Unwell fish

[fraserh]

Thanks, I'll try create some sort of water hardening system in my garage.

After that once the guppies are gone I'll change to something more suitable.
The kids were desperate for guppies which was the main reason I got them and of course the sick one is my 4 year old's favourite

[black ghost]

Can you get a picture of the fish?

[fraserh]

Here he is

[black ghost]

If I didn’t know better I’d have said it looks ok. Is it behaving unusually in the jar?

[black ghost]

After that once the guppies are gone…

Erm… that’s not usually how guppies work. Are they all males?

If I didn’t know better I’d have said it looks ok. Is it behaving unusually in the jar?

[fraserh]

They are all males! As it's quite a small tank I didn't want them breeding.

His behaviour is better in the jar as he's not getting bullied by his mates but he still lists to the side and spins round wildly at times.

[black ghost]

If it’s just the one fish I would suspect it’s probably just down to weak genetics, and/or age. A disease or a water issue would probably have more fish showing signs, or at least signs of stress.
Are the others lively enough, no clamped fins or heavy breathing?

[fraserh]

The others are all fine, active and eating well.

Do you think I should just put him back in the tank and see how he gets on or should I be thinking about putting him down?

[plankton]

He looks quite old from the picture. Maybe he's been whacked near the swim bladder at some stage.
Males will harass each other when there's no females (and often when there are).
If the hardness is 7dGH (that's what I took it to be) then it's at the extreme end for guppies.
Guppies aren't usually bothered by nitrate values. They've been successfully kept in lab conditions up to 1000ppm.
(Ref: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_is ... ef2426.pdf )

[fraserh]

Hardness