Sick Platy

[txbelle221]

I have a 29 gallon tropical with Platys, Mollies, Neons,Corys and 3 female Bettas. They have been in there together for about 3 months. I haven't had any other problems, but I have noticed that two of my Platys look like they have lost weight. My Red Wag and my Sunset used to be very healthy, but I noticed that they were hiding for awhile and now that I got a good look at them, they look like they are just shriveling up. I am pretty sure that there is plenty of food for them and I don't think that they have had fry or anything like that.

Any ideas? I was trying at first to figure out who in the tank they were hiding from, but there doesn't seem to be any agression in the tank. I have had these two for awhile(5-6 months) could it be that they are just old? The Red Wag is in the worst condition. I don't think that she will make it much longer. I considered setting up a hospital tank, but it will be the weekend before I can do that. And in past problems that I have had, it seems the stress of catching and moving the fish to the hospital tank just makes things worse.

Has anyone had this problem before?

 

[aloaring]

I currently have the same problem with my platys, 2 died for no apparent reason, 2 healthy ones are hiding and one looks malnourished even though its feeding but the other fish in the tank are fine! done research and can't find anything on this someone said it could be gill disease but i'm not to sure. i am doing regualr water changes and test and everything is fine so I am playing a waiting game now to see what happens. but i do wonder if being such an inbred species and constantly giving birth, it must take its toll on the fish and maybe shorten their life spans!! keep me up to date on what happens to your fish and goodluck

 

[sadfishowner]

I had 5 female sunset platies, 1 male sunset platy. one female red platy...2 weeks ago. I wake up to find one of my females had died, everyday one died...I have 1 red platy and the male still alive, and they seem fine...It has been a week now with no loss...I was feeding my fish when one died...my sunset platy was fine, she was eating and all the sudden she took a nose dive and hit the bottom of the tank...and then floated on her side...Like she had a heart attack, just killed over...no illness, no nothing...

 

[tstenback]

what are your current water parameters? Are these fish eating? usually when a fish "shrivels up" it is due to an internal problem like a bacteria or parasite or some other condition that is causing the fish not to eat normally. keep us posted

 

[johnny]

I had the same problem a few weeks ago with one of my platies. It was still eating, although probably not as much as the others. I tested the water every couple of days and that wasn't the cause. So I took a walk upto my LFS and the guy there reckons it's because it was old. Hope this helps.

 

[fishrock]

its funny because i have the same problem. i have a female sunset platy that was or is pregnant she took to the bottom i thought because of a aggressive molly but she rarely comes out and has trouble swimming. the other one looks fine so far. whats happening.

 

[Darcie]

I to have the same problem ! I noticed a couple days ago that one of my females wasn't looking good. I thought it was because she was jelous..lol my other two are both expecting soon. I checked everything and things are great ... Whats going on ! ?

 

[csr mel]

i have a similar problem. one of my females is not eating very much. she spits most of the food she eats and only swallows about 10% of what the other platys are eating. she also seems to swim with her body instead of her tail and fins, although her tail and fins look fine to me.

also her anal fin and top fin is awalys closed up tight against her body. i duno whats going on with her but if this keeps up i am taking her back and getting another platy because the lfs has a month warranty on fish.

 

[Sasha]

I have this problem very often and recently discovered that it is caused by an internal parasite. The symptoms are thinness, acting weak and listless. For treatment, use Zeemax (or Jungle Parasite Clear Tank Buddies, it works the same) and feed Pepso Food. Good luck!

 

[txbelle221]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies!
I haven't checked my water yet, I will do that this evening(Friday is my weekly clean the tank day). I do have some parasite clear, I may start that treatment and see what happens I tried to find the Pepso food awhile back and I couldn't find it. So far they are both still alive, but they look the same as they did and they also have their fins clamped and swim with their whole body. They seem to be eating, but I am not sure how much.

I know platys are very available, but these two were part of my first 10 gallon tank when I first got started in this hobby.

Thanks for all of the replies and I will try some of the advice and let ya'll know.