Platys with Parasite

[HutchesonJ]

Hello ,
I am brand new to fish keeping and have 2 tanks one is a 30 gallon and the other is a 10 gallon I have 2 platys in one tank that I think are pregnant? Also in that tank is a pleco and a louch. My 30g has 1 pleco, 2 corydoras, 2 African Dwarf Frogs, 3 male platys, one male molly, one GloFish Danio and 1 Dwarf Gourami.

I am experiencing an internal Parasite in my fish. And a high pH level I have spent every day all day researching for the past few weeks and I can't seem to get the hang of the aquatic life I absolutely love all my babies. PLEASE HELP ME!!! I CANT SEEM TO KEEP THEM ALIVE .

 

[Colin_T]

What parasite do you think the fish have?
What symptoms do the fish have?
Pictures and video of the fish?

 

[GaryE]

Okay, take a deep breath. Please describe what you think shows an internal parasite.

The pH should be fine, as all your fish except the loach and Corys handle harder water.

 

[HutchesonJ]

What parasite do you think the fish have?
What symptoms do the fish have?
Pictures and video of the fish?

I went to Aquatic Exotic and they said that it's some type of internal Parasite that starts with a P I think I don't remember the name. But they have white stringy poop and kind of all look bloated I thought it was ich but she said it wasn't from the videos I showed her she said because the black one with white strip on his chest doesn't have white spots?. But ya here is some pictures...

This is what the poop looks like.

This is the black fish she seen a picture of that made her say it's not ich.

And this is the tank and a some of the tank mates.

 

[HutchesonJ]

Okay, take a deep breath. Please describe what you think shows an internal parasite.

The pH should be fine, as all your fish except the loach and Corys handle harder water.

The pH level is at 7.5 in both tanks. And the little and the long white stringy poop is coming out of all of the platys.

 

[GaryE]

A pH of 7.5 is moderate. Platys and mollies come from 7.8. So you have no worried there. All your fish should be good with that.

Stringy poop can be parasites, bacteria... it's hard to say. You could treat with praziquantel. I don't know what country you're in to know what is available brand-wise. I see no ich, but is this a new tank? I would do a 25-30% water change right away, then lock in to doing that weekly.

Have you read up on the cycle in tanks?

 

[HutchesonJ]

Okay, take a deep breath. Please describe what you think shows an internal parasite.

The pH should be fine, as all your fish except the loach and Corys handle harder water.

The pH level is at 7.5 in both tanks. And the little and the long white stringy poop is coming out of all of the platys

A pH of 7.5 is moderate. Platys and mollies come from 7.8. So you have no worried there. All your fish should be good with that.

Stringy poop can be parasites, bacteria... it's hard to say. You could treat with praziquantel. I don't know what country you're in to know what is available brand-wise. I see no ich, but is this a new tank? I would do a 25-30% water change right away, then lock in to doing that weekly.

Have you read up on the cycle in tanks?

A pH of 7.5 is moderate. Platys and mollies come from 7.8. So you have no worried there. All your fish should be good with that.

Stringy poop can be parasites, bacteria... it's hard to say. You could treat with praziquantel. I don't know what country you're in to know what is available brand-wise. I see no ich, but is this a new tank? I would do a 25-30% water change right away, then lock in to doing that weekly.

Have you read up on the cycle in tanks?

Yeah the lady at the store said it's a parasite and I got some Meracleanse for it I think that's what it's called. I gave them medicine yesterday and this morning I woke up to my Pleco being dead. Hopefully this medicine saves at least some of them. I did a 10% change in the small tank yesterday. And I cleaned all the fish decorations today. I was thinking maybe tomorrow I should vacuum the gravel. Do you think it would be ok to put new gravel in or is that to many changes all at once?

 

[Colin_T]

The tank looks a bit milky cloudy, which is usually from uneaten food or a filter that hasn't established yet. Check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0ppm, or a nitrate reading above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If you overdose with medications you can kill the fish. Catfish are more sensitive to chemicals than most other types of fish.

The blue platy in the first picture has clamped fins and that can be poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite or nitrate), chemicals in the water, or an external protozoan infection. If the water is good then it's probably an external protozoan infection and can be treated with salt. Use 1-2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt/ aquarium salt for every 20 litres/ 5 gallons of water. Keep salt in tank for 2 weeks.

If you want to deworm the fish, see section 3 of the following link.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[1L19]

Well I have a cocktail I use as I think it's very hard to determine what's actually wrong if you aren't a vet or a very experienced fish keeper. So if I have issues I'll hit em with following. Some folks say it's bad to use antibiotics if you don't need them but I'd rather have a live fish than a dead one. Measurements are for a 10 gallon tank:

Nitrofurazone - 1/8 teaspoon every 48 hrs
General Anti-Parasitic, Fungal and Bacterial Treatment/Preventative: Combine with Kanamycin or Metronidazole as these drugs work well together.

Effective against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. It is useful against many common fish diseases, especially effective against myxobacterial infections, fin and tail rot, dermal fungus, open sores, and vibrio anguillarum. Effective against Columnaris, Flexibacter, Black Molly Disease (Flavobacterium columnaris), Bacterial Gill Disease, Aeromonas, Excess Body Slime, Cloudy Eye, Streptococcus, Furunculosis, Fin and Tail Rot, Marine external ulcer disease and some protozoan infestations. Useful in treating minor topical skin infections of freshwater and marine species.

Seachem Paraguard - 1 capful daily
(Contains...)
Malachite green
MG is active against the oomycete Saprolegnia, which infects fish eggs in commercial aquaculture, MG has been used to treat Saprolegnia and is used as an antibacterial.[5] It is a very popular treatment against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis in freshwater aquaria. Used to treat Ich,
x-aldahyde
37% formaldehyde solution which is universally recognized as an effective medication for the treatment and control of diseases in saltwater aquarium fishes caused by fungi, protozoa, and certain metazoans. Used to treat ich

Seachem KanaPlex - 2 measures every 48 for a total of 3 applications
(Contains...)
Kanamycin
Used to treat serious bacterial infections in many different parts of the body. Kanamycin belongs to the class of medicines known as aminoglycoside antibiotics. It works by killing bacteria or preventing their growth.

API General Cure - 1 packet every 48 hrs for a total of 2 packets
(Contains...)
Metronidazole
Metronidazole is an antibiotic that is used to treat a wide variety of infections. It works by stopping the growth of certain bacteria and parasites. Metronidazole is an anti-protozoan fish medication used to treat hexamita (hole in the head disease or Malawi bloat), body slime (chilodonella), freshwater ich, epistylis in pond fish.
Praziquantel
Used for the treatments of external and internal parasites, flukes, flatworms, and tapeworms.

Good luck sir!