# Outbreak and guppy parasite? please help



## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

Okay guys, I REALLY need your help. I have been a silent reader of this site for a while. Usually only to check on peoples experiences with the fish I have but this time I have a problem. I know it is a lot of text but I wanted to provide as much info as possible so please read through it. 

Quick info on my tanks/fishes:
1. 60l tank with 2 adult ancistrus plecos, 4 albino corys, 6 danios, 6 bettas planted with live plants and filtrated with Aquael filter, temp. set on 25/26celsius - everything working properly and it has been up and running for about a month now with fishes
2. 60l tank with 7 guppies and a lot pleco youngsters, planted with live plants and filtrated with Eheim filter that came with the tank, temp. set on 25celsius, has been up and running for about 3 months
(I know this tank is overcrowded but I will give the plecos away to a pet store soon and I am on a hunt for a bigger tank anyways)

It all started a few days ago. It was tank number 2 that caught an outbreak. I believe it could have been ammonia. I had around 30 young plecos in free swimming (about 1,5cm long) from before but mz 2 adults have mated again and I put a breeding container with around 25 fry in to float. The next day I woke up with a murky foggy tank (water was kinda gray, almost white), there were bubbles on top and ALL my fishes were up on the surface gasping for air. Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate... I literally fell out of bed (tank is in the bedroom) and was so shocked to see all my guppies and plecos hanging up there (the fry too!!). I took out my fish bucket and with help of my partner started fishing out 60 fishes one by one. Soon we found out that one of the guppies didnt survive and the same went for 6 young plecos, the fry somehow managed to survive!! Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate...
We took out all the plants and emptied the tank completely. Spend all day washing the sand and boiling the wood and decorations...
I do not have a testing kit for the water as we always check it at the fish store but now I really wish we did so I could provide you with the much needed parameters... We will go and buy one today along with some medication.
After that another guppy has died and now another one is showing some signs of sickness. He has been swimming heavily and his tail was dropping. Pretty much all the other guppies have a problem too. They swim okay and their tails are fine but they keep rubbing their bellies at the plants/pots/wood and then quickly swimming off and repeating the process a couple of times... Sick guppies - could it be a parasite? Desperate...
There are 3 females in that I think could be pregnant. They have big bellies and a black gravid spot visible. But now I think they might have some parasites?
I did some research and found about ICH but they dont have any white spots at all. :/
The one with a dropping tail has been swimming either at the top or sitting on the bottom (not swimming around much at all unless it is feeding time).
Before this post I also did a 25% water change and he seems to be a bit better...
Adding photos and a video. On the video at 54th second you can see my other guppy scratching its belly against the pot on the right side.
PLEASE... please help with any information!!!



















https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCh31k9EuME


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## keepsmiling (May 19, 2013)

Hello, keeping this many fish in such young tanks is definitely going to lead to issues. You really need to have liquid test kits and post your results for PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.API test kits are good, if available where you are. Washing the tank and boiling the decor means this tank has to cycle again, if it ever was in the first place. Do you understand the cycle and how it works? You need to get both tanks down to a reasonable amount of fish. My quick estimate is they are approximately 15 gallons each?
I could not spot the fish in question in the video. Flashing can mean many things. They could just be simply irritated by the ammonia, to having flukes, ich, velvet, costia...they are many pathogens and parasites that can affect fish.
The one that is bent will most likely always have some issues. Sadly a fish like that is usually culled. You wouldn't want him breeding and passing that on to others. 
How many fish are having issues? You may need to separate those out to a quarantine tank so they can be treated. Or all of the fish may need to be treated. First though, is to address and post the parameters of the tank. How much of a water change do you do weekly? What do you add to the water or tank?
What and how often do you feed?


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## LittleBlueFishlets (Nov 10, 2012)

I'm sorry your fish are having problems. 

I would start by doing a series of four 25% water changes, waiting at least 15 minutes between each. Use 1.5 times the normal amount of conditioner..... This will physically remove any toxins, bacteria or microbes in the tank. I know that you just redid the tank, but even so, if their bodies have absorbed any chemicals, then lots of fresh water can help "pull" the contaminants out.

It sounds like like all of the fish got sick at the same time. If this correct? If so, I have some questions:

1) Did you add anything new to the tank? If so, I would remove it. It may have leached chemicals or toxins into the water? 

2) How long ago was the "newest" fish introduced? If it was recently, did you quarantine the fish before putting it into the tank? If so, for how long?


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## Alexaquarium (Apr 23, 2014)

LittleBlueFishlets said:


> I'm sorry your fish are having problems.
> 
> I would start by doing a series of four 25% water changes, waiting at least 15 minutes between each. Use 1.5 times the normal amount of conditioner..... This will physically remove any toxins, bacteria or microbes in the tank. I know that you just redid the tank, but even so, if their bodies have absorbed any chemicals, then lots of fresh water can help "pull" the contaminants out.
> 
> ...


I have been doing the 25% water changes every day except 2 because I was not home. On Friday before I left the fish I photographed passed away.

and to answer your questions: 1. I did not add anything new when I redid the tank. 
2. A new fish however, was introduced fairly recently I would say. I think it has been 2 weeks now but that fish looks okay. All my other fishes that passed are actually some of the first fishes I had in the tank so I doubt that they could get affected by whatever this is before the new fish if the new fish transferred it into my tank.

As mentioned before I have been away for two days now. I didnt see them flashing yet but I took a closer look at their back fins and they seem to be more frayed than before. 
Also, my orange guy seems to have a huge problem with his side fins. I have no clue what this is, can anyone tell??




























and the other ones...




























thank you for your time and looking into it!


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## Tibby101 (Dec 22, 2013)

I have come across this with my platies and guppies. I believe it is a parasite called: Centrocestus formosanus , which comes from snails. Depending on where you got your fish from, if they were kept in a tank system with several types of snails, they may have been exposed to this destructive parasite. It's a flatworm parasite that infects the gills. Sometimes mimics a Ich infection with no whitespots. 

I have lost several fish due to this parasite. I only know about it because I got a microscope and after some of my fish dies from this thing, I examined the gills under the microscope and there it was. 

The local Petsmart and Petco here - only real stores around me both have this problem. But the Petco is a little better as their setup is more snail-free and more closed. The Petsmart has a tank on the end full of snails and guppies and all the guppies in that tank look horrible. Are sick, are gasping, exact symptoms for this parasite. And what is worse is that since Petsmart's filter system feeds ALL off the whole wall of tanks. Every single tank there is contaminated and exposed to this deadly parasite. And they don't even know it. This parasite is only talked about in Aquaculture studies - that I have researched so far and there is virtually nothing about it in the hobbyist circle - but it is HERE!

The good news is, there is a way to treat it - possibly, maybe a 10% chance of success if you act soon enough. Medications with Praziquantel were shown to have the most effectiveness on this thing. Tetra's Parasite-Guard or API's General Cure might help. That will help to clear free swimming parasites from further damaging your system. But to combat the ones IN your fish, you'll also want to get praziquantel medicated fish food. Because the only way to get the parasites in the gills is with internal medications via medicated food. There's a "Jungle" brand, if you can still find some, and AngelPlus makes medicated flakes.

It's not like Ich - heat and salt treatment will not work on this parasite. In fact most of the studies said it disliked cold temperatures. But so far as I can tell, there still is no definitive cure besides some treatments with anti-parasitic meds.


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