Fin Rot Or Fin Nipping?!?

[Fishyyyy]

Hi I’m new to fish keeping and this website.
I recently bought 2 fish to go with my Male Molly, when I was looking at the fish in my tank I realised my Mickey Mouse platy has a small part of his tail missing with white around. If this is fin rot Is just changing the water okay and how often?

 

[Demeter32]

Can we get more info on the tank? What size is it, how long has it been set up and what are the water parameters (nitrites, nitrates, ammonia)?

At a glance it looks like an infection, perhaps from a nipped fin.

 

[Fishyyyy]

Can we get more info on the tank? What size is it, how long has it been set up and what are the water parameters (nitrites, nitrates, ammonia)?

At a glance it looks like an infection, perhaps from a nipped fin.

The tank is 64 litres, it has been set up since the 1st of November and had many Malaysian trumpets snails which where a pain to get rid of, anyway and I added my first fish on the 17th of November and added two other fish on 26th of november. My test kit says my ammonia and nitrites are down at 0 and my nitrates are about 40 mg/l. I don’t think the platy got it from my tank. I think he had it from the pet store.

 

[Demeter32]

I'd see about doing some extra water changes then. 40 is a bit high, you want to try keeping it under 20 at all times. Try doing a 50% water change for a few days and if you do not see any improvement in the fin then you should treat it with meds. Just adding some salt may work but Methylene blue us a great med to use for fin infections.

Side notes: that is a female platy and looks rather tubby, quite possibly will have fry in a few weeks if she recovers. Another thing to note, mollies should be in larger tanks. They get rather large, some up to 5in long so they really need the extra swimming space. Platties may be smaller but would certainly appreciate a larger tank too. I'd say the minimum size for mollies is 29gal (110 liters) and platties should be 20gals (76 liters).

 

[Fishyyyy]

I'd see about doing some extra water changes then. 40 is a bit high, you want to try keeping it under 20 at all times. Try doing a 50% water change for a few days and if you do not see any improvement in the fin then you should treat it with meds. Just adding some salt may work but Methylene blue us a great med to use for fin infections.

Side notes: that is a female platy and looks rather tubby, quite possibly will have fry in a few weeks if she recovers. Another thing to note, mollies should be in larger tanks. They get rather large, some up to 5in long so they really need the extra swimming space. Platties may be smaller but would certainly appreciate a larger tank too. I'd say the minimum size for mollies is 29gal (110 liters) and platties should be 20gals (76 liters).

Ok thank you. I’ll keep an eye on my nitrates and the water changes, i belive my molly was a Short fin molly and was told they only get up to about 6 cm and was also told my platy was a Male as I didn’t want to be dealing with fry.

 

[Demeter32]

I'm afraid you were told wrong. Platy looks female and "short finned" mollies are probably referring to balloon mollies, which still require the same things as normal mollies. Just like humans with dwarfism, they are still humans and need what normal people need.

The anal fin looks very fan-shaped rather than thin and pointed as a male's should be.

 

[Fishyyyy]

I'm afraid you were told wrong. Platy looks female and "short finned" mollies are probably referring to balloon mollies, which still require the same things as normal mollies. Just like humans with dwarfism, they are still humans and need what normal people need.

The anal fin looks very fan-shaped rather than thin and pointed as a male's should be.

Oh but in this photo the fin looks thin and pointed, sorry if this sounds rude like I’m questioning you, I’m just thought that the fin is pointed, I’m probably wrong as I am new to this. I have also started using a antibacterial remedy for my tank to try to improve the platys tail.

 

[NickAu]

That looks like a male to me.

 

[Demeter32]

I had to really zoom in on the second picture in the first post. Turns out I mistook the pelvic fin for the anal fin. My mistake. That platy is indeed a male, but he does look quite fat in the first picture.

 

[Fishyyyy]

That looks like a male to me.

Thank you, i was starting to worry I was going to have fry to deal with.

 

[Fishyyyy]

I had to really zoom in on the second picture in the first post. Turns out I mistook the pelvic fin for the anal fin. My mistake. That platy is indeed a male, but he does look quite fat in the first picture.

Okay so now we know he is a boy, is Home being fat a bad thing?

 

[Demeter32]

Nope, just make him look like a girl

 

[Fishyyyy]

Nope, just make him look like a girl

Oh okay