Platy Problems

[newtothegame]

Hi there!
I've been searching everywhere to find advice on my platies. I've had my twenty gallon for about a month now
Dimentions 24x16x12 i'm pretty sure
ammonia 0
nitrite0
nitrate0
p.H 7.4
I have 3 sunburst paties
6 guppies and 4 guppy fry four weeks old

A few days ago I've discovered ick in my tank, however this problem goes further back than ick.
I bought 3 platies at once (2 male 1 female). These were some of the first fish in my tank. i'm going to get a better ratio now that the tank is cycled and as soon as I battle this ick.
One of my original platies died shortly after I got them. This was before I started testing and I'm sure this was due to ammonia poisioning or something.
I bought them from petsmart so returned and got my free replacement becuase he was still within his fourteen days. The platy that I got always always sat at the bottom and only came out for feeding time. I thought maybe that's just the way he always was. I've had him for four weeks for sure and he's still with us. But still at the bottom. Then just a couple days ago my female that I've had since the start started to act funny, now she as well mainly stays at the bottom but still comes out more than the bottom dweller male. I don't know what to do. The other male is quite aggressive could it be possible that it would be fixed by adding more females? Or is this a disease particular to platies?
However I don't want to add anything until I get this ick battle won. I think I'm almost there. The thing that makes me wonder though is that my guppies seem perfectly fine. I've never had platies before. They are totally new to me. And I'm totally clueless.
Thanks for any advice.
Oh one thing I might want to mention is that my p.H had been fluctuating the past week or so, and I've also had a nitrite prob .p.H went from 8.2-7.4 rapidly a couple times. Nitrite never went higher than 0.5. I started changing more when the nitrites climbed and scarlett (female bottom sitter platy) was acting odd I thought it was nitrite poisoning.
I've been doing small partial water changes every day. I would say 10% Because I didn't want the water parameters to get out of control. I read some stuff saying change it. others saying don't. I figured as I'm in university and don't have a lot of money for chemicals I would go with the cheaper option. I do add water conditioner and bacterial supplement every time I change the water.

 

[spoonman]

If you have had the tank for a month and all your readings are 0, I would say that your tank has NOT cycled yet. You said that your Nitrite was a problem. That sounds like you are IN your cycle not through it yet. That is probably why your fish are acting strangely. JMO. With that many fish, and that small of PWC's you should have ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and at least some nitrates if the tank was completely cycled. Also you should not need to add a bacterial supplement when you change the water if your tank is cycled, only dechlorinator. The good bacteria is already in your filter media and your substrate and decor.

 

[jinchi]

that sounds just like the prob I had awhile back with my setup. I treated with ick treatment per directions. 1 application of dose every 24 hrs. Kept the lites off, turned the heater up and kept my aerator on high. did 10% water changes before dosing and in 1 week about, the ick magically disappeared.

Good luck

 

[newtothegame]

Thanks for the advice!
I hope I'm wining the battle. I've been slowly increasing the temp a little bit and I have also been changing the water before treatment. A couple days ago I noticed two very tiny white spots on only the male platy then today there were a bunch more on the one platy! I've looked this evening and some orgs seemed to have fallen off the male so hopefully the medication can nuke them now. Lights have been off and carbon filter removed. So far so good with the ick prob. I don't have an agitator per say. But I have been keeping the h2o level lower so the filter can add more oxygen. I have one guppy fry in the breeder trap which has a bubbler in it. So even though its minimal it contributes a little. I'm pretty sure I caught it in the flashing stage so I'm hoping for a good outcome!
Question though to jinchi was your fish a bottom sitter aswell when you had ick?? If so they recovered and were acting fine after you cleared the ick?

 

[mfdrookie516]

If you have had the tank for a month and all your readings are 0, I would say that your tank has NOT cycled yet. You said that your Nitrite was a problem. That sounds like you are IN your cycle not through it yet. That is probably why your fish are acting strangely. JMO. With that many fish, and that small of PWC's you should have ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and at least some nitrates if the tank was completely cycled. Also you should not need to add a bacterial supplement when you change the water if your tank is cycled, only dechlorinator. The good bacteria is already in your filter media and your substrate and decor.

