# Guppy Turning Gray, Lethargic



## cavman276 (Jul 10, 2012)

I have a 20 gallon tropical tank, and one of my male guppy's tails has turned gray and seems to be deteriorating; it looks like it's been shredded. He has been slowing down alot and doesn't seem to have an appetite lately. There doesn't seem to be any fungus on him, he has just become pale gray. None of the other fish in the tank have been infected, they are all perfectly healthy. Can anyone identify this, and is it treatable?

I found this nifty form and firgured I'd go ahead and fill it out.  Haven't tested the water yet, I'll post the results a little later.




1. Size of tank? 20 gallons

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia?
b. Nitrite?
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH?
e. Test kit?

3. Temperature? 76 degreees

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? Brackish

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? About a year

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? 3 smaller fancy guppies, 3 mollies, two are about 3 1/2 inches, one is smaller, 2 cory cats, 2 ottos, and 3 small platies. I know, it's probably overstocked, but Petsmart sold me a female platy which went in with 2 males that were about to die of old age anyway. Oops.

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? No.

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? Plenty of fake plants
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? Standard aquarium gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? A large hollow rock in the middle, a large hut, and plenty of cover.

9. a. Filtration? Aqueon 10 power filter
b. Heater? 100 watt heater

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? Flourescent tube, turn on about 10 am, off about midnight or a little later
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? About an hour at most

11. a. Water change schedule? Weekly to bi weekly. Just had a week long power outage, so it's been awhile.
b. Volume of water changed? ~25%
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? Well water
d. Water conditioner used? None
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? 1 or 2 times monthly

12. Foods? Tropical flakes, some frozen brine shrimp
How often are they fed? Twice a day

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? Fins turning gray, lethargic, difficulty swimming, not eating.
b. Appearance of poop? Unknown
c. Appearance of gills? Normal

Any help is appreciated!


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

sounds like fin rot.guppies always get them and if they aren't cured before the infection reaches the tail bone area it dies.clean water and medication is the only way to cure it but you haven't tested your water yet o i'm not sure and i don't want you to jump to any conclusions yet..you might want to do test on your water first as ammonia burns will cause a fish to get these symptoms as well.if not rectified secondary infection will come next and it will lead to fin rot resulting in death in the end.take your water to the lfs to be tested if you can't get your hands on a test kit.make sure ammonia and nitrite reads 0 a little nitrate of 10 is acceptable. also have them check your ph and other water params.if everythings ok then you should start to think about treating the tank with meds.


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