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NFC: guppies as feeder fish and disease vector
-> Are feeder guppies typically a disease vector if you raise them
-> yourself? Or is this just common in the ones sold as feeder fish in
-> a store?
The way it was explained to me, many guppies are raised in the orient in
ponds containing a significant level of salt in their water. the salt
keeps a lot of things in check that show up when the guppies are placed
into fresh water. When I worked part time in a petshop for fun I
noticed the guppies were always dying. They would get the lock jaw
syndrome and/or they would slowly turn white, become lethargic and die.
Sounded like a bacterial problem. I created a brackish water tank for
them and they stopped dying, actually looked healthy, really healthy.
Then if I put them in freshwater, within days they would become sick and
begin dying. i was able to cure a few with flagella, but i can't say if
it was a permanent cure.
Al of this was very disappointing to me as I began the hobby with
guppies over 30 years ago and they were healthy and robust, and not the
sickly, puny, washed out creatures you see in stores today. The best
source for guppies is your fellow hobbyist, unfortunately it is not your
neighborhood store, who will tell you they don't really care about the
live end of the business, their profit is made in dry goods...sigh. If
you must use the LFS guppies, i recommend keeping them in brackish water
and then isolating the fry and try to wean them over to freshwater.
They probably have a better chance.