Unwell platy- help

[Katsplaty]

Hi all, I’m fairly new to the hobby, since October after having fish for years when I was a kid. I have a male platy who is not well. He was shimmying (I googled) his body was moving strangely so I added disease away into the tank which worked for me when another play was unwell. I did that around a week ago now, I noticed two days ago a white mark on is tail, so I googled ich and I don’t think it’s that as it hasn’t spread and is still in the same place. He’s very lethargic, he was laying at the bottom of the tank but did swim around actively when I put some food in just now, I’m worried. I will try and add a photo here. Thanks

 

[Kyle E.]

Yes a photo is a good idea. We need a little more information to be able to help you here.

What size tank and what tank mates?
How long has the tank been set up, and how long have you had this platy?
Could you provide a link to this disease away so we can see what's in it? Certain meds only treat certain diseases so what worked for your other platy may not apply here.
What are your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? In numbers please.
A white spot does sound like ich or maybe a fungal infection. Does it look fuzzy or fluffy?

If it is ich then raise the water temp to around 85F and add salt. If the only fish in the tank are livebearers (platies, guppies, swordtails, mollies) then they can handle more salt than most other fish. I will leave the dosing amount of the salt to other people who know it in metric units.

Do you have any live plants in the tank?

 

[Essjay]

How hard is your water? Shimmying is often a symptom displayed by hard water fish such as platies when they are kept in soft water. And it makes them more susceptible to disease
Look on your water company's website for hardness - you need a number and the unit of measurement (there are several they could use).

For now, use salt. Not the salt you may have in the kitchen as that has anti caking agents added, but aquarium salt. Use at the rate of 2 heaped 15 ml spoons per 20 litres tank water. Take some tank water out, dissolve the salt in that, then pour it back into the tank. Leave the salt in the water for 2 weeks, so if you do a water change add salt to the new water at the same dose rate to keep the tank level constant.