When You Can't Make A Fish Better But They Don't Seem "sic

[PrairieSunflower]

Oooops, my title was too long!

When You Can't Make A Fish Better But They Don't Seem "sick enough"


So... the story starts awhile ago (not sure how long, couple of months back). One of my tank had a really nasty outbreak of ich that took me quite a lot of effort to tackle. That current tank is doing fine (all the babies that survived and remain in the tank are perfectly healthy).

During the outbreak I lost my first ever platy who seemed to be the worst hit and probably the source of the outbreak. Another platy was second most affected but survived. It is that one, Moon Glow, that I have the concern about.

Since then, she is generally unhappy and often clamps, not tightly but not in a normal grumpy platy way. She is thin and doesn't seem to gain weight. After a while, I did a tank shuffle so I could place her in a different tank (she is with one little buddy for company).

She just has never returned to normal... she is friendly and all... she has always had "bigger eyes" than my other platies (one of her babies is just the same way) and it is so cute.

Well... she has a bit more of a wobble when she swims (since the original outbreak), but maybe from clamping and thinness. She eats and poops normally. She sits in her comfort places a lot (when I am not up close looking at her).

And as of yesterday... she appears to have a spot on her tail... very likely to turn out to be ich. I have held off on jumping straight to treatment to make sure first.

The thing is... with her never having really "recovered" from that last illness to the point I found it necessary or wise to separate her from most fish... is it the best idea to keep trying? Is she maybe so long unhappy that it isn't fair on her? I did try a mild treatment of Anti-Internal Bacteria meds awhile ago in hopes that maybe that would heal up something unseen... there was no effect.

I'm at a loss. Love that little big eyed fish... but she is just so unhappy looking pretty much ALL the time... and now, quite possibly sick again... surely she isn't strong enough to survive another treatment if that is what is needed.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi Sorry have no answer for you , but hope you can get big eye fish well and happy soon
cathy

 

[the_lock_man]

Toughy one, that.
 
First off, though, one thing to note is that dosing a medication on the off-chance it would help is usually a bad idea.
 
The only thing really I can suggest is to do daily water changes to keep the water as pristine as possible, for a couple of weeks, and see if that helps. If not, thenI think it's just a case that you're going to have to accept that she's not going to regain her erstwhile vigour.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, I was feeling rather desperate at her miserable looks.

I will try daily changes, her current tank isn't all that big so it will be easy.

I think I forgot to say what kind of fish she even was earlier. She is a blue coral platy.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Here are some pictures.

This is what my platy looked like before the original ich problem

And this is what she has looked like since

 

[mark4785]

If the spot you mention is white and really small (the size of a salt grain) I would recommend treating for Ich as there simply isn't another cause for a salt-grain sized mark. The only thing that would keep me from treating such a mark would be if it was accompanied by redness which would be indicative of perhaps a bite.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, but my worry is weather it is fair to her at this point... to treat her since she is so weak and never recovered. I wonder if it is better euthanizing her... but at the same time... she doesn't seem as sick... but... she never gets better... now that spot... which yes, looks exactly like ich.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Hmm, definitely a difficult one!
 
I'd try treat her for a while and if things get any worse then I think it has to be time to admit what has to happen

 

[Mamashack]

She's a shadow of her former self and has lost all her colour, bless her! She looks so sad!
Think I'm with those who suggest treating for Ich for a course, but then if she doesn't recover I think I'd be inclined to consider euthanising her which altho it's awful to have to do, might be kinder in the end. Got my fingers crossed she recovers tho!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Part of it is that she is under different light, do the color change isn't as dramatic as it appears. But yes, I do think she has lost a bit of her nice blue sheen.

 

[Shelster]

She is such a beautiful fish too, and yes I love those eyes!

Perhaps she has some underlying internal issues which the ich just exacerbated, that she now cannot recover from making her prone to ich outbreaks?

Don't know, hope she gets over it

 

[PrairieSunflower]

She has two surviving babies that will be 3 months old next week. One of them inherited the big eyes. (She has had 10 babies in two batches, 3 from the first vanished, and all 5 from the second were eaten before I could find them.)

I hope she pulls around too (started the treatment)... but I find it hard to feel hopeful since she looks such a poor state still from last time.

 

[Mamashack]

Fingers crossed, Prairie!

 

[DyArianna]

Keeping fingers crossed for you as well here!  She really is a pretty fish.  The second half of her body (the peduncal is it?) looks a bit off even in the first pic.  But worse in the second.  Maybe she's just always had something off with her and now it's taking a toll?  I hope she pulls through for you! 

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Keeping fingers crossed for you as well here!  She really is a pretty fish.  The second half of her body (the peduncal is it?) looks a bit off even in the first pic.  But worse in the second.  Maybe she's just always had something off with her and now it's taking a toll?  I hope she pulls through for you! 

Oh? How do you mean off in the first picture?

I have only ever bought 4 platies so I am still new to their body language and overall look. Two of the platies I have bought are quite big and round (the mickey mouse in the picture being one of them). Moon Glow was always smaller (the blue one), then I had a red wag that was TINY despite being the one I had the longest and I am positive was older than all the others (she was the one that died from ich... I started to be convinced that surely she was a dwarf or such!)

Just wondering what you think of her babies. If perhaps there has been something maybe off all along, do her babies look alright?

This is Muffin, named her such because she was so much more round in shape than her sister.

This is Cupcake.... because it just sort of went with Muffin. LOL