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Alyssa1535

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one of my platys has a silver patch that has been growing.
the silver patch appears to be loss of colour.
it's not raised and it doesn't look like a cottony growth.
her gills are become transparent and i think i'm seeing is the structure of her gills.

1701988015377.png

8 days ago

1701985829351.png

today

the silver patch was there when i caught it from someone else's pond ; )
she was round and appeared to be pregnant.
she ate all the time.
she was lively with fast movements as though a little aggressive.
she might have been playing. she looked like she was playing with the bubbles from an air curtain jumping back and forth through the curtain.

i thought it was a color pattern before another fish owner told me that's a sign of infection.

2 weeks ago the silver patch grew and the discoloration appeared at the tip of her mouth.
her mate was showing signs of discoloration as well.
so they were taking out into a treatment tank.

these treatments have been used so far

1. API FIN & BODY CURE - completed recommended course of treatment. both platys appeared to be fine during treatment.
2. Seachem MetroPlex - one dose instead of the recommended three doses. to suppress parasites as their immune systems are weakened.
3. Seachem KanaPlex - one dose. picked this by mistake instead of NeoPlex.

these were used at the same time as I don't know what the cause it.

then these were used with overlaps

4. Seachem NeoPlex - one dose. after it was added the male platy looked to be scrambling like he was trying to find a way out of the tank. this female platy showed no change in behaviour.
5 and 6. API MELAFIX and API PIMAFIX - male platy appeared to be scrambling to find a way out for awhile, then calmed down. this female platy appeared to be fine with the added treatment.

one day after using melafix and pimafix, the gills of this platy looked to have gained back some colouration around the edges.
i tried to speed up the healing with this

7. API STRESS COAT - their behaviours showed no increased distress, but a few hours later the loss of colouration appeared to have worsened

a 100% water change was done.

i believe 100% water changes are safe because the parameters of the replacement water should be almost exactly the same as the current one.
the water quality from my local water source is constant.
the products added to their water is measured with a weighing scale or syringe.
the difference is the absence of the medicines in their previous waters.

now the treatment plan is to keep their waters as clean as possible and let their immune systems fight off any infections.
they have a main tank they are in when i'm asleep, and they have a feeding tank with the flakes they are used to.
the parameters of main tank and the feeding tank is the same - dechlorinated tap water (1 drop of seachem prime into 1.5 litres of tap water) and 0.77 grams of API AQUARIUM SALT.

the major treatments for household have been applied, and the silver patch is still growing.

she has darked in colour. she's now darker red. she used to be brighter red.
i didn't see her eat in the past few days. she used to eat all the time.
i don't think she is pregnant anymore and i don't think she was just fat one month ago.
she has been sitting more on the substrates in the corners of her tank, sometimes facing into corners. this was a behaviour another baby platy was showing before it suddenly passed overnight.

her mate became lighter in colour. orange rather than bright red.

has anyone seen this before? what can be done?
 
Can we have water parameters please?
 
Doesn't have to be an infection. Could also be a scale that got lost. If that happens, it will be white or translucent.
But yes, as already mentioned by Ichthys, could you give some information of the water parameters?
 
Personally I suspect an injury to the gill cover. If the actual gills were white that would mean no blood flow, resulting in no oxygen, resulting in a dead fish...
 
Can we have water parameters please?
1702003922104.png


phosphate - 1.5 ppm
pH - 8.0 to 8.1 (fishes in my home are used to pH of local tap water)
NH3/NH4+ - 0
nitrite - 0.10 to 0.25
nitrate - 8 (local nitrate level in tap water is around 5 ppm)

1702005497659.png

chlorine/chloramine - 0.1

1702004211922.png


the current setup has a main tank and a feeding tank.

the HOB as a bag of recharged zeolites.
the zeolites might have nitrifying bacteria that survived soaking in salt water during recharging.

this morning, a bag of used and rinsed bag of Seachem Seagel was stuffed into the HOB to remove any organic matter and phosphate.
the PhosGuard beads are a bit more yellow. not the yellow they become when they are used for days in a tank lots of organic matter.

the phosphate test shows that phosphate level is at 1.5 ppm.
this test was used in another tank before and it gave a reading of 0.5 ppm, which was expected.
so i don't think this test kit is giving false positives.

but i recall doing a 100% water change before this set up ..... and i think i did rinsed the HOB and the 3 sponges with dechlorinated water ....
phosphate level is expected to be 0 ppm

the Salifert Cl test gives reading of 0.1.
in another tank the water was tested before the fishes were added back in. the replacement water test negative on this test.
the same dechlorination procedure was used on this platy setup.
in another tank, the water tested positve on this test after maybe a week and quite yellow. the water tested negative at first.

in the feeding tank, fresh dechlorinated water with API Aquarium Salt is used for each feeding session.
the flakes the platys are used to are added.
they sit in the tank for a few to several hours before they are put back into the main tank.
the water is poured away.

sorry to confess.
for more than week before they were attended to, the platys were in waters with very poor parameters while i focused on another fish in another tank.
more than a week of going through treatment and now clean water, they haven't been going back to their previous normal.
 
