Mysterious Illness

I'd been treating ick in my 5g QT. I believe those problems have been resolved now finally. Day before last, I noticed that one of the platies looked to have a slightly darker belly (from inside) than before. I thought nothing at all of it. Yesterday I saw him, and could see that he'd lost a lot of weight overnight, and the belly looks slightly darker. Today he's so skinny he looks deformed.

Any idea of what type of illness would cause this? Any suggestions as to medications that might help? BTW, this is a MALE, so he did not lose weight by dropping fry. There is definitely something not right with him, but I've no idea what. I had 2 females there as well, but I took them out tonight just in case....but will keep a close eye on them for the next several days.

He's still swimming normally, still wants to eat like a horse.

How many gallons or litres is the main tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

So the fish hasn't lost weight due to not eating.

Being skinny when still eating well can be internal parasites, fish tb, bacterial, old age.

What does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.
Is the anus enlarged, red inflamed.
Is the belly sunken in.
is the spine bending.

The main (new) tank is 55g, w/ plants, and seeded from a 30g healthy, established aquarium. As of last night, there was 0 ammo, 0 nitrite, nitrates - same stats as the 5g QT. There were 4 small fish (2 male guppy, 1 tiny bumble bee platy, one regular platy); but now has 2 additional regular platies taken from the 5g.

Platy in question (in 5g QT) has an arched back, belly sunken in from side to side). looking at him from underneath, the belly is not much thicker than a credit card...he's real skinny/deformed looking. This all happened overnight. He was normal shape one night, and paper thin the next morning with bent up back. I can't see a parasite or old age attacking to that extent that quickly; but I would not rule it out. There is nothing that appears inflamed or swollen, poop was normal last I saw.

How quickly did his back arch?
I have a female platy with an arched back which appeared pretty quickly (in about a week). At first we thought she'd die soon because she looked so deformed and her belly was sunken, but she's been living like that for about a year and is even pregnant! I doubt it's fish TB because of how long she's survived but your fish could have TB - It can work very quickly on fish with weak immune systems. It's best to keep him in QT but if your platy lives past 2 weeks i'd advise returning him to your main tank. If he can still swim normally and is eating don't treat, but if he starts getting lethargic or refuses to eat bacterial meds would be the best way to go.
Bent backs can be caused by genetic problems, elecrtic shocks from heaters/filters, bumps/knocks (fish doesn't live long in this case) as well as fish TB etc.

Everything happened very quick with the Platy. One day I noticed the slightly darker spot inside the belly, but thought nothing of it. The next morning, he was really skinny. By that evening, his back was looking more arched, and worse still the following morning. I am keeping him in the 5g for a good while, just in case. I would have thought that if there had been an electric shock, that someone else in that tank would also have gotten affected, but who knows.

Here is a pic of the platy in question. It's not the greatest pic, but enough to give an idea. You can kind of see where the black is inside around the belly, and the "deformed" back. Again, he was perfectly normal 48 hours before this image was taken.

Any black colouration on the fish.
Check the eyes to see if there black, or the fish has a black iris.

All you can do really now that internal parasites are ruled out, is isolate and try an internal bacteria med.
If you are in the uk you really need antibiotics from a vet in isolation.

The bent spine could been an injury, but with the fish being skinny and sunken in belly, it can also point to fish tb, bacterial infection.

Wilder said:

Any black colouration on the fish.
Check the eyes to see if there black, or the fish has a black iris.

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Yes, he does have the black belly - which you can kind of see from that picture. First symptom was a small black sot behind the belly (similar to what a female might look when she's pregnant, except of course he was not fat). The next day, he was very thin, with the black belly inside.

His eyes look like normal fish eyes...yellowish around the outside, with the black in the center.

What type of antibiotics would you suggest? Marycin/Marycin Two combo perhaps? I also have Clout, which will kill ALL bacteria - and destroy the biological filtration...so tank would need to be cycled again afterward. (but I do have other media elsewhere which could be used to help seed). He's in pretty poor shape though, I doubt he's going to make it.

Keep a look out for long stringy white poo, clear mucas, poo, red poo, worms prutruding from the anus.

A link for you to read.
http/www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/mycobacteriosis.html

That links is for TB. I've read a lot about that over the last while as it is. They all say that if it is TB, treatment will not help if the fish is already showing the weight loss or skeletal deformities. I doubt he'd survive treatment anyway...he's too far gone. He spends most of his time at the top of the tank not doing much. He's stopped eating. Treatment with Kanamycin and B6 is often recommended for TB if caught before symptoms start. I'm doubtful that I could even find Kanamycin at a LFS

I know to clean the tank it would require bleach, and later rub everything down with rubbing alcohol. Quite the process....

I agree once fish shows signs of bent spine it's to late.
You use the antbiotics to save the rest.

What's your location.
If in the uk you could try a vet for the antibiotic.

Wilder said:

What's your location.
If in the uk you could try a vet for the antibiotic.

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I live in Canada. I don't know of a vet around here that deals with fish. I have one dog being treated for Addison's, and one puppy with orthopedic problems and weight loss. Sometimes getting him to prescribe their regular medications can be like pulling teeth. Ain't no way he'd prescribe an antibiotic for a fish tank! I think he'd probably have me committed if I were to ask!

The Platy is gone. The betta is fine, with no symptoms other than the red around the gills. I've dismantled the tank and in the process of cleaning everything with bleach and rubbing alcohol. Once it's put back together, I'll begin treating her with some anti parasitic meds as well as some general antibiotics that I can get at the LFS. If she does have TB, it won't help...but worth a shot in the off chance that she has something different.

The only thing I can find with Kanamycin in it is Seachem KanaPlex. It's a powder that is added to frozen food, which the fish would then ingest. It's doubtful that it would work for TB as it does not treat the tank. Even with a tank recently cleaned and disinfected, it won't be long before the tank is infected once she is back in it I will probably pick some of that up today and work with that first; although I still think it's a long shot.

Dosn't sound like a caring vet. if he thinks treating fish is a waste of time.

Medicated food is good if the fish is still eating.

Once spine bends I best to cut your losses to save the other fish.

Wilder said:

Dosn't sound like a caring vet. if he thinks treating fish is a waste of time.

Medicated food is good if the fish is still eating.

Once spine bends I best to cut your losses to save the other fish.

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Not all vets around here specialize in fish. I don't think it's a case of them not caring; but more what they are equipped to handle in their practice.

I've stripped down the tank, cleaned with bleach then rubbing alcohol. Right now, I am treating with general antiparasitic meds and anti fungals. I will also treat with antibiotics that treat both gram negative and gram positive bacteria. I'm going to get the KanaPlex powder. For that, I think I might temporarily move her to a betta bowl for treatment; as this medication would treat the fish more than the tank....so there may be surviving bacteria afterward. While she's in the betta bowl for treatemnt, I'll strip down the tank and again clean with bleach and alcohol.

Hopefully this will help cover all bases!

Not sure if adding meds once you bleached the tank will help. But it's up to you.

Let me know how you get on if you don't mind.