Sick fish?

[frosty27]

My micky mouse platy had a wound turn up by her tail. She has been quiet hiding but the wound seemed to be getting better. I have now found the same thing on another of my girls so am concerned it is something transmissible? This is the best picture i could get

 

[frosty27]

Also amonia levels are o and nitrites are 0. I plan to do multible water changes over next few day to see if that makes a difference. Tank is a fluval sea 50 litres.

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

Her fins are very clamped too which indicates a very stressed fish. It looks like a wound from bullying. I would try to find out who is responsible and remove the bully fish immediately. What is the total stocking of the tank? 50L is very small to keep platys in and overstocking could definitely increase the risk of aggression.

I would also recommend increasing your water changes to prevent infection and help her heal. This will also help if you have any water quality issues that are contributing to the clamped fins. However, you'll have to do water changes for more than a few days to see improvement. This is a serious injury that will likely take weeks to heal.

 

[frosty27]

I started with 6 female platies (we lost one due to getting stuck in the filter when still small) then added a male who I think was highly stressed from the day I put him in as he didnt do very well and lost him, never saw any breeding action but did get one brood who are now getting quite big (also dont want interbreeding going on) they are about two months old, so have every intention of moving them. I also have guppies in there but intend on removing them and giving them back to the person who gave me them as breeding like mad and tank is just too small for that.

Would adding some aquarium salt help the girls heal?

 

[frosty27]

there are also three cherry shrimp

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

I started with 6 female platies (we lost one due to getting stuck in the filter when still small) then added a male who I think was highly stressed from the day I put him in as he didnt do very well and lost him, never saw any breeding action but did get one brood who are now getting quite big (also dont want interbreeding going on) they are about two months old, so have every intention of moving them. I also have guppies in there but intend on removing them and giving them back to the person who gave me them as breeding like mad and tank is just too small for that.

Would adding some aquarium salt help the girls heal?

Yeah that's pretty overstocked, I'm not surprised that there is some aggression amongst the platys. Salt paired with frequent water changes will help them heal. I would recommend a low dose of aquarium salt, around 4 tablespoons for the whole tank. Each water change replace a proportionate amount of salt in new water. Eg. if you do a 50% water change dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt to keep concentration at 4 tablespoons for the whole tank.

 

[Essjay]

Take a bit of tank water into a tub and dissolve the salt in that, then pour it back into the tank.

 

[Lynnzer]

I think most people love the idea of breeding the fish they keep, as you do too. I am also dead keen on the idea but I do recognise the problems.
The mollies I had, only 2 of them resulted in another 50ish that became a bit onerous to manage as the tank just wasn't up to it., and mollies, platys, endlers etc are pretty much unsaleable due to their easy availability.
The same thing happened to a pair of kribs. At least their own offspring and the tending of them by protective parents gave me much pleasure watching them get shepherded around. The biggest problem with those is that they took a hell of a long time to become large enough to sell or obtain credit for in my LFS.
So that venture into breeding was successful but stressful at the same time.
Right now I have a community tank, well 4 of them plus another 3 for general fishkeeping things, and they are stocked mainly with nano fish where i can have a greater number in the same space as I'd need for just a few larger ones. The visuals are great watching a school of Green Tetras, or Chili Rasboras in my TOTM entry tank zip around the tank.
One of my other tanks, the one similar in size to yours has 5 Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish that sit at the top tank level and barely move all day except for feeding time. I know which I prefer.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your tank details and I hope you continue to post on its progress.
If you haven't voted for the tank of the month could I implore you to and be an active member of the forum. The competition closes tomorrow

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