What?!

i've just noticed that my orange pregnant female platy has 2 raised scales on her side. They are paler than her other scales and more metallic. I'd noticed some pale patches across her back before and have been treating with Interpet anti internal bacteria (its the only bacterial med I have) because they looked like the beginnings of columnaris and some of my other platies have pimples on their mouths. Now i've noticed that my 2 orange platies have dark edges on their dorsal and anal fins. they're not like natural markings because they're dappled and appeared a week ago. Some of their scales have also got dark edges. Is this bacterial, fungal or parasitical? It's clearly not normal...

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
has the fish injured itself and raised the scales.
Does the fish look bloated.
Anything moving beneath the scales.
Any lumps beneath the scales.
Any whiteness around the scales.
Any signs of darting, erratic swimming, excess mucas, laboured breathing.

Size of tank in gallons or litres - 25L
How many fish and which type - 7 platy, 2 chinese algae eaters. Tank is overcrowded but i had to postpone moving fish to another tank because of disease treatments
Water stats in ammonia 0 nitrite 0,5 nitrate 0,5 and ph 6.9

Any signs of flicking and rubbing - fish occasionally flick
has the fish injured itself and raised the scales - I don't think so, it doesn't look like an injury and wouldn't explain paleness & shininess
Does the fish look bloated - fish is pregnant but doesn't look bloated
Anything moving beneath the scales - no
Any lumps beneath the scales - no
Any whiteness around the scales - scales are pale and metallic and there are pale patches in the 'saddle' area, stretching towards the sides but nothing white. edges of norml scales and dorsal fin have darkened
Any signs of darting, erratic swimming, excess mucus, laboured breathing - all fish tend to swim into the current but do move around the tank. Breathing seems normal

Luzi said:

i've just noticed that my orange pregnant female platy has 2 raised scales on her side. They are paler than her other scales and more metallic. I'd noticed some pale patches across her back before and have been treating with Interpet anti internal bacteria (its the only bacterial med I have) because they looked like the beginnings of columnaris and some of my other platies have pimples on their mouths. Now i've noticed that my 2 orange platies have dark edges on their dorsal and anal fins. they're not like natural markings because they're dappled and appeared a week ago. Some of their scales have also got dark edges. Is this bacterial, fungal or parasitical? It's clearly not normal...

Click to expand...

Sounds like Dropsy. Raised scales on a fish is most often as a result of Dropsy. This is not a disease in and of itself, but a symptom of other diseases. Such as a bacterial infection or something different. Left untreated, it can be fatal. Treatment is hit or miss...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you are only seeing a few scales raised, and the fish does not appear to be swollen or "fat" looking, it's probably in very early stages, which increases the chances of success.

Adding aquarium salt can help, as it helps relieve stress, and make it easier for them to breathe. Since this is actually a symptom of several different types of diseases, it's difficult to say exactly what it is, and difficult to choose the right treatment. <g> In many cases though, it is caused by bacterial infections, so it's often good to start there. if you can find a good gram positive and gram negative medication, would be ideal, to help cover several different types of bacteria. I often use a combination of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 (one deals with gram positive bacteria, the other gram negative). Or if you have it, Maracyn Plus is a combination of both, so that can be used alone.

I've had good success in the past with treating Dropsy using the Maracyn/Maracyn Two combo. I like these, as they are supposed to have little effect on the biological filter. One draw back is, is that they can deplete oxygen levels, so adequate filtration is essential. In smaller tanks, or tanks that are slightly overstocked, I've added an air stone just to help ensure the fish have enough oxygen. Also, reduce lighting, as aquarium lights can affect the quality of the medication. Most often, it is recommended to treat for 5 days, then do a 25 to 30% water change, and add fresh carbon to the filter. If after 2 days symptoms are still present, remove the carbon and start treatment again.

Good luck!

just noticed that fish has stringy white poo.
I've just finished a bacterial treatment with Iterpet 9 and the raised scales have only just appeared >< I've had some fish with dropsy before and their scales were raised all over the body with no colour change, but i'm going to carry on treating with bacterial meds in case its an early stage. I'm not sure if interpet 9 treats gram-positive or -negative bacteria, any help? If it only treats one, which med (available in uk) will treat both?
I'll add an air stone in now.
thanks!

Interpet meds don't have antibiotics in them.

Double dose the internal bacteria med, but it might knock your water stats.

Overstocked tanks lead to stress, and desease.

thanks Wilder, will have to get a new test kit one the new treatment cycle's started

Ok.
Good Luck.
Keep us all updated if you don't mind.

Here are some photos to help. The pale patches aren't clear but the dark scale edges and dorsal fin edges are. All of her scales used to be plain orange. The raised scales look like a metallic disk slotted in at an angle and are the clearest pale patch on the pics.
I've read that internal parasites can cause whitish patches on skin - could this be the cause? I can re-treat with Interpet 9 in 2 days or treat with sterazin in 5.

You need to sort your stocking out as fish will keep getting ill.

It looks like it's caused by bad water quality to me.
Even the fins are translucent in places.


Your tanks severely overstocked.

I think you're right, i'll look into getting a 15L aquarium for 3 platies and possibly a cae but for now i'll move 2 platies to my 10L and see if it helps

Luzi said:

I'm not sure if interpet 9 treats gram-positive or -negative bacteria, any help? If it only treats one,

Click to expand...

I'm not overly familiar with Interpet 9, but I've read that it was originally developed for infections caused by Pseudomonas and Aeromonas. Since these are gram-negative bacteria, I might hazard a guess that this product is designed more for gram negative.

I've moved 2 platies to my 2 gallon bowl and they seem to be getting along fine, but i've just noticed another pale patch on my platy again! My other orange platy seems to have the same dark edges to its scales but no pale patches although the other coloured platies seem ok. The pale patch is on her back and is slightly indented - what is it and what can i do about it? I have fungal, parsitic and bacterial meds. I dosed them with the bacterial meds and it made no difference, so should i do a fungal treatment?