Issues with a guppy... is she dying? :/

[ChibiSkittles]

My sister had some guppies in a 10 gallon tank for the longest time. She didnt care for them at all, and even let the water evaporate to such an extreme level they only had about 2 inches of water to swim in. Needless to say most of them died.

Swoop in Chibi to the rescue. I emptied the tank and got a smaller one for them (10 gallon tanks are too big for me sadly, though i feel bad cramming these guys in a 1 gallon, i am hoping to deter them from breeding more). I got them set up and aerated and all that fun stuff.

Upon watching them swiming about a day or so ago, i noticed the only mature female swimming funny. Her head pointing down, and her tail nearly straight up. And she is not moving around very much. burning_eyes Laugh at me all you want, but i dont know: is she giving birth, or is she dying?

If she is dying would you feel its more humane for me to flush her now? sad  

[BluDragon35]

Um...i'm de-sensitized to death of fishies. The side effects of working in an aquarium...dead fish daily. So I have no problem with killing fish, be it humane or not. I think she's on her last leg, so you might want to flush her....unless you want her to live out the rest of her days in a properly kept tank. 3nodding  

[Fable Fae]

Wait it out and see if it clears up. You could get a bit of medicine for her (you can find it in any local fish shop or maybe even a grocery store that has a pet section). Look for anything that will treat swim bladder disease. The one I buy only costs around two or three dollars.

If you can't set up a hospital tank to treat the fish seperately, I don't think it will hurt to treat the entire tank with the medicine. Might want a second opinion on that though.

Oh, and I found the following for you.

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.

If you don't have a testing kit to check ammonia and nitrites, then just be sure to do a 20 to 30% water change once or twice a week (also be sure to syphon out any debris or poos when it collects at the bottom--I use an unused turkey baster for smaller jobs like 1 to 5 gallon tanks).

I'd also reccomend using a small amount Aquarium Salt in your tank water. Guppies like it, and it helps them stay healthy <3 It should have directions for usage right on the side of the box. I use it for both my guppies and my goldfish. smile

But yeah, your fish definately got this problem from your sister's neglect. I am amazed they are alive ):

I read somewhere that taking a fish from a really low water level to a deeper water level can often disrupt their swim bladder as well. So that 2 inches of water you were talking about could have very well triggered it (among many other things >.<).

I think you should see if she lives, because it's better for her to die there than to die by being flushed. It's very scary and painful for fish when they are flushed, as they don't die as quickly as most people think. If they don't die painfully by harsh chemicals they will just eventually die by suffocating to death on human waste. burning_eyes (Just be sure that if she does die you remove her as soon as you see that she is dead, and then do a partial water change incase any of her bodily fluids have polluted the water.)

It's so great that you rescued those poor things from your sister though, now they have a chance to live a little longer, and hopefully regain a little health and be happy.

How old is your sister anyway? Like 5 years old? I am ridiculously pressed for time and dead tired from work, etc. and I can tell you that it doesn't take very much to fill up a container of water at the sink and pour it into the fish tank. gonk If your sister is 5 years old, then whoever takes care of her should have been taking care of the fffiiissshh ggaagghgahghgahghhhhhh... T____T

Sigh~~~ Fish are so mistreated. cry Thankfully there are people like you who are willing to rescue them from uncaring owners. heart  

[ChibiSkittles]

Sobbing Starlight

How old is your sister anyway? Like 5 years old? I am ridiculously pressed for time and dead tired from work, etc. and I can tell you that it doesn't take very much to fill up a container of water at the sink and pour it into the fish tank. gonk If your sister is 5 years old, then whoever takes care of her should have been taking care of the fffiiissshh ggaagghgahghgahghhhhhh... T____T

Sigh~~~ Fish are so mistreated. cry Thankfully there are people like you who are willing to rescue them from uncaring owners. heart

Trust me, you wont like hearing this. She is 20 years old >< But honestly, i am partly to blame in this. I wont lie about that. Sister lives with me, and the fishie tank is on my kitchen counter.

"*sister* Your tank water level is going down"
"**Big huffy sigh** I know!"

a week later:
"*Sister* You still havent refilled the water!"
"**HUGE sigh of exasperation** I KNOW!"

Another week passes:
"*Sister* are you EVER going to fix the water"
"NO! Since i am moving soon, i think i am just going to let them die. Its too hard to move an entire 10 gallon tank, so if i want more fish, i am just going to kill these guys and go buy more"

>< I let her lead me on for over 3 weeks (seriously i thought the tank had sprung a leak with how fast the water was evaporating... but it didnt o_O), and i feel horrible about it. It was her fish, so she was _supposed_ to take care of them... but it was my tank she was using.

