Guppy Diseases and Treatment

Please also know that when you treat your fish with medications many treatments may kill live plants in your aquarium. This is why I often recommend you have an additional hospital tank established to treat certain diseases. Try to find a product that states it won't kill your plants. If you are unable to find meds your area, the best way to treat external guppy diseases are with the salt treatment.

Also a note to Tetra and scale-less fish owners. Be certain to read all package directions and know that Tetra are volunerable to overdose of medication. Most often packaging will note how to treat Tetras and scale-less fish.

Ichthyophthirius or Ich (parasite) Have your pic posted here
Symptoms include:
This disease is often seen as white spots or protruding white spots that resemble a grain of salt on the fish's body. The fish may rub against objects in the tank to get rid of this parasite.
Treatment:
Mardel labs Coppersafe, this product will kill invertebrae, so remove shrimp and snails that you want to survive prior to treatment.
Aquarium Products Quick Cure, although this medicine states it will clear ich in two days, it is best to continue treatment for a full week.

Ammonia poisoning

Picture sent by Metallic Pink

Symptoms include:
Fish may gasp for air at top of the water. Gills will be red and inflamed from high levels. This disease occurs at the start up of a new tank.
Treatment:
Get an ammonia reading to verify level is high. Siphon excess debris and water. Replace with conditioned water and increase aeration if possible.

Hemorrhagic Septicemia(bacterial)

Septicemia Picture by Jean Lo, Click to Enlarge

Picture by Jean Lo
Symptoms include:
This disease is very detectable by either red streaks in finnage or red blotches on the body of the fish.
Treatment:
Again, this is a water issue disease. Get an ammonia and nitrIte reading. Thoroughly siphon excess debris from the tank. If after cleaning the tank, hemorraging still exists, treat with a broad spectrum antiobiotic. Mardel labs Maracyn.

Fin Rot(bacterial)

Picture by D. Stueber

Symptoms include:
Split or ragged caudal (tail) fins. Intial source may be from an aggressive fish in the tank.
Treatment:
If there is an aggresive fish in the tank, try to move it to a different tank. Use Mardel labs Maracyn-two or Tetracycline and treat injured fish in a hospital tank.

Columnaris or Body fungus(bacterial)

Symptoms include:
This may be confusing to determine as Columnaris is similar to True Fungus, Generally true fungus occurs at a site of injury on a fish. Columnaris will appear over the body and mouths of fish and at later stages will appear as grayish white strings. It may also appear as patches in early stage of the disease. Treatment:
Check water levels for possible high ammonia or nitrItes and change water according to results. Check aeration supply to see if anything is obstructed. Treat with Mardels Maracyn. Formalin is a second type of medication to use if you're unable to find Mardel products. Bath in a separate bowl with aeration and heat for one hour, with 10 parts aquarium water to 1 part formalin. Salt may also prove highly effective for this disease.
If you know for certain the fish was previously injured, then treat for a fungus infection and use Maroxy and Maracyn-two in combination.

Indigestion/Constipation Have your pic posted here
Symptoms include:
Resting on the bottom of the tank is the clear identifier. Although some swelling may occur of the belly, make certain scales aren't protruding.
Treatment:
This is a very serious condition that calls for immediate attention. Isolate the fish, wether into a seperate tank or into a breeder tank. Some suggests treating with one TEASPOON EPSOM SALT not aquarium salt nor table salt as these salts won't relieve the internal pressure. Many people solve this issue with starvation treatment. Keep fish isolated and DO NOT feed for three days. (The fish will survive without food!) Know that something isn't agreeing with the guppy concerning food fed to it. Determine what has been fed to them and don't feed the particular fish that food again. This may even occur with over-feeding the fish. So, if nothing out of the ordinary had been fed to the fish in the past week, you'll need to decrease the amount of food being fed to your fish. Feeding additional food to the fish in the first three days of onset will only add to the current blockage in the fish. After 3 days, if fish has not "pooped", try to feed a very small amount of baby brine shrimp and check for additional bloating. If the fish has "pooped" within the 3 day period, feed the fish only baby brine shrimp for the next 2 days and supplement with a frozen, defrosted, skinned, and mashed green pea.

Swim Bladder(bacterial) Have your pic posted here
Symptoms include:
This is also a very serious problem. Most often the guppy may experience this problem either by bad water conditions or from mating. The internal swim bladder is injured and results are the inability to coordinate swimming and may possibly show upside-down swimming habits.
Treatment:
Check water for ammonia and nitrIte levels. Change water according to test results. Treat with Mardel's Maracyn-two or a broad-spectrum antiobiotic.

Dropsy

Picture by Karin Wiechert

Symptoms include:
This is also a very serious disease. Most often the fish swell to the point the scales protrude. They however, do not rest at the bottom of the tank as with Indigestion/constipation.
Treatment:
Check ammonia and nitrIte levels. Change water according to test results. A furanace bath is recommended at one TEASPOON furanace for one gallon of water.