Help! My platy is very sick

[Eliza]

Today I noticed my platy at the bottom of the tank, staying still, heavily breathing
Now she is upside down (like on her ‘nose’ )
I got her from the store around ten days ago and she was doing well, she was slightly bigger that the others so I suspected she may be pregnant
She really isn’t on good shape and I’m scared I am going to loose her. poor thing .
Just before this happened (last eve) the filter broke and the pet store wasn’t open so I couldn’t fix it, I woke up to a cloudy tank but fine fish
Now I have got the filter back working again
I’m afraid I don’t have any water levels as I never got told I needed it but at lunch I’m going to go to the pet shop and get a tester
I am very worried about her
I will attach a photo
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14z4mEZ_ESnBIUlUQotssLgVw01eLPtSX/view?usp=drivesdk
(I have had to do it on drive as my photo is too big)
What should I do??

 

[Colin_T]

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before adding it to the tank.

Stop feeding the fish for a few days, don't worry they won't starve.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence.

Post water test results when you can, and hope for the best.

If you want something to read when you have some spare time, you can check out the following link. It is an expanded version of what I wrote above.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

 

[Eliza]

Thank you so much for your help, I have bought a water test kit, I will be able to tell you a couple of rough results now then tell you exact tomorrow when I can see. The ammonia was high, I think due to overcrowding but ph was fine, not sure about others, will update you about those.
Sadly Alma (the sick one) passed yesterday, she was getting bullied as I have a bully fish (I’m not sure wether to give him back to the shop as he is nipping fins and pestering the other fish, I would just feel bad for him but it may be best?) and we think she was already ill when we got her. Maybe there was something spreading around the tank in the store as I went in today and pretty much all the fish had bacterial fin rot and other external fungal infections and cloudy eye and lots others looked in very bad shape so I’m not sure if that was a factor in that.
I am using plain bottled water, is that ok?
I will do the clean outs (I have already been doing a 20% over the last few days but I will do 75%)
I haven’t fed them today and won’t do tomorrow either,
My filter is not very good so I’m going to get new one, does any one recommend a filter?
And thanks for the link, I will read that.
Sorry about the really long message,
I trusted the shop in telling me (and knowing) what to do with fish but clearly not! (Selling me 3 males to 1 female then having to get two more females as they refused for me to swap two males with females then inbalancing all the water due to overcrowding!)
I just hope I can get it all sorted out!
I think the moral of the story is to never trust Pets at home with how to look after pets!
Thanks so much for your help

 

[NickAu]

I am using plain bottled water, is that ok?

Not all bottled water is fish safe, can you give us the brand name.

Whats wrong with your tap water?

My filter is not very good

Why do you think your filter is no good?
Can you tell us the brand of filter type of media and the size of your tank? Once I know this I will have more advice.

Filtration and flow rate are 2 separate things, With filtration anything over about 4 times an hour turnover is a waste of time.

 

[Colin_T]

If the tank is newly set up (less than 2 months old), then ammonia is quite common. It occurs from anything that breaks down in the water including fish food, fish waste, dead fish rotting plants, etc. If the pH of the water is above 7.0 then any ammonia becomes very toxic and will kill fish.

In a newly set up tank it is a good idea to only feed the fish once every few days and do a 75% water change 4-8 hours after feeding. You should also do a 75% water change any day when there is an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0.

--------------------
If you have 3 male platies then the dominant one will bully the smaller weaker ones. If you want to keep livebearers (platies, swordtails, mollies, guppies) try to keep males only or females only. This stops the males constantly chasing and harassing the females. If you want to keep males and females then keep at least 6 females per male.

--------------------
Most bottled water is fine for fish but some brands can have lots of minerals in (including salt - sodium chloride), which is fine for livebearers but not necessarily good for tetras and Corydoras.

If you use bottled water try to aerate it for 30 minutes before using it. This will get the dissolved gases in the water back to a normal level before it goes into the tank.

--------------------
If you can post a picture of the filter and tell us the brand of it we might be able to offer some insight into whether it is suitable for the tank.

 

[NickAu]

Most bottled water is fine for fish

No it is not. In fact the opposite is true, most bottled water is not fish safe.

Bottled water is often not regulated or tested other than for human consumption, so the water parameters are unknown. Also, bottled water often has vitamins, flavors, preservatives, colors, or other additives added to make the water more appealing. These can be devastating to your fish tank.

Would you say any of these are safe?

 

[Eliza]

Not all bottled water is fish safe, can you give us the brand name.

I use the by Sainsbury’s Scottish mountain water but now I see that chart I’m going to sick to the safe treated tap water- the only reason I’ve used bottled is because our water is very hard, is that a problem?

——————————————————————

My tank is newly setup.

——————————————————————

And I will do a large water change each day it says that.

——————————————————————

My filter is a Ciano one and I will post up a photo etc later along with water results.

 

[NickAu]

I’ve used bottled is because our water is very hard, is that a problem?

Actually with live bearers thats a good thing.

 

[Essjay]

Hard water is perfect for platies.
Water in Scotland varies from soft to very soft. If your Sainsbury's Scottish Mountain Water water is the same composition as their Sparkling Scottish Mountain Water, just without the fizz, then it is far too soft for platies.

Just to add to Nick's table, my bottle of the sparkling stuff contains
Calcium <60mg/l
Magnesium <16 mg/l
Potassium <20
Sulphate <8
Nitrate <3
Chloride <11

I've not included sodium or bicarbonate as this is the fizzy version so there will be extra added.





If you've been using 100% bottled water you need to be careful about changing over to tap water. Adding too much tap water at one go will change the hardness significantly which is not good for fish. I would do a series of small water changes to transition form all bottled to all tap water.

 

[Eliza]

I have just done a 75% water change with tap and tap safe and my ammonia is 0.5 mg/l
My ph is 7.6
Carbonate hardness is between 10/15
General hardness is 28
Nitrate is 50 mg/ l
And nitrite is 0 mg/l
I have a feeling those are bad, what should I do to reduce some of those?
Thanks

 

[Eliza]

Essjay
I just read your message!
I have just done a 75%!!
What should I do?

 

[Colin_T]

If you have just done a 75% water change then let the tank run for 24 hours before doing anything else.
Don't feed the fish today and see how the water is tomorrow

A pH of 7.6 is fine.
Is the GH and KH in ppm (mg/l) or dGH?
Nitrate 50ppm (mg/l), is a bit high but it is not a major issue now. Another big water change tomorrow will dilute it significantly.
A Nitrite reading of 0 is good and what you want.

If you are concerned about using tap water then use half tap water and half bottled water for a few water changes then 2/3s tap water and 1/3 bottle for a few changes then just use straight tapwater.
Make sure all tap water is treated to remove chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

 

[Eliza]

Ok thanks so much for your help

 

[Essjay]

What is the nitrate level in your tap water? The UK allows 50 ppm in tap water and your tank nitrate may be from your tap water.

 

[Eliza]

Right so I have just done a 75%
And
Amonia: 0-0.5
Ph: 7.6
KH: 10
GH:14
Nitrate: 50
Nitrite: 0