when cycling, I guessed that this was because there was so little biomass in the tank).

I believe the cause of this was a buildup of organic waste on the tank bottom. The small gravel vac that I had purchased for the small tank didn't work very well( tube was too narrow and it kept sucking up gravel).

The day before I noticed the infection, I had taken large amounts of gravel from the 10 gallon tank and placed it in a larger 20 gallon tank that I was planning on moving the guppy to. When I did this I noticed that it stirred up alot of organic waste from the bottom, which the guppy was exposed to after it got stirred up. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any measures (like a water change) at that time.

After noticing the infection, I changed 25% of the tank water and added a first dose of Triple Sulfa by API. That was last night. This morning I noticed that the affected area had doubled.

I would hate to lose this little guy as I have grown very attached to him, and I am taking care of him for a friend that moved out of the country.

I am worried that the infection is spreading fast. I would appreciate any suggestions for trying to cure it.

When will I be able to tell if the meds are working? If they are not, will I have time to try another treatment before it's too late?
 

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#2 ·
How is he doing now Eric?

What was in the tank prior to the Guppy? You say he is the only fish in the tank, but it has been set up since June....did you do a fishless cycle? just wondering whether the tank actually cycled since you have 0 readings across the board.

It is a bit hard to tell from the picture, but could be the start of fin rot (just at first glance it looked more like normal colouring), is his tail look like it is disappearing or frayed? I wouldn't have rushed to add a strong medication like TS, but first tried partial water changes and making sure the water quality was kept high to see if the problem resolved itself naturally.
 
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