Fish laying on the floor, not eating, swimming, and rapidly breathing

[Neleono]

Hi everyone,
I've had this fish for about 8 months and right now she is not ok. All of this started about a month after I got her. She was growing quickly but started to get fatter. I joked with myself that haha she might be pregnant but as time when on this became more and more likely. About 4 months ago it got to the point where I really started to believe she was pregnant. I made a post, posted pictures and I was told that she was pregnant... for months ago... She haven't had any fry in the four months and she hasn't gotten any smaller either. Up until yesterday and the day before nothing was wrong with her. She started to swim less, fine I thought... not really out of the ordinary. Then she started to lay on the ground a bit, didn't think much of it. As I am making this post the fish is starting to lay sideways and breath really quickly. Hasn't really swam all day and I just tried to feed her and this is the first night she hasn't eaten. I'm clearly worried by this. Does anyone have an idea of what might be going on? Is she about to give birth or is this something else. Ill put more info about the tank below

Had this 29 gal tank for about 9 months
Well planted with live and one plastic
3 fish (plattys) in the tank all about an inch and a half long (Including the one in question) And an algae eater about 5 in long
No recent additions to the tank
Water changes and vacuuming weekly
29 gal tank with weekly 33-50% water changes
Tank stays at 73-75 f
nitrate is 20
nitrite at 0
pH is 7
water is hard (always is)
ammonia is 0
dechlorinated with aqua safe+
no chemical exposures ever
fed daily with tetra flakes

Any help or info would be great, anything I need to do please tell me, and any other info you might need please ask for. Keep in mind it is very late where I live and I wont be able to go to any pet stores until tomorrow. Pictures are inserted below

 

[Utar]

I don't know much about live bearers and fish diseases, so I can't help to much here. Hopefully someone will come along soon that knows something about this.

 

[Colin_T]

It's either stressed out by someone or something in the tank, or it has an internal problem.

Is it male or female and is it being picked on by the others?
What does the fish's poop look like?

Generally when a fish stops eating and starts having problems with its breathing, it usually dies within a short time.

 

[Neleono]

Its a female and has not been picked on by others. poop is a light brown and white color.

 

[Colin_T]

Is it eating normally?

White poop is caused by an internal problem (bacterial, protozoan or worms).

If the fish stopped eating suddenly and got fat and did stringy white poop, it has an internal bacterial infection.

If the fish is eating a bit but not as much as normal, has lost a bit of weight over a week or two, and does stringy white poop, it has an internal protozoan infection.

If the fish is eating normally but doing a stringy white poop, it is usually intestinal worms. In mild cases the fish might not lose weight. In really badly infested fish, they can gain weight and look like a pregnant guppy. If the fish isn't fed much they can lose weight over a period of months.

 

[raylove]

Platies only live for about 2 years max, so its quite likely she is just coming to the end of her life. Fancy varieties in particular can be quite weak as they are often overbred. Everything else looks OK. Stressing her with treatments or excessive water changes is more likely to make things worse. Perhaps a small increase in temperature to 25-27 might help a bit.

 

[Neleono]

Thanks for the info

 

[Neleono]

After waiting a few days to really know what's going on I think this is a protozoan infection. She isn't eating and is loosing weight and has stringy white poop. I also looked around the internet and read that a lot of people with seemingly the same problem have fish that are constantly gulping which is what mine is doing. How would I go about treating this? I read that some people raise the temp, others had lists of treatments to put in the water, I would love a second opinion. Also, i have 2 other fish in the tank that seem fine compared to the sick one. I'm not sure if that is helpful but if I I do do something to the tank I want it to be safe for the others too (I can always put the sick one in a hospital tank, I have a few gallon bowls) Thanks for the help!

 

[Neleono]

I will also mention that he is starting to loose color, he's becoming more and more pail.

 

[Colin_T]

euthanise it

 

[Neleono]

Would you mind elaborating?

 

[Colin_T]

the fish has stopped eating, is losing weight, is sitting on the bottom of the tank and is losing colour. it is dying so kill it now so it doesn't suffer.

 

[Neleono]

Thank you for telling me that, to hard of a decision to make for myself. Today was a hard day...

 

[Colin_T]

unfortunately when fish stop eating and give up, there is not much you can do to save them.