somethings wrong with my platy

[corylover5]

This morning I noticed one of my platies had a bump near her tail. She looked normal yesterday but it appeared this morning. Water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 8 nitrate. All my other fish are acting and looking normal. No stringy or white poop and they all eat well. My platy eats and acts normal but she has that bump. What could that be and how should I treat it? Thanks in advance.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Yikes. I don't know what that is, but I don't like the look of it. Has she had fry recently? Maybe @emeraldking can advise.

 

[corylover5]

Yikes. I don't know what that is, but I don't like the look of it. Has she had fry recently? Maybe @emeraldking can advise.

I got her a few weeks ago and she has not had any fry since I got her.

 

[emeraldking]

In some way, it looks as if she's close to giving birth...
Let her be for now and watch her closely. I wouldn't put any meds in yet. It seems that she does have some fry in there but maybe she's got some problems pushing them out. Worst case, an infection of her genitals. That does happen from time to time if a female can't push those fry out. But I would give it some time to see what happens.

 

[corylover5]

In some way, it looks as if she's close to giving birth...
Let her be for now and watch her closely. I wouldn't put any meds in yet. It seems that she does have some fry in there but maybe she's got some problems pushing them out. Worst case, an infection of her genitals. That does happen from time to time if a female can't push those fry out. But I would give it some time to see what happens.

It's been a few days now and she looks the same. Water parameters are the same and she has started staying at the bottom with her fins clamped. How should I help her? I really don't want to lose this platy.

 

[emeraldking]

Is there something that might stress her out?

 

[Derekshatch]

Sometimes male platies can stress out the female. Is your ratio of male to female good?

 

[corylover5]

I have 2 female platies and 1 male right now. I thought it was 2 females for every male? I sat in a corner of my room for about a half hour and watched to see if she came out or if anyone would chase her. The male wasn't chasing or nipping at her and the only fish who really bothered her were my cories accidentally bumping into her. I can't think of anything that could be stressing her either

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have 2 female platies and 1 male right now. I thought it was 2 females for every male? I sat in a corner of my room for about a half hour and watched to see if she came out or if anyone would chase her. The male wasn't chasing or nipping at her and the only fish who really bothered her were my cories accidentally bumping into her. I can't think of anything that could be stressing her either

Can you isolate her somewhere and do the aquarium salt treatment on her? What other meds do you have in stock?

 

[corylover5]

I will move her to a 5 liter bucket with aquarium salt. All other meds I have are useless. Things like mellafix, API super ich cure, and some others like that

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I will move her to a 5 liter bucket with aquarium salt. All other meds I have are useless. Things like mellafix, API super ich cure, and some others like that

Salt is a pretty good all round first line med for fish though, anti bacterial, anti fungal, and even helps against external parasites. When we don't know what's wrong, and platies are salt tolerant too, I don't think it'll harm, but it might help.

If she doesn't seem to be responding to the salt after a week, I might try the melafix, in case it can help against a bacterial infection of some sort. But this isn't a guaranteed plan I'm afraid, I really don't know what's going on with her, something internal. Looks like she may have been injured internally trying to birth fry, or some kind of internal parasite - but not like any worm symptoms I've ever seen - I don't know, I'm sorry hon. It might even be something genetically wrong with her that is only showing now as she grew, sometimes, we don't get to find out.

If someone else suggests anything, or knows anything, go with their advice over mine. I'm just saying what I would do in your shoes, if I couldn't find answers either. You could try sending her photos over to the folks on wet web media too, they got back to me very quickly when I emailed them once.

I'm sorry you've had such a rough go of it lately, a lot of losses and tank problems. not your fault, it just happens sometimes when keeping animals. Hugs

 

[corylover5]

Thank you. I hope she makes it. I will look into wet web media too.

 

[corylover5]

Unfortunately she passed away over night.
RIP my little fish friend

 

[corylover5]

I'm now left with 1 male and 1 female platy. How should I prevent the female from becoming stressed by the male? I really don't want to lose another platy

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm now left with 1 male and 1 female platy. How should I prevent the female from becoming stressed by the male? I really don't want to lose another platy

I'm sorry you lost her I lost my female guppy too, yesterday.

Regarding the remaining platies - is he harassing her a lot? Does she seem stressed?


The ratio is a guideline rather than a hard rule. A pair can work if the male isn't too relentless, and the tank has plenty of hiding spots. If he's bothering her constantly and she never gets a break or shes becoming stressed, then you'd need to move one of them out. Or add another female, but I wouldn't recommend doing that without quarantining the new one anyway, by which time your remaining female would be exhausted anyway.

The rule is that its better to have more females than males, but essential not to have males outnumber females. Like when people breed fancy guppies, a trio (1 male, 2 female) is usually preferred, but it's not uncommon to just use a pair either. It isn't an automatic doom for the female. I have a pair of yellow guppies right now. There are other females in the tank, but the male only has eyes for the one, but he's not constantly chasing her, so he stays for now.

Haven't they been alone with just the pair for a while now? Or was the poorly platy still in the main tank?