# Stressed Guppy



## denrgb (Sep 14, 2010)

I currently have a stressed Lemon Cobra Molly (male). He is slightly changing colors and swimming at the top of the water (doesn't come down at all). I have a feeling he doesn't have long and I'm wondering whats wrong. 

The tank is about 10 months old (45 Gal) and I haven't had any problems (except for a pleco a long while back that died). I only use RO/DI water and do a 20-25% change every week religiously. My parameters are perfect besides a .25 Nitrate level I just recorded tonight. I'll be doing another water change tonight to get that down a bit.

Livestock:
2 Marble Angels 
2 Rainbow Sharks 
Blue Cobra Guppy 
Lemon Cobra Guppy
Red Molly
5 Kuhlii Loachs 
2 Blueberry Tetras 
10 Neon Tetras

I feed once a day for 5 mins.

Besides the dis-colorization the guppy doesn't seem to have any infections/diseases. Does anyone have any experience with this and/or have any quick solutions they could share for this guy?


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## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

denrgb said:


> I currently have a stressed Lemon Cobra Molly (male). He is slightly changing colors and swimming at the top of the water (doesn't come down at all). I have a feeling he doesn't have long and I'm wondering whats wrong.
> 
> The tank is about 10 months old (45 Gal) and I haven't had any problems (except for a pleco a long while back that died). I only use RO/DI water and do a 20-25% change every week religiously. My parameters are perfect besides a .25 Nitrate level I just recorded tonight. I'll be doing another water change tonight to get that down a bit.
> 
> ...


Could it be stress from another fish harrassing him? I know neons arent usually nippy, but I am unfamiliar with blueberry tetras...could they be stressing him out?? 

Or one of the rainbow sharks?? (No clue how you have two in a tank that are getting along, congrats)...I know my albino rainbow shark would nip at some of my fish, didnt know he was doing it until I watched the tank for an hour straight...of course I re-homed it after seeing that. 

As you already said, the color change is a sign of stress in guppies. It could also be that you only have two guppies. Guppies enjoy company of one another...I try to keep at least three...I have 9 at the moment, and they all seem to seperate out into three groups of three. 

And if the fish are young, multiple small feedings a day are beneficial. Mine all range between adolesant and adult, and I feed twice a day.

I've never seen a red molly before, have a pic?


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## Andarial (Feb 12, 2011)

Just for you to know LasColinas Blueberry tetras are dyed tetra


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## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

Andarial said:


> Just for you to know LasColinas Blueberry tetras are dyed tetra


oh no! Poor things!! What kind of tetra are they without dye? (Like Jellybeans if arent dyed are blood red parrots)


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## Andarial (Feb 12, 2011)

The are normally white skirt tetra the albino form of black skirts


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## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

Andarial said:


> The are normally white skirt tetra the albino form of black skirts


I dont understand why poor fish need to be dyed. There are plenty of blue fish to pick from, and skirt tetras are pretty on their own.

Also, skirts are nippy, and with only 2 of them, nippiness could be bad...wonder if they have been nipping the guppy.


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## denrgb (Sep 14, 2010)

Andarial said:


> Just for you to know LasColinas Blueberry tetras are dyed tetra


Interesting I didn't know that.



The two rainbows came in a pair believe it or not. They get along great and actually share a cave (go figure). They are peaceful.

I haven't noticed any other fish harassing him (unless it's at night). His tail and fins look good (like they haven't been nipped at). 

I just finished another 25% water change. I'm going to be doing another nitrate test here in a bit. He's still alive and I saw him swim down once or twice after the change. I'm keeping an eye on him.

The Red Molly looks like any normal Molly, but it's red. I did a Google search (I don't have a picture of it at the moment) and pictures of it come up. I'm not sure if 'Red Molly' is his usual name to be honest. He could be a Platy maybe.

I've had all the fish listed for about 5-8 months living great together. I haven't had any problems besides the Pleco and some algae growing on the plants I had to take care of a couple of months ago. I'll admit I'm more of a marine aquarium fanatic, but I love my freshwater as well. This summer I'd like to change a lot of it and upgrade it to a 75 Gal. The angels are getting pretty big. I'm wondering if it's just a little overcrowded right now.


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## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

denrgb said:


> Interesting I didn't know that.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If it was overcrowded the first fish I would expect to show stress would be the angels. But its a possibility. Could be other things, like a parasite or something. 
Let us know how it turns out, and good luck.


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## Amethyst123 (Mar 4, 2011)

Do you have any pix of the guppy in question? Is he doing anything unusual, or is there anything unusual about his appearance, other than hanging at the top of the tank and slight color change? Gasping for air? Gills overworking? Anything else? 

Are you sure it's your nitrate level that is .25? Nitrate levels are usually 5 to 40 ppm. If it is nitrite that is at .25, that's more of a problem. Have you checked for ammonia? Could something have happened to mess up your cycle?

I agree with LasColinas about multiple feedings per day. I'd say that goes for small fish, regardless of age. I have a tank of guppies, platys, mollies, and various catfish (cories and otocinclis), and I feed 2 to 3 times a day.


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## fish4ever (Mar 16, 2011)

*shark*

your sharks could be bothering it and how big are your angels because when they get bigger they become pretty aggressive.


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