Platy acting strange?

[Aiyee]

Hi,

I've had my first ever tank set up for just under 4 weeks now. I have one male platy in an 84L tank with two female adult mollies and about a dozen, two week old, molly babies.

Whilst all of the other fish appear to be getting on fine, the platy has spent the last two days constantly hiding behind plants or hanging vertically between the back of the tank and the internal filter. Occasionally, he goes berserk and jerks around at great speed for a couple of seconds. He hasn't been coming for food either, so I'm getting a bit worried!

He behaved like this initially in the first week after I got him, but soon snapped out of it (although he definitely hid in the plants and jerked around a bit more than the other fish). I'm not sure what's brought on this latest behaviour though. Could it be because he's feeling lonely in a tank of mollies? I thought about getting him a friend, but I was worried a new fish could end up eating the fry (who have all been left alone up until now).

BTW, I've tested my water levels and they appear to be ok (Ammonia 0, Nitrite <0.1mg/l, Nitrate 20mg/l).

Can any help please? Thanks...

 

[Def]

He's sick. When they do this, they are usually on their last legs. The zipping around in random directions is a muscle spasm. Can you see anything physically wrong with him? Is he clamping fins?

 

[Aiyee]

Can't see anything physically wrong with him although it's hard to see because he's very good at hiding. He's done this "jerking around" thing occasionally ever since we got him a month ago.

This morning he was swimming around when we awoke and appeared to be eating normally. Just got home and he's hiding behind the plants again though doesn't appear visibly distressed. He didn't eat just now when we fed the rest of the fish in the tank, though.

Is there anything we can do? Can you describe exactly what you mean by "clamping fins"? Apologies, we're new to all this though learning all the time.

 

[WILDER]

You have a slight nitrite reading there, I would do a water change if I was you, that could be why the fish is darting about, good luck.

 

[Aiyee]

Thanks.

I've been doing 10% water changes every 2-3 days, when the nitrate reading goes up slightly. However, the nitrite reading always seems to stay the same - i.e neither goes up or down. It's been 0.1 or slightly less for about 2 weeks now. Maybe the tank is still cycling as it's only been 4 weeks?

Are platies more sensitive to this? The mollies, including the babies, appear to be just doing fine.

p.s. I've been checking and he doesn't appear to be clamping his fins.

 

[patti_n_jojo]

i would think the tank mite not b done cycling, keep up with the water changes. are you able to see if there are any tiny white spots on him?

 

[vidiots]

All aquatic creatures are suseptable to nitrite poisoning, they just vary slightly with how long they can endure various levels. If they are sick their resistance will be drastically lowered. My 55gal tank took 2 and a half months to cycle because of the antibiotics I used to for the fish who became sick soon after getting them. Like you I did not do the fishless cycling as I should have. One quick way to fix this is to get an old dirty filter or a bowl of gravel from a well estabolished tank and set in in the bottom of your tank or near your filter. This will have the bacteria on it that your tank is lacking and the elevated nitrate levels in your tank will cause them to rapidly reproduce and settle in your tank. Also a water change will help to immediately reduce the nitrite levels. I have read from many very knowlegeable fish keepers that frequent large water changes will not disrupt the cycling process and is better for the fish because detectable nitrite levels are more stressful to the fish than the distrubance of having the water changed.

Don't waste your money on those bottles of liquid that claim to speed up the cycling of your tank. I and many others have tried them and they simply don't do much.