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While observing my ten gallon guppy tank, I noticed that several of the fish were flicking their tummies against objects in the tank... mostly plants, which I thought was odd. I've heard of fish flicking against hard surfaces to scratch an itch, but leaves?

Anyway, this tank holds uh... six adult female guppies and their uncounted fry (half a dozen or so are about a month old, and ages descend from there. There's perhaps a couple dozen fry total.) Also in the tank are six tiny (<1" ) cory aeneus who are there to grow out to a size at which they won't get LOST in my main tank. I admit that this is overstocked. Don't shoot me.

In any case, I did a water change yesterday and am noticing the flicking this morning. Not sure what might have caused it. I noticed one fry flicking before water changes, but that was the only one.

I've added doses of melafix and pimafix, because I simply don't see anything WRONG with the fish, just the flicking. One female guppy looks out of sorts, hanging near the top of the tank and just... meh, doesn't look right. Her tail isn't clamped, but she's holding her dorsil fin close to her body.

The tank temperature is a bit high... I put in a new heater a while back and it is apparently deciding that 83-ish is a good temperature for a low. ]:| This went unnoticed for a while because that's what the ambient temperature in the room was. Now that the temperature's dropping into autumn levels though, I'd like to bring the temperature down again in the tank... and apparently this heater won't let me do that. *complains* I've unplugged it for the moment and will be looking at it later on. Hopefully I can figure it out, or I'll have to buy a new one to replace it.

Last edited by Kitten at 02-Oct-2005 12:01

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

That heater is really new isn't it kitten? I'd take it backif you dont' have the receipt, buy another one of the same, and take the old one back in like a week using the new ones info

As for the flicking, maybe add some extra chlorine remover, the kind with some aloe in it? Maybe some salt might help? definately get the water tested and see if there is anything strange in ityou never know

83ish might be a bit high, but it isn't terribly so...it could be as bad as Leslie's tanks temps got during the evacuation

Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Love the idea, heidi! I was wondering what I'd do, because I don't have the packaging. Yeah, it's really new, like a month old. But the temp in the house has been just above 80 most of the time, so I didn't notice that the heater wasn't working properly.

I did add some dechlor along with the melafix and pimafix... I added some slightly cooler water into the tank when I saw the temp was so high. Nothing TOO cold, just enough to maybe knock off a degree.

The temperature drop has been very slow and gradual, thankfully. In four hours, it's dropped about three degrees. I may have to run out and get another heater, though, 'cause I'm not sure how low the temps will get. Actually, looking at the forecast, looks like we're in for more warm weather.

Last edited by Kitten at 02-Oct-2005 17:21

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Do you add fertilizers to your tank? I've heard that they may irritate fishes' skin and cause them to flash on objects.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hmmm... no, not recently. A few water changes ago, I tried out this water dechlor/fert thingy... haven't used it since then, though.

Update, though, cause I've noticed something less-than-pleasing... The one adult guppy that was acting strangely now has what seems to be faint patches of "cloudiness" on her body. There's a patch on her right side, just below her dorsil fin, and one smaller patch on/near the caudal penuncle.

The "cloudiness" - for lack of a better word - is just barely raised and doesn't look like any fungus I've ever seen. I don't have any experience with fungus, though. She's also markedly thin compared to the other girls, though I suppose she could just be holding back on carrying fry due to her not feeling well?

My concern is that whatever she has might be causing the flicking and she just has advanced symptoms? I haven't seen her flicking, however. Flicking seems to have decreased today... maybe the mela/pimafix treatment helped. I don't know...

What can I do for the guppy girl? I have a two gallon I can remove her to for hospital, but I'm thinking I should treat the whole tank? Help me, please... I don't want to lose anybody!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Tested the water... everything looks good...

pH - 7.0-7.2 (normal for my tanks)
amm - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10-20 (kind of between colors)

Seems pretty normal to me, the nitrate is a tad bit higher than usual (usually a solid 10), but doesn't seem to be anything to worry about.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Check with your local water supply 'outlet'.
Periodically (or on occasion) they will add more chems to the water to clean the pipes.

Generally the public is not notified because the water is deemed fit for drinking. The fish may feel the difference and it's quite possible this would cause flicking. Hope this helped.

The Amazon Nut...

Dunno 'bout that... it wouldn't be just that tank, then... looks like that one guppy maybe be on her way out. She doesn't look good at all.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Okay, so being relatively clueless as to what might be the problem, I ran through the disease ID and came up with [link=Trichodina]http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/disease/trichodina.asp" style="COLOR: #00A0AE[/link]. Sounds pretty much close to the signs she's exhibiting.

The questions:
*Is she treatable at this stage?
*What meds should I use? FP suggests the same meds as for ich.
*Will these meds adversely effect the guppy fry and/or the cories?

Help!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Per suggestions in chat (heidi and sirbooks), I did a quick water change last night and added some aquarium salt via drip overnight.

Today, thanks to more chatters (tryst, dani, babel... others were there, I don't remember everyone ), I started a half-dose regimen of jungle parasite clear. The half-dose is to hopefully not harm fry or cories, yet still knock out whatever this is, hopefully. I'm a bit concerned about the youngest fry, but the oldest ones are well on their way to juvie-hood, so hopefully they'll be good.

Crossing my fingers on the one girl, she looks better than she did at her worst, but I don't know about her... I'm a bit concerned about one of the other girls who is big with fry, and flicking against plants quite a bit. Hopefully we can beat this thing.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Yup if one tank only, definately not the water source.
Best of luck with your fish

The Amazon Nut...