Male Red Wag Platy - White Fins

[carmstrong]

I have a male Red Wag Platy that is 4 months old (in my care) and is currently getting white fins. 
 
It almost looks like he's getting "Gray or White Hair" from age. 
 
He hasn't changed any habits like eating, or slowly moving around the tank or looking sick
 
 
Here are some pictures, sorry for the blurriness, he's pretty fast. 
 

 

 

 

 
Any advice anyone may have would be helpful.. 
 
I will post tank readings in a moment. 
 
Thank you

 

[Mamashack]

Could be finrot - have there been any stressful events recently? Are you doing regular water changes?

 

[attibones]

Ammonia can cause a fish to lose cor as well. However, I have seen some platys with a bit of white on their fins. I would keep up with the water changes, monitor water parameters, and feed quality food. Of course, keep a close eye on this guy and see if he starts acting differently in the process.

 

[carmstrong]

Hey all,

Sorry for the delay, been a long day lol

I took a reading of the tank today just after posting and the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate were all 0.

I did a 20% water change three days ago and have been frequently doing so every week. Sometimes only 15%

I have done a 75% water change twice in these last 4 months and used water that was sitting for a few days to ensure no chlorine or other chemicals were present in the water.

They have been just fed standard fish flakes every 6 days while leaving the 7th day to fast with no feeding.

The odd occasion they will eat the frog food if the frog is too slow.

The other female platy looks to have the same white on her tail but again it looks like gray hair rather than anything fungal.

The other female platy (I have 2) seems to be unaffected.

All fish are perky, happy and eating well however this is the first day I have seen the fish with the white.

I'm not sure what else to check for.

Water perameters look normal and I don't want to treat the tank with just any medication just yet.

Any other suggestions?

Water change, add something?

Let me know,

Thank you

 

[Mamashack]

Standing the water for days will only remove the chlorine from the water, but not chloramine or any of the metals usually present. Unless you are using well water or from an known untreated source you should be using a good quality dechlorinator to bind up these harmful chemicals so the water is safe. This may be the cause of the stress that could be causing your platy's problem
I think it's strange to have a zero nitrate level in a cycled tank - since I've read your cycling journal I know it should be ok. Was it the API tests you got? If so you need to be brutal with the nitrate no.2 bottle to get the 2 reagents in there to mix properly. You could have a very high nitrate and not know it altho with the water changes you mentioned I would doubt this is the case unless you have some really heavy waste-producers in there. Try bashing the bottle against something hard to shift the sediment from the bottom of the bottle and then really shake it up for a good 30 seconds (timed!) to make sure they are mixed well enough.

 

[carmstrong]

Good Afternoon Everyone, 
 
An update on the fish, they seem to be doing ok still. 
 
No change in appetite or looking lethargic so thats a good sign. 
 
I took another test with the API kit and shook all bottles and test tubes according to instructions and came back with the readings: 
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .25 (It was really hard to tell, and it looked like it was changing with a bit of orange, however I had recently changed the water two days before)
 
I am watching them and their behaviour and eating habits and nothing has changed. 
 
I have been able to get a closer look at the male Platy and his fins look like they are turning white like a human would get gray hair. 
 
Hopefully they are ok, but I will keep up on water changes and hope they pull through.