HELP!!!! I DONT KNOW IF MY PLATYS ARE SICK!!&#

[KimmyFishy89]

I have two platys (Male, female) and one female guppie. Usually the platys (Who are ALWAYS together) either hide by my plants, or swim around in the front (Around the bottom, or middle) parts of the tank. And the guppie swims wherever. A couple of days ago I notice the female platy (Pregnant, with gravid spot) hovering near the surface. I am a new fish owner (Tank is about four months old) so I get a breeder box and wait. Nothing happens. Now recently I notice the guppie at the surface (Also pregnant, with gravid spot) hovering at the surface. The male platy is right along with the female, near the top. I dont know if it is because he is following the female, or because he is sick. The female platy and male platy are usually always together, but now they are barely with eachother. And when they are, it is always the male tagging along with the female (Never the other way, which was how it had been.). What is making me confused about whether they are sick or not is 1. Fins aren't clamped and 2. Whenever I go close to the tank to look at them, they stop and move away from the surface.

Its mostly the female platy that has exluded herself, and is the one acting sluggish. Is this a sickness? Is it related to the fish being pregnant? Its seems to only be my live breeders (3 tetras, an angel, and 2 cats are my other fish). I have an airation stone, an aqua clear 150 (10 gallon tank) and the water is crystal clear.

Help me please!!!!!

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Oh, Amonia was in the middle (not sure of the exact number), so I did 1/3 water change, and added amonia lock. Now it seems alright.

 

[KimmyFishy89]

NEVERMIND!!! FINS ARE CLAMPED!!! (On the female platy) PLEASE HELP!!! She is my favorite fish

 

[smb]

Oh, Amonia was in the middle (not sure of the exact number), so I did 1/3 water change, and added amonia lock. Now it seems alright.

The middle of what? It's very important to know if there are any traces of ammonia and the exact number. IMO, you did the correct thing and did a water change whether anything was wrong or not. That only makes the water params better.

NEVERMIND!!! FINS ARE CLAMPED!!! (On the female platy) PLEASE HELP!!! She is my favorite fish

Clamped fins are caused by parasites. Buy some anti-parasitic meds from your lfs and use per directions.

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Her fins aren't clamped anymore, and I am noticing something after I turned off the tank lights. Please tell me if this is possible.

The male platy keeps pecking at the female's underside. And he chases her around. She swims to the corner of the tank near the surface, and when he swims away she swims back into the plants (Where she normally is). Perhaps since she is so heavily pregnant, the male is trying to "help her" with birth? I dont know. But once I fed her a little, and turned off the lights she seemed like a whole new fish!

 

[smb]

I wish I could help you with that. The only community fish I know about are Tiger barbs and red tail sharks. I mainly just know cichlids as that's about all I've ever really kept. I've seen from others posts that meds and personalities between the 2 are totally different so I try to stay out of the platy-molly-beta discussions because to tell you the truth, I barely even know what they look like. Keep checking back tho because there are a ton of people here that know so much about community fish.