My only breather is the fact that when i took down the tank, i took great pleasure in informing her that i was keeping my tank when she moved out. If she wants her own fish/10 gallon, she can buy it herself!

stressed

I can set up a medical "tank" so to say, i just dont have the equipment to keep it aerated like they are used to. I only have 2 air pumps and odviously the guppies have the one, and my betta has the other. :/ Plus it would be the most ghetto fabulous medic tank in existance (100 CD spool cover! its what i used when i was desperate to clean the tank before i bought a replacement for them to live in! They swam in a CD spool cover for a day and a half).

Sadly she is still swimming funky, but she is eating, so i am wondering if it is the swimming bladder thing. I wonder if i should put her in the CD spool tank of ghettoness with a lower level of water, and add more over time... to see if it helps :S

all i know is she's got me worried, and sadly as i think i stated before, i am not all that knowledgeable on most fish. My limits are Betta and a bit on Plecos. XD  

[BluDragon35]

Plecos you say? I'm an avid pleco fan. I love the exotic varieties. Its just a shame that they cost so much and are really tough to take care of properly...

I had to take down my 55gallon tank due to a leak. I've been procrastinating the repairs.... sweatdrop
luckily for me there was only one fish in the tank. I'm sure I've told my horror story enough, but yah. The vacation disaster of 20-ot-5 left but one survivor...
he's in my old 10gallon. My 50 currently houses my turtles....but I'm planning on re-making it into a discus/pleco tank when i move out. 3nodding  

[ChibiSkittles]

BluDragon35

Plecos you say? I'm an avid pleco fan. I love the exotic varieties. Its just a shame that they cost so much and are really tough to take care of properly...

I had to take down my 55gallon tank due to a leak. I've been procrastinating the repairs.... sweatdrop
luckily for me there was only one fish in the tank. I'm sure I've told my horror story enough, but yah. The vacation disaster of 20-ot-5 left but one survivor...
he's in my old 10gallon. My 50 currently houses my turtles....but I'm planning on re-making it into a discus/pleco tank when i move out. 3nodding

I fell in LOVE with plecos when my mom met my step dad... about 12ish years ago. For a good 5 years i watched his Mr. Pleco swim around happily in the tank, before he came down with a mysterious illness my dad couldnt fix. sad It was a very sad time, cause dad loved Mr. Pleco, and he tried everything he could to make him better sad That was one fish we actually burried (mainly because he was too big to flush XD)

My favorite kinds of plecos are Zebra and the more common brownish blacks with white spots you can buy everywhere (Mr. Pleco was a common razz )  

[ChibiSkittles]

Update:

Well i guess she is dying. After letting some water sit overnight (gave it a chance to get to fishtanks temp/room temp and settle the chemicals), i pulled her out of the tank. She was floating at the top but gave quite a fight when i tried to pull her out. She isnt dead yet, but is very close. At least I know she died happy. In a very pretty tank razz

I also just gave the tank a good 1/3 water change, and took a closer look at the one remaining baby/teenage guppy. It looks like it may be a boy. Thank god. No need to give these guys ideas wink They seem VERY happy in their tank. biggrin Which in turn makes me happy razz

Now i just need to kick my a** in gear to remind myself to turn off their lights at night xd  

[Fable Fae]

Yikes, 20? Aah, that's scary. Don't let her have children. @_@

It's good that you kept your tank though, do everything you can to discourage that woman from getting more fish LOL. (Until she learns to care for them that is~)

It's a pitty that the lady guppy is dying though. Oh well, there comes that time for everyone! ):  

[BluDragon35]

ChibiSkittles

I fell in LOVE with plecos when my mom met my step dad... about 12ish years ago. For a good 5 years i watched his Mr. Pleco swim around happily in the tank, before he came down with a mysterious illness my dad couldnt fix. sad It was a very sad time, cause dad loved Mr. Pleco, and he tried everything he could to make him better sad That was one fish we actually burried (mainly because he was too big to flush XD)

My favorite kinds of plecos are Zebra and the more common brownish blacks with white spots you can buy everywhere (Mr. Pleco was a common razz )

I fell in love with plecos when my uncle started collecting the exotic ones. I saw how cool they looked in his tank and I just love seeing a whole bunch of them together! Even though they are very territorial and aggressive...depending on the type. xp

My favs are the zebra and the tiger. The zebras are just soo expensive and hard to find though! And the tigers are even tougher to find! crying  

[Sugar Slave]

I know I am a bit late but another thing that might have killed her was if she where the only female in the tank. overbreeding will kill off females fast. Also just for the record. Weird swimming fish don't absolutely mean they are dying I have a guppy with a weird fin that stops swimming and just kindda floats sometimes. But since shes been that way for over a year I know its normal for her.