Male Guppy: Tail Splitting

[turtlefish]

I have one male guppy thats a fancy breed and has a veil type tail, long and flowing. Well recently I noticed his tail is split in the middle. He still swims ok and eats but the tail has a gap in the middle. I read that maybe large water changes causes this? I do sometimes do 50% since its such a small tank. If I want to siphon the gravel clean then i need to do at least 50%. Is this life threatening? CAn I cure it?
Thanks

 

[Big Vine]

Sounds like his tail got damaged somehow...nipping from other fish maybe?

If that's the case, then it will just take a bit of time for it to heal up. I wouldn't worry about doing anything beyond what you normally should be doing as far as tank maintenance and water-changes go.

If you have some stress-coat on hand I would maybe add a bit to his tank, if you want. It isn't necessary though.

Just give it some time to heal. As long as there isn't any discoloration or appearance of infection, then everything should be fine.

Big Vine

 

[turtlefish]

Ok thanks. THing is I read that large water changes may cause this and I often do 50% or more. My tank right now is well, not really clear looking. It doesnt seem cloudy, its just sort of hazy and green? Im thinking maybe some algae in the water, just a tiny bit. So should I do water changes often to get rid of this?
Also off topic, does anyone know what kind of prefilter type thing would work best on a whisper power filter? I want to save the fry from being sucked in and at first had a floss bag over it. That killed my flow rate so I put some window screen wrapped. Im worried this might leach stuff into my water or scratch the fishes. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Lotus]

Large water changes shouldn't cause any problems to your fish, unless you do violent water changes.

You might want to check if you have anything slightly sharp in the tank that the guppy could have torn his tail on. It will grow back, so don't worry too much. Tails are kind of like our nails or hair, they grow back (and without the split).

As for the cloudy greenish water, you can do water changes, and you should make sure you're not overfeeding or overstocking your tank.

Most fry won't get sucked into the filter if they're healthy. Putting something over the intake will reduce the flow a little bit, and you will normally have to rinse the covering out frequently if it's getting blocked. What is the window screen made of? I think the fiberglass stuff should be OK, but a metal one probably isn't a good idea.

 

[turtlefish]

Its definetly not metal, some cloth type material? Im thinking about some nylon cloth or something. My fry always get in the filter, the holes are just too big for them and if they are chased they run there and get pulled right in. I just dont want to have to take the filter off every few days and dump the water out to get fry out.