Should I be concerned?

[HeatherMW]

Hi Guys !

I have a bit of a concern with one of my fish. I have three male sunset platies and about four months ago I noticed two of them looking kinda thin, but still swimming, eating and interacting normally. A month ago I noticed that two of them look almost like an S shape. It's like their slightly curved. It looks really weird.

I just walked into the room and found one of them floating belly up. The other one is also very curved in appearance and I am worried that he too may die.

Is this some kind of disease?? I read somewhere that it couould be malnutrition...not enough vitamins.

If this is the case, how do I give them more vitamins? Their normal diet consists of a mixture of flakes and freeze dried blood worms twice per day.

Thanks for any help or suggestions that you may have.

Even though he is still acting normally, it is kinda eerie to watch him all bent up like that.....he is still acting well though! Can this be corrected or has the damage already been done?

Thanks again!...I will try to post a pic of him when I get home.

Heather

 

[Leslie]

I had the same problem as you but with my LF Leopard Danios. I, too, was told it could be malnutrition. After careful observation of the tank it appeared that there was a definite dominant Danio that was keeping the other 2 from eating properly. I removed the one Danio but the other 2 never recovered and I sadly lost them when we had a heat spike.

 

[Liliano]

IMO it sounds like there could have been some internal parasite feeding off the fish. Fish can actually live quite a while without food and wouldn't lose that much weight.

I also think it is unlikely to be malnutrition as platies eat the algae from the plants, rocks etc.

 

[FiShDuHuHuHuHude!]

you should ask a dealer at ur LFS about it most likley its the vitamin problem. were they born like that or did it happen a while ago?










the fishduhuhuhuhude!

 

[FishDan]

There are generally several reasons for S-shaped fish. Malnutrition is certainly one. And if you expect your fish to get enough nutrients only from what algae grows in your tank, I think that is a mistake (unless you go out of your way to grow algae in sufficient amounts). Vitamin deficiency is the same as malnutrition. Another cause I have seen is small fish and powerful filters. A fish can be get caught in the suction of a powerful filter and get its back broken by the intake and then eventually escape of be "freed" by another fish. Or a similar thing can happen if a fish is trapped by an ornament/decoration. I doubt this is the case with more than one fish having the problem. Tuburculosis is also a possible cause for this, though it is rare. Also, if it is only two fish, that probably means TB is not the cause. It is pretty infectious and can wipe out a tank pretty easily. I doubt this your problem unless you start having similar problems with more fish. Again, this last choice is pretty rare. Broken back is also not likely since more than one fish has the problem. I've never heard of parasites causing this type of deformity, but that certainly doesn't mean it can't be the case. Personally, I think malnutrition too. As was mentioned, sometimes one or more fish bully the others and prevent them from getting their fair share.

\Dan