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Male Tequila Sunrise Guppy - curved spine?

10K views 18 replies 5 participants last post by  wicca27 
#1 ·
So about a month ago I saw this guppy start swimming all weird and kind of go sideways and it was like it was having a stroke. I was by a plant and sideways almost as if the leaf was holding it from floating up.

I tapped the glass and it spooked the little guy and he started swimming normal again. For days after that he was back to chasing around his tank mate and everything seemed ok.

Then about two weeks ago I noticed he wasn't swimming as much and would often just hover up near the filter (where the water flowed into the back area of the tank...I have an Aqueon Evolve 8) or down near the gravel. This is also when I started to see his spine have a bit of a curve to it and isn't straight like the other ones in the tank. He also seems to waddle more when swimming.

I tried to get a good photo but I just have a cell phone image. Any idea whats up with this little guy?

 
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#2 ·
I would remove that guppy immediately. I hate the sight of curved spines in any fish & it could be a sign of disease. Remove it before it dies in the back of your tank.

How long did you own this guppy?

I had some that looked perfectly healthy for about 30 days then all of a sudden they started showing weird symptoms. Never got a answer to what might have been the cause of death. Still have all the photos though.

The plants in your tank look extremely HEALTHY so I suspect your fish was sick before.
 
#7 ·
Maybe the fish is old and on its way out.

Since the fish is sick I'd toss it in the toilet or freeze it since that seems to be more humane. I don't normally have sick fish but when I do, I generally toss them. The longer you keep him around the greater chance you have of the other fish catching the same disease.
 
#8 ·
it could have to do with anything from food quality (something they might be lacking ) to a disease to an injury as a young fry to birth defect. ive had some fry i smashed with a net trying to catch and they got bent spines and were healthy other than that, ive had females get really big and have huge drops and over time slowly start to bend. ive seen them born with bent spines and those get used as feeders so they dont pass on that trait. could be all kinds of things. ive even talked to people who have done water changes where the temp was way different than what was in the tank and it caused a bend but got better later.
 
#13 ·
Hardness is about 7 (never sure how to measure it....its 7 drops with the API test kit).

The food is Aqueon tropical flakes.

He looks the same (color wise) and is even a bit bigger than his buddy in the tank. Only difference is one is straight and one is curved.

As I mentioned in my post though, he used to be straight as well.
 
#16 ·
think about what happens to people when they dont get the stuff they need from food, same thing really. it seems fine other wise so i say just leave it be if it starts showing stress then might put it down. i know some gups can do that due to weight from tail but that does not look to be that big of a tails so i say just go with it unless it gets worse
 
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