Personally I suspect an injury to the gill cover. If the actual gills were white that would mean no blood flow, resulting in no oxygen, resulting in a dead fish...
this could be. the silver patch was there since i caught it and it was lively.

one month from the start, the female platy isn't showing her previous behaviour anymore.
she used to swim around like a bouncing angry bird. now she sits in corners that remind me of the baby platy that died.
something must be wrong.
 
in the feeding tank, fresh dechlorinated water with API Aquarium Salt is used for each feeding session.
the flakes the platys are used to are added.
they sit in the tank for a few to several hours before they are put back into the main tank.
the water is poured away.

You move the fish to another tank to feed them?

This is keeping the fish extremely stressed. Even just catching a fish in a net causes a lot of stress. Lifting them out of water causes a lot more. Stressed fish are never far away from health issues, and with continued stress it’s inevitable.
Salt will also stress them, as they’re freshwater fish (and if you’re moving them between salt and no salt… more extreme stress).
 
If there is no bad looking growth or cotton on the gills, I would assume the fishes are just getting older. And are changing colours or scales. check water params and keep it up. Some fishes loses all their scales and grow new ones at some point.

But with the current prescription the they are having. There's no telling what could really happen.

Every fish medication has noticeable side effects. On the fish, on the environment or both.

And a cocktail like that could really launch your tank into space.
 
You move the fish to another tank to feed them?

This is keeping the fish extremely stressed. Even just catching a fish in a net causes a lot of stress. Lifting them out of water causes a lot more. Stressed fish are never far away from health issues, and with continued stress it’s inevitable.
Salt will also stress them, as they’re freshwater fish (and if you’re moving them between salt and no salt… more extreme stress).
moving is stressful i agree.

the amount of salt per 1.5 L is calculated. it's made to be almost constant per volume.
0.51 grams in 1 litre in the main tank and in the feeding tank.

the dissolved nutrients in the feeding tank becomes part of the water parameters.
didn't take into account this one.

the platys are used to flakes.
they didn't move towards pellets from API TROPICAL PELLETS, so they were fed the same brand of flakes.

the flakes get into the filter and get stuck.
in another tank with gouramis, the HOB smells like the filter engine from another tank.
the smell was there again this morning in the filter of the another tank, even in the water. the current filter was swapped in to replace the previous one for convenience.

got a few filters from saving another fish.

the solution to poor water parameters would be to remove leftover food after each feeding session.
then look for pellets they like.
time-consuming but i can't think of better ideas.
 
I think that there is a LOT of over thinking and over medication going on here...
the silver patch doesn't look like anything that could be found.

her health and behaviour is clearly declining.

if the fading colours isn't a sign of disease, i think she has something else not shown as her gills losing colour.
 
time-consuming but i can't think of better ideas.
It seems to have gone over your head, but…
How about do what EVERYBODY else does… leave the fish in one tank and never catch them unless it’s absolutely necessary. This will end their stress and you won’t get these health problems with them.
 
the flakes get into the filter and get stuck.
You could always turn the filter off for a few minutes until the flakes have all been eaten. That's much less stressful for the fish. Just remember to turn it back on again.
If there are flakes in the water after a few minutes, you are feeding too much so reduce the amount of flakes.
 
It seems to have gone over your head, but…
How about do what EVERYBODY else does… leave the fish in one tank and never catch them unless it’s absolutely necessary. This will end their stress and you won’t get these health problems with them.
And cut the salt. Salt is good for some fish ailments but not for more than 2-3 weeks.
 
And cut the salt. Salt is good for some fish ailments but not for more than 2-3 weeks.
the box says 1/2 rounded teaspoon for every 1 gallon (4L)

i was using 44% of the recommended dose. was intended to use 1/3 but entered the formula wrongly into my spreadsheet.

salt was taken out like cocoa powder to give 1 rounded teaspoon.

1 rounded teaspoon - 9.218 g
1/2 rounded teaspoon (4L) - 4.609 g
1/2 rounded teaspoon (1L) - 4.609/4 = 1.152 g

44% of recommended dose (1L) - 0.44 * 1.152 = 0.5 g

was using 0.5 g in 1L
is this concentration of aquarium salt agreeable for daily use? when not intended to treat suspected diseases.
 

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