Mickey Mouse Platy Problems

[Channti]

I've got a tropical fish tank set up. At the time of the issues, the tank residents were:
-A Dalmation molly
-A Sailfin molly
-Tri-colour shark
-4 guppies
-Male Red Flame Gourami
-Blind Cave Tetra
-Mickey Mouse Platy.

The Gourami was nipping at the fins of the guppies, but we didn't notice until he had killed 3 of the guppies. I didn't notice any problems with the rest of the fish. The next day, I noticed that the last live guppy had a small chunk missing from his tail. The gourami was removed from the tank immediately, and I called the pet store where I purchased him. They allowed me to return it. The mickey mouse platy had been found hidden in one of the tank ornaments, and had spent about 15-17 hours hidden there, between small forays into the tank for food. He hid in the ornament from about the time the first two guppies were found dead onwards. Once the Gourami was removed from the tank, I also noticed that my tri-colour shark had some small chunks taken from his fins on his underside (not his tail though) and that my mickey mouse platy's tail was cut, but not missing any pieces. I exchanged the Red Flame Gourami for 2 swordtails and 3 more guppies (to replace the ones killed by the gourami).

My issue is that even though the "Bully" fish is gone, the mickey mouse platy, which was a very social fish, spending most of its time with my sailfin molly and my guppies, is now constantly hidden in the tank ornaments. It will venture out once an hour, but doesn't appear to be eating much and is very wary of the other fish in the tank (avoids them at all costs). It spends all of it's time out of the ornaments hidden in the plants in the tank.

What can I do to make sure my platy is eating and help return it to its previous social patterns? Or does it just need time to get over its issues? Is there anything I can do for the split in my Platy's tail?

 

[Zekumi]

I've heard that a bit of aquarium salt can help with regrowing damaged fins somehow, although I'm not 100% on the authenticity of that.

Perhaps the little dude would be more comfortable/'come out of his shell' if you added afew more MM Platies that he could school with?
Has it been very long? Maybe he's just waiting until he feels absolutely sure that the threat has left.

 

[Channti]

I've heard that a bit of aquarium salt can help with regrowing damaged fins somehow, although I'm not 100% on the authenticity of that.

Perhaps the little dude would be more comfortable/'come out of his shell' if you added afew more MM Platies that he could school with?
Has it been very long? Maybe he's just waiting until he feels absolutely sure that the threat has left.

I'll check some facts on that aquarium salt that you mentioned before I add any.

Unfortunately, the only surviving guppy from the Gourami attack was found dead in the tank two days ago.

Thankfully though, the MM platy has finally come out of hiding. Apparently while the tank was being fed, the blind cave tetra forced the MM platy out of hiding to eat, and since then, the MM platy has stayed out (it's been 24 hours and he hasn't gone back into hiding). I plan to buy two more MM platies for him, but in the time we had him, he just schooled with my guppies or tailed after my sailfin molly. Like you predicted, it seems all he needed was time (and the encouragement from my tetra probably helped too).

I've noticed that all of my fish are more active since we got rid of the Gourami. I doubt I'll be getting another one at any time soon. Now I've just got to find a way to help my injured fish heal their damaged fins (I've got a damanged MM platy, tri-coloured shark, sail-fin molly now.)

Thanks!

 

[Channti]

UPDATE:

The Mickey Mouse Platy died two days ago. I noticed it was eating less and less, and got to the point where it wouldn't eat anything. It was only a matter of time. After it was attacked by the Gourami, it never properly socialized with the rest of the tank.

I expect that the other fish who are still sporting tears and rips from the Gourami will all survive and heal (a Sailfin Molly & Tri-Colour Shark; both much larger than the Mickey Mouse Platy and Guppy who were damaged by the same fish).

 

[OldMan47]

The best way that I know to encourage a fish to heal is to do lots of partial water changes and keep the tank water pristine. Most of our fish tend to be very hearty because they usually are well fed and live under good conditions. When the are injured they heal quickly because they have reserves to draw on and continue to be well fed. All you can really add to that to help them heal is to make sure nothing has a chance to build up in the water.