Beginner - my first fish have a disease!

[jvis0606]

I just started my tank last week. After a few days I added 5 platy's. All but one adapted quickly to the tank. The other was alienating himself, sitting on the bottom of the tank and not eating. It got worse, his fins are all clamped down and I noticed some faint white spots (barely noticable, on the fins) as well as a thin whitish feces (though this could be because he isn't eating!). He just sits on the bottom, and now I have seen him rubbing up against the decor & gravel. I took him out and into a hospital tank. Now, another fish is rubbing himself against the decor & gravel (none of the other symptoms have appeared in the second one yet). What do I do?? Is this normal, is he just scared? What does it mean when fish start rubbing against the decor & gravel?

 

[impur]

From your post i assume you just started this tank and have no idea about cycling. My suggestion would be to go to the begginer forum on this site and read EVERY thread that is stuck at the top of the page. Do this after you return the fish that are left in your tank to the LFS.

 

[jvis0606]

I do know about cycling and while I didn't realize it could take as long as other members have said, I bought 2 beginner books and set up the tank exactly as they said. I thought adding 5 platy's would be a good start. Is what I am doing really so wrong?

 

[boozybears]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your fish. You'll find that most members of this forum do fishless cycling... something I learned about AFTER I had set up my 25 gallon tank! I did what you did... bought my tank, let it sit for 5 days then bought 3 platies and 3 guppies. It took almost 2 months to cycle the tank completely because I did daily water changes of 10-15% so as not to stress out the fish too much. Don't worry..... as long as you're patient and take the time to do those water changes the cycling will finish one day!! Platies are pretty hardy fish and can survive (my guppies were another story )

Could your fish have ICK from the stress of a new tank? Read up about it in the pinned articles throughout this forum and ask lots of questions... everyone on here is great and really helped me through the process.

Good luck!!!

Val

 

[jvis0606]

Val, thank you so much. Very comforting. I really thought I was doing everything right. Should I change the water pretty constantly in these beginning stages? Is there any chance for these fish to make it through this cycling process?

 

[boozybears]

Hey.. we all started somewhere! Most of us (me included, lol) had absolutely no idea what we were doing when we bought our first tank. What could be easier, right? Buy a tank, fill it up and add some fish! lol You said you have some beginner books right? They should tell you all you need to learn about cycling... there are some great articles in the pinned sections on this site as well. I did the daily water changes to help lower the stress levels of the fish during the amonia and nitrite spikes. Both are severely toxic for the poor little guys (like swimming in pee!) so adding the fresh water (dechlorinated of course!!!) provides some relief for them. During this time try hard not to overfeed... they can go a day without food..this helps reduce the amonia.

Read everything you can find on this site and ask lots and lots of questions... like I said... everyone on here is super friendly and they know their stuff!!

HTH!
Val

ps -and yes... there is a great chance your fish will make it!! My platies did!!

by the way..... what are the sex of your platies? Hopefully you have more females than males... the males can get pretty .. um.... 'needy' and will pester the females relentlessly. I originally had one male and two females... not enough!! I bought 2 more females and now they are all happy!! )

 

[jvis0606]

When you say "dechlorinated" do you just mean adding that Aquasafe stuff to the water you put in during a water change?

Do you think the stress of the amonia and nitrites in the water is what is causing these platies to freak out? What's making them itch? I still don't really see any white spots. The one just cowers in the corner and doesn't eat, I am tempted to flush him... (I know it is a horrible thing to say).

Thanks again, I will continue to do water changes and see what happens I guess.

Ever put vitamins in the tank? (saw it on petco.com)

 

[jvis0606]

How do you tell the sex on the platies?

 

[boozybears]

NOOO!! don't flush him! Wait and see if he survives first! please!! He's probably just stressed and reacting to the amonia levels. Do you have a kit to test your levels of amonia, nitrite and nitrate? This should be tracked daily!

Water directly from the tap is very harmful to your fish... I think it will actually kill them so you always have to condition the water first. Not sure how much you know... but first buy a bucket that is only used for your fishtank.... soaps and cleaning chemicals are also very harmful so just rinse it out with tap water.. never use soap. Before you add any new water to your tank use something like Nutrafin's Aqua Plus tap water conditioner... or someother product that removes the chlorine. Just follow the directions on the bottle.

I'm pretty sure there is an article under the Livebearers section of the forum on how to sex your fish. I don't know all the formal terms but it's pretty easy to tell.... just look at the rear fin on the underside of the belly (think it's called an anal fin). The female's looks like a fan, the males looks like a .. well... a penis! lol Sorry.... best way to describe it!

I've never used any vitamins in my tank... so I can't speak to that.

Good luck... I hope the little guy makes it!

Val

 

[impur]

Do you think the stress of the amonia and nitrites in the water is what is causing these platies to freak out? What's making them itch? I still don't really see any white spots. The one just cowers in the corner and doesn't eat, I am tempted to flush him... (I know it is a horrible thing to say).

Yes most likely your fish are reacting to the high ammonia and/or nitrites in the water. As boozybears said, your best bet is to keep up with small WCs to help control the levels some. It will lengthen your cycle considerably, but the fish should live. If you can, try getting a handful of gravel from somebody with an established tank, put it in a pantyhose sock or similar baggy in the filter. This will help to seed your tank with necessary bacteria.

 

[Angry_Platy]

I will keep my fins crossed for your little platy....I love platies...they are at the top of my favourite fish list (though it is getting longer all the time)...

Yes...the nitrites and ammonia in your tank would make your fish more susceptible to the ich parasite. Do water changes of 20% daily....when I first started I too knew nothing about cycling...noone at the LFS told me and I hadn't yet found this site (but I did 3 days after I got the fish)....when my levels of ammonia and nitrite got REALLY high...I was doing water changes of 25% twice a day....that was during summer...I used cooler water to reduce the tank temp too....then my fish got ich....then a lot of them died....then I had a bout of dropsy (well, my fish did)....turned out I was overfeeding them....

We all start somewhere and it can only get better for you from now....

Let us know how the fish go....if you need anything else answered do not hesitate to send me a PM (go to your Control Panel oin this forum....click compaose on the left hand side....put my ID in and ask whatever you like)

Good luck!!

 

[jvis0606]

Thanks everyone! Unfortunately, that little platy didn't make it, but the others are still looking good. One is still scratching himself against things in the tank though. Should I treat for ich? I have been doing partial water changes to keep it clean in there. Should the temp be on the warm side or on the cold side?

 

[schzaam]

get some treatment for whitespot and fresh start the fresh start kills all the bad bacteria what in a begenners tank and builds up the good bacteria and their is nothink wrong with you gravel

 

[impur]

Had a tough time trying to decifer the above post so i won't comment. Don't treat for ich until you know you have it. That will put more stress on the fish. Keep an eye out for it and turn the temp up to 80 or so.