Mickey Mouse Platy

[marshd88]

Hi all. For the past week or so my Mickey Mouse platy has been hanging at the bottom of the tank and not swimming around or eating. It farts from one hiding spot to another and I don’t know what’s wrong. I have 4 tetras, 3 catfish and a silver tail molly and they all seem very happy and are swimming around. I also noticed the back fin comes to a point and I don’t think it did before any help would be great

 

[Colin_T]

Clamped fins are usually caused by poor water quality, chemicals in the water, protozoan or bacterial infections.

The fish is covered in excess mucous (creamy white film over the body and fins) and this is normally caused by poor water quality or something in the water irritating the fish.

How long has the tank been set up for?

Have you checked the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water?

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Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[marshd88]

Ok so water quality is good all around. No white mucus on the fish. Is it possible she’s pregnant BECAUSE I just noticed a few fish fry in the tank!!! And it looks like a Mickey Platy because of the mark near the tail. Let me know what you think!!!

 

[Colin_T]

In my opinion the fish in the first picture looks like it is covered in excess mucous.

This has nothing to do with the fish carrying babies or eggs.
It's either poor water quality, chemicals in the water, or an external protozoan infection.

What are the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH levels (in numbers)?

Have you added anything to the water?

 

[marshd88]

25 mg/l hardness, 0 chlorine,nitrate,nitrite, 40 carbonate , 40 mg/l alkalinity , 6.8 PH.

 

[marshd88]

I use seachem PRIME and Stability. Just tried some MELAFIX from API as wel.

 

[Essjay]

How long have you had the fish?

The one reading that stands out is the hardness at 25 ppm. That is very soft water and platies (and mollies) are hard water fish. Being in soft water won't immediately harm hard water fish but over time it does weaken them making them more susceptible to disease. Platies need over 200 ppm and mollies need over 250 ppm, which is a lot higher than your hardness.

Strips don't test for ammonia and it is important to test for this. With zero nitrite, ammonia is probably also zero but we do need to rule out a raised ammonia level.

 

[marshd88]

Ok so I did notice the mucus looking stuff on the Mickey Platy. You guys recommend Pimafix??? Also can I add it right to aquarium or do I need to take fish out and treat? I do not have a second tank but have a large 3 gallon bucket.
Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

the best treatment for excess mucous is water changes, gravel cleaning, cleaning the filter regularly, maybe adding salt.

pimafix won't help.