Platy spinning around

Hi guys,

My platy seems to swim fast while spinning around erratically.

It was all fine and well till today morning... water quality is good...the other 2 platies and other fishes seem to be fine.

I have isolated him in a bowl with 2 drops of Melaflix. but he is still spinning around endlessly.

Thanks in advance

The fish has an issue with its brain and this is usually caused by a bacterial, viral or protozoan infection in the brain. There is no cure and the fish should be euthanised.

These types of problems can occur in tanks that are dirty and or don't get enough water changes. To reduce the risk of other fish developing this, do the following.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 1 week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Colin_T said:

the fish should be euthanised.

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To euthanasize fish I use essential clove oil.

Colin_T said:

Do a 75% water change

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I'd like to add at the same temp.

Colin_T said:

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

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How long does it take for chlorine and chloramine to evaporate/disappear ?

I agree with everything Colin mentioned above. I purchased three young panda corydoras from a major pet store chain. They were in filthy water with other dead fish and all were discolored from stress. Fairly new to the hobby, I brought them home to my cycled tank with my other corydoras. By that night, one baby corydora did the exact same spinning thing your platy is doing. Then started bleeding internally. All three exhibited the same behavior dying hours apart from eachother. Sadly, I think it's too late for your platy. I'm sorry.

Many thanks @Colin_T @Heather7465 @Avel1896

As per the local fish store, the idiot advised me to isolate the fish and use the same medicine for mouth fungus and as per him the fish is just TIRED... since I am just a newbie in fishkeeping, i followed his words but still found it hard to believe...

I have below in a 100 litre tank
Platy - 2
Fluorescent Tetra - 6
Koi Carp - 4
Tiger Barb - 4
Black Molly - 3
White Molly - 1
Orange Molly - 3

Should I isolate the other platies as well?

I usually do 25% water change every 2 weeks and change filter at the same time.

With that many fish in a 100 litre/26 gallon tank, you need to do bigger water changes more often - at least 50% every week.

The filter media should not be changed, just washed in water taken out during the water change.

Are you aware that koi carp are huge fish and need to be in a pond?

I agree, your tank is overcrowded.

Gamma, I hate to say this but you are overstocked. I've never seen koi carp in the aquarium hobby, so I had to look it up. They get 15 inches long! And you have 4. Too big for your aquarium. Mollies are livebearers, so keep in mind your going to have fry adding your to your stock. Also, water changes need to be weekly for your size aquarium. Never change filter unless it's completely deteriorating and carbon is falling out. Always rinse your filter in a bucket of your old aquarium water that your about to dump. Never rinse with chlorinated tap water it will kill all your beneficial bacteria and detritus.
Gamma, if I were to guess because you are overstocked your boiload is poisoning your fish. Your platy is obviously showing symptoms first because he's the weakest of the bunch. If you start seeing other symptoms in your other fish, then it's time to relocate the koi carp. Do more water changes and treat your aquarium for bacterial diseases. It's too late for that platy. The disease is affecting its brain. Again sorry, losing fish is awful.

Avel1896 said:

How long does it take for chlorine and chloramine to evaporate/disappear ?

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Water companies say it takes 24 hours for chlorine to come out of tap water. However, it depends on the level of chlorine and whether the water is aerated or stagnant/ stationary.

If water is heavily/ vigorously aerated, then the chlorine can come out in a few hours. If the water is not aerated at all, then it might remain in the water for several days or even longer. Higher levels of chlorine will take longer to come out compared to normal or low levels of chlorine.

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Chloramine does not come out of water by itself. It remains in the water until it comes into contact with organic matter, at which time it starts destroying the organic matter. Chloramine can remain active in water for months.

If you use a chlorine/ chloramine neutraliser (water conditioner/ dechlorinator), it will neutralise chlorine/ chloramine as soon as it comes into contact with the chlorine/ chloramine molecules. The best way for this to occur is by vigorously aerating the water and chlorine neutraliser for 30 minutes so the dechlorinator can come into contact with all the chlorine/ chloramine molecules.

The aeration also allows gasses (carbon dioxide, oxygen & nitrogen) to get back into the tap water and make the levels stable. These gasses can sometimes be forced out of tap water when it is under pressure in the pipes.

So, "resting" tapwater 72 hours is good ?

gamma9097 said:

I have below in a 100 litre tank
Platy - 2
Fluorescent Tetra - 6
Koi Carp - 4
Tiger Barb - 4
Black Molly - 3
White Molly - 1
Orange Molly - 3

Should I isolate the other platies as well?

I usually do 25% water change every 2 weeks and change filter at the same time.

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You don't need to isolate the other platies because the disease is in the main tank and all the fish have been exposed to it already. Doing big daily water changes and gravel cleans for at least 1 week, will dilute the disease organisms and reduce the chance of it killing other fish.

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The Koi carp need to be returned to the shop or put in a big fish pond. Most Koi carp will reach 12 inches in length within 2-3 years and they can grow to more than 3 feet long.

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The platies and mollies do best in water with a pH above 7.0 and a GH of 200ppm for the platies, and 250ppm+ for the mollies.

The tiger barbs and most tetras do best in water with a pH around 7.0 or below, and a GH below 150ppm.

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You have a few fish in the tank and need to do a bigger water change and gravel clean the substrate every week to keep the water clean. I normally recommend doing a 75% water change every week to help keep nutrients down and to dilute the disease organisms in the water.

As mentioned by Essjay, filter media should be cleaned and re-used, and not thrown out every few weeks. The filter media/ material becomes home to good bacteria that help keep the ammonia and nitrite levels at 0ppm. If you replace the filter media. you get rid of the good bacteria and end up with water quality problems that kill the fish.

New filters should not be cleaned for the first 6-8 weeks. This allows the good filter bacteria time to fix themselves onto the filter media. After that time you can clean the filter at least once a month, and every 2 weeks is fine. But when you clean the filter media, you should just squeeze the media out in a bucket of tank water until it is clean, then squeeze it out in a second bucket of tank water. Leave the filter media in the second bucket of tank water while you rinse the filter case under tap water. Shake the tap water off the filter and then put the cleaned media in the filter and set it back up and turn the filter back on.

If the filter media starts to break down or fall apart, then replace it. You can buy sponges for various brands of power filter, and use a pair of scissors to cut the sponge to fit in your filter instead of using replacement filter pads/ cartridges. Sponges last for years and get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used.

The bucket/s of dirty tank water get poured on the lawn/ garden outside.

Avel1896 said:

So, "resting" tapwater 72 hours is good ?

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If you can have it aerating during that time, it would be great but just letting it stand for 3 days is usually sufficient to get rid of normal safe levels of chlorine in tap water.

I have to aerate tap water for 3 or 4 days to get rid of all the chlorine because the water company puts more than the safe legal level in.

@gamma9097 could you provide pics of your tank please ?

Colin_T said:

If you can have it aerating during that time

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adding an air stone + 72 hours = good ?

I’m so sorry but i agree with everyone saying he needs to be euthanized. I’m sorry for your loss.