# Should I euthanize my guppy?



## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

I bought a pair of standard fancy guppies from a fish auction and one is in perfect health while the other is wasting away. It's still actively swimming but it looks like it's getting skinnier every day and looking sunken.

It doesn't seem to eat but it exhibits eating behavior. It gathers around the others during feeding time and seems to look at the food but doesn't eat. I've tried standard flakes, dried bloodworms and dried tubifex worms.

At first I thought it was because my red flame female bullied it all the time but now I'm thinking it's sick. My tank is heavily planted and there is plenty of space for them to get away from one another so I don't think stress is an issue.

I'm just worried it's going to die in the back and I won't be able to find it.


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

its really up to you, id personally put it in a serperate hospital tank until you can find a buddy or LFS to take it


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## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

Many breeders, and especially Asian commercial breeders, heavily salt their livebearer tanks. For some reason, it can be very difficult for a livebearer raised in saline conditions all its life to adjust to fresh water. It's odd, because they do not seem to have any trouble adjusting to saline conditions if they were raised in freshwater all their lives.

Anyway, you might try some salt in the water, if you are not already doing that.

My other experience is that many imports (so maybe not your fish bought at auction) have internal intestinal worms. You can get deworming food from Florida Guppies or there's a Jungle product based on a different and widely recommended medication. However, if the fish is not eating, then a medicated food will not help.

It's sad, because livebearers once were the hardiest type of tropical fish a person could buy. Now they're almost a guarantee of quick mortality.


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## neilfishguy (Mar 10, 2008)

i agree! Go salt and live food if possible, as well as a food for internal parasite. I know just what you are talking about, I breed show guppies and my purple moscows get the same thing.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

ok, watched the skinny guppy very closely last night during feeding time.

the 3 healthy guppies are ravenous eaters and often fight each other for the food, which is crazy b/c I feed them rather liberally (NPT style) so there is plenty in the tank for all. why do they always school together to eat instead of eating separately where it would be easy.

the skinny guppy would also congregate with the others but ignore all the flakes. so i crushed some dried blood worms and dropped them in and skinny went right after it. unfortunately so did the others and jostled skinny out of the way.

any ideas why skinny is such a picky eater? my female red fire guppy is the largest and subsequently everything fits in her mouth. she spits nothing out. the others spit out a lot of types of flakes. i guess they don't like all the flavors.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

it's funny how worried i am over this guy when i told my girlfriend it's perfectly ok if some of the fry get eaten. lol.


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## Kets (Feb 20, 2008)

Perhaps you should feed him seperately until he gets better?


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

i don't have room for a 2nd tank, should i get one of those floating breeder tanks to keep him in? i don't want to put him into a jar where it will probably make him worse. ideas?


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## deepesh (Jul 29, 2007)

The others might get whatever this guppy has. Mine went like this over a slow period of 10 weeks, one healthy guppy after the other went totally off the food and starved to death. 

Maybe its some slow infection they get at the fish farms and bring it with them. Ask your LFS too.

deepesh


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## Kets (Feb 20, 2008)

If you dont have a Quarantine tank, put him in a breeder net.


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## Kets (Feb 20, 2008)

http://thegab.org/Articles/MedicatedFood.html#AntiPara

This is a link for internal Parasites.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

Thanks, everyone. Sad news this morning: Skinny decided he'd had enough and gave up the ghost. Fished him out of the tank. Luckily he wasn't covered in fuzzy rot so I think he died sometime in the morning. The other fish seem unphased by it so I'm hoping all is well. Going to test the water again after I get off work.


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## Kets (Feb 20, 2008)

sorry.


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## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

deepesh said:


> Maybe its some slow infection they get at the fish farms and bring it with them. Ask your LFS too.


Intestinal worms....


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## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

yum said:


> Thanks, everyone. Sad news this morning: Skinny decided he'd had enough and gave up the ghost. Fished him out of the tank. Luckily he wasn't covered in fuzzy rot so I think he died sometime in the morning. The other fish seem unphased by it so I'm hoping all is well.


Treat the remaining fish for worms. There's a decent chance he passed it on. The Jungle food is not very expensive, and you must feed the fish anyway, so it's no extra trouble.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

Oh no! That is not good news. I was wondering if any of the other 3 have it as well. The male that came with Skinny seemed really healthy and is actively eating and swimming. Color is good too. The only odd behavior I noticed is that he was resting along the substrate last night. I thought he was going to be belly up this morning but he was right up at the top swimming happily along with the others.

What other options do I have besides Jungle Food? I read a warning that it's not suitable for tanks with invertebrates:

Anti-Parasite contains metronidazole and praziquantel for internal parasites including flagellates, trematodes, cestodes, hexamita, intestinal worms, and nematodes. Not for use in aquariums with desirable, ornamental invertebrates.


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