Sick Platy

[Miss M]

Hi everyone. One of my platy's is sickly skinny: no rounded stomach area, and he looks as thin as paper, other than his head. He doesn't have any spots, fins are not clamped, and his color is still the same. He's eating and swimming, but spends lots of time hovering at the top of the water, or hovers in the back of the tank just above the gravel. I've had him for a few months, and over the past few weeks, he's been getting thinner and thinner.

There's a guppy, another platy and 2 cory's in the 10 gallon tank w/him. Readings are good, temp is about 78 degrees.

I do approx 30-40 percent water change every other wk. I only add de-chlor. and salt when doing water changes. They're eating tropical fish flakes, and I give them blood worms or brine shrimp 1-2x a week.

Any ideas?


Thanks for any suggestions.
Miss M

 

[mark.w.jones]

So no other strange behaviour from other tank inhabitants then.

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH just before your fortnightly water change? Levels may be fine now but ideally water changes should be done on a weekly basis. Just before your water change you may find that these levels are quite high and then swing down as soon as you do your big water change. Swings in levels are not good for fish who may already be weak or suffering from an infection of some description.

If his appetite is still good I would suggest that he is suffering either from an internal parasite of some description or maybe from tuberculosis. Is his waste white and stringy kind of translucent rather than be browny / green and solid looking? If so this definitely points towards an internal parasite. If not tuberculosis is more likely, in which case I would advise you to unfortunately euthanase him.

There is a product here by waterlife called octozin which people seem to have had success with in treating internal parasites:

http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/catalogue...fe-remedies.asp

If he doesn't pick up from this then I'm afraid the euthanasia route is the best option, especially if he's showing no signs of improvement.

 

[Miss M]

All the other fish are behaving normally. Ammonia and nitrite tested zero, and nitrate tested at 20.

He's eating some flake food (not like the others), but lately has been lying on the gravel in the back of the tank.

I tried to feed him some peas, but he wouldn't take them. I don't know what color his waste is; I haven't seen him go. Most of the waste I do see in the tank is more of a pinkish color, but I'm assuming that's from the other platy and guppy. I think there may have been some white/grayish poo the other day when I changed the water, but it's hard to remember.

I'll keep you updated on any changes.

Thanks

Miss M

 

[Miss M]

***update***

Platy died this morning. Jonesy, thank you for your suggestions. Wish I knew what happened, but I'll keep a close eye on the others in the tank.

Miss M