Sick Platy

[Miss M]

(I orig posted this in "new to the hobby")

I have a platy that has become very, very, thin. He doesn't have the rounded belly as the other fish. From his mouth to the front of his caudal fin is a straight line, meaning he has no more rounded stomach area. When you look at him from behind, he is as thin as paper, other than his head. I've had him for a few months now, and over the past few weeks, he's been getting thinner. He is eating flake food, and he is swimming, but he tends to hover either near the top of the water, or in the back of the tank just above the gravel. His colors are still good (orange and black), no spots on him anywhere, and his fins look fine (not clamped).

Here is the tank info: 10 gallon running for approx 8 1/2 mnths

other fish in tank: 1 guppy, 2 cory's and one other platy (all have been in the tank for at least 3 mnths)

no ammon/nitrite

tank is 78 degrees

water changes are performed every other week (30-40%), adding aquarium salt and de-chlor.

tetra cartridge filter and 1 airstone (ceramic deco/plastic plants)

fish are fed tropical flake food 6 days a week (I fast them for one day) and freeze dried blood worm/brine shrimp 1-2 days a week.

Tank does have some brown algae, which I try to take care of when performing water changes.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Miss M

 

[stiffler69]

(I orig posted this in "new to the hobby")

I have a platy that has become very, very, thin. He doesn't have the rounded belly as the other fish. From his mouth to the front of his caudal fin is a straight line, meaning he has no more rounded stomach area. When you look at him from behind, he is as thin as paper, other than his head. I've had him for a few months now, and over the past few weeks, he's been getting thinner. He is eating flake food, and he is swimming, but he tends to hover either near the top of the water, or in the back of the tank just above the gravel. His colors are still good (orange and black), no spots on him anywhere, and his fins look fine (not clamped).

Here is the tank info: 10 gallon running for approx 8 1/2 mnths

other fish in tank: 1 guppy, 2 cory's and one other platy (all have been in the tank for at least 3 mnths)

no ammon/nitrite

tank is 78 degrees

water changes are performed every other week (30-40%), adding aquarium salt and de-chlor.

tetra cartridge filter and 1 airstone (ceramic deco/plastic plants)

fish are fed tropical flake food 6 days a week (I fast them for one day) and freeze dried blood worm/brine shrimp 1-2 days a week.

Tank does have some brown algae, which I try to take care of when performing water changes.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Miss M

Seems to me your doing everything right, only thing you could try is feeding him more regular than the others try feeding him some peas, not sure what else you can do for him.

 

[Miss M]

***update** Platy died this morning.

Thank you for your suggestions. I did try to feed him peas yesterday, but he wouldn't go for it. He was still nibbling at the flake food, but was lying on the gravel most of the night and died at some point this morning.

 

[*Fishkies*]

sorry to hear of your loss...


You should be careful with add salt as corydoras do not like it that much.

Could possibly have been a internal bacterial problem or internal parasites.

The other platy in there was it male of female? What kind was the one that died?

Keep an eye on your other fish to be sure nothing else turns up.

 

[Miss M]

I'm actually not positive of the gender of either fish. I usually refer to them as "he". I can't be positive of the type of platy: they were all listed as "assorted platies". I know that's not much info, but that's the best I can get from our fish supply store.

I also add very little salt, making sure that I swirl the gravel around a bit before the cory's get a chance to skim over it.

Miss M