Greetings,
I've got a Platy in my 36gal tank that's a bit worse for wear. She's got ich (which I have been treating with medication and a higher temperature, one of my other platys had it first), and her tail fin has a tear and a couple of white spots on it (both appeared only recently, and I'm not sure where they came from). Most bothersome to me, though, is a shift to translucent white poop that it's occasionally dragging around with it and a significant bump in front of the anal fin that has persisted for a few days now and looks stuck/swollen (see photo). I had thought that it may be pregnancy related as she had gotten pretty box-like before the bump appeared, but as time has gone on I'm convinced otherwise and concerned.
She's been hanging out at the top of the tank close to one of the back corners (makes it hard to photograph) and I haven't seen her eat when I've put flakes in. She also seemed to be breathing heavier than normal and I stuck an air stone in to see if it helped (normally rely on plants/filter), but I haven't noticed any change in behavior.
I've got 3 other platys in the tank, plus 2 each of tetras, guppies, loaches, and otocinclus. I moved a few minutes from my old apartment last week and the aquarium came with it, so they've surely been stressed from that. It doubles as the most recent water change, which is probably around 50% given the water I saved. Usually on a 20-25% change every couple weeks.
Also a stressor is my pH, which I'm testing to be around 8 - it's been there for a while and I asked at the store about it, but they didn't seem terribly concerned as most of their water is alkaline too. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this explanation but I haven't started messing with the pH as I'm not comfortable with that yet either.
Other water quality: Amm 0 Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5ppm. The tank's got API's Super Ick in it for the ich problem, and the temperature is up to 80F from the normal 76F because of this as well. Ignoring the move, the tank and the fish in question has been running for about a year without major issues. The ich started elsewhere before the move.
Can I get some help in identifying what's going on and suggestions on how to move forward? I'm not sure if I should wait and see or if I should be a little more active in trying to help her out. (suggestions on pH welcome too, as I know that's a little high for these sort of fish)
Thanks in advance!
I've got a Platy in my 36gal tank that's a bit worse for wear. She's got ich (which I have been treating with medication and a higher temperature, one of my other platys had it first), and her tail fin has a tear and a couple of white spots on it (both appeared only recently, and I'm not sure where they came from). Most bothersome to me, though, is a shift to translucent white poop that it's occasionally dragging around with it and a significant bump in front of the anal fin that has persisted for a few days now and looks stuck/swollen (see photo). I had thought that it may be pregnancy related as she had gotten pretty box-like before the bump appeared, but as time has gone on I'm convinced otherwise and concerned.
She's been hanging out at the top of the tank close to one of the back corners (makes it hard to photograph) and I haven't seen her eat when I've put flakes in. She also seemed to be breathing heavier than normal and I stuck an air stone in to see if it helped (normally rely on plants/filter), but I haven't noticed any change in behavior.
I've got 3 other platys in the tank, plus 2 each of tetras, guppies, loaches, and otocinclus. I moved a few minutes from my old apartment last week and the aquarium came with it, so they've surely been stressed from that. It doubles as the most recent water change, which is probably around 50% given the water I saved. Usually on a 20-25% change every couple weeks.
Also a stressor is my pH, which I'm testing to be around 8 - it's been there for a while and I asked at the store about it, but they didn't seem terribly concerned as most of their water is alkaline too. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this explanation but I haven't started messing with the pH as I'm not comfortable with that yet either.
Other water quality: Amm 0 Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5ppm. The tank's got API's Super Ick in it for the ich problem, and the temperature is up to 80F from the normal 76F because of this as well. Ignoring the move, the tank and the fish in question has been running for about a year without major issues. The ich started elsewhere before the move.
Can I get some help in identifying what's going on and suggestions on how to move forward? I'm not sure if I should wait and see or if I should be a little more active in trying to help her out. (suggestions on pH welcome too, as I know that's a little high for these sort of fish)
Thanks in advance!