+1... definately doesnt sound like it is cycled unless you have lots of plants or something like that. what are you adding to the water when you do pwc's?

 

[kaiofcanada]

Ich infects the gills. This is a little known fact apparently, or at least one people tend not to notice. Yes you can see the white specs when the ick is in the cyst stage, but what isn't seen which is the most deadly to fish is the ick infestation in their gills. It makes the affected fish lethargic and you might see them hiding, staying at the bottom if they are very lethargic or gasping at the top of the water for air. Other symptoms are flashing (rubbing) and loss of appetite. All are signs that the fish is very ill. It is most likely that other fish had ick which reproduced and is now affecting your female similarly.

My suggestion for ick treatment is always the same...increase your tank temperature to 86.5F. Platys should be fine at this temperature for the treatment. Ick can not reproduce at his temperature. Raising the temperature also speeds up the life cycle of the parasite accelerating the rate at which you can effectively get rid of it. Maintain the tank temperature at 86.5+ degrees (up to 90) for 10 days. I perform daily water changes of 30-50% during this time. This dilutes the free swimming theronts that will invariable infect your fish again as they cycle through. I also add aquarium salt at 1 tblsp per 5 gal.

Slowly ramp up the temp in your tank...no more than 1-2 degrees per day. Once you reach 86.5 maintain that temp for the duration of 10 days. Because the diffusion capacity of gases in water is decreased at higher temps you will need to provide extra aeration in your tank. You can do this by lowering your tanks water level, causing the outpouring water from the filter to aerate the water more or by adding an airstone. I do both. Extra aeration is also very important as your fishies gills are being attacked and they need all the help they can get to breathe.

Be sure to temperature match the water and dechlorinate it each time you change the water.

 

[newtothegame]

I'm not sure what is +1 is, unless you are referring to the p.H?? I do have quite a few plants in my aquarium tho. Camboda mostly. I add water conditioner as well as a bacterial supplement when I do PWC to answer one question

Its all making sense now with regards to the ick info from kaiofcanada. Seeing as my one male platy acted like that since I had him do you think that he was the one who introduced ick to my tank?? And took this long to reproduce enough to infect my other fish?? I thought at first my female platy had nitrite poisoning, but she never returned to normal when the nitrites returned to 0. I really hope she recovers. She has the most gorgeous dorsal fin. Every time I go to the petstore I look for one that has a fin like her and I haven't found one yet.

 

[mfdrookie516]

+1 means i agree with spoonman on what he said... It is very possible that you introduced ich to the tank from the male that you said has acted funny since you got him... Ich could also have been caused by the tank going through a cycle and stressing the fish. Once the tank gets cycled and you treat the ich, everything should hold steady for you...

 

[newtothegame]

GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR I CAN'T WIN!!!!!!!
So I've been battling this ick following all instructions to the letter. And NOW I discover that my one platy has an entire side covered in what appears to be a white fungus. There is spots of blood it looks like little lines going down his entire side I don't know what to do. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to do the humane thing and do the whole place him in frozen water bit cause he looks pretty bad. What do I do? My guppies seem pretty well right now but all three of my platies are bottom sitters at the moment. Do I take the healthy looking fish out and give the place a complete scrub down?? My ick isn't going away either. The only thing is I have no other tank so any suggestions if I have to take the fish out?? Will they be ok in a bucket or something if I have to take them out?
Is starting an aquarium always this frustrating??

 

[spoonman]

Without a picture it sounds like you are describing septicemia (not sure on the spelling). Look it up and see if that is what it looks like. Totally different treatment and I have seen it in platys before... The red streaks..

 

[newtothegame]

Thanks i tried to take a picture of it before I posted today's frustration. The color didn't turn out. In the pictures I took he looks normal.

 

[newtothegame]

Are my other fish at risk??

 

[kaiofcanada]

I agree with spoon regarding the red streaking on your fish.

As for frustration in starting up...treating any fish ailment requires patience. Often the illness, just as in humans, has to run its course. Even we don't get over bronchitis or the flu in a day. Treatments and sicknesses often take a couple weeks to treat and begin to see an improvement on the fishes condition.

In general, it is best to have a quarantine tank to move a sick fish to. This is both to be able to make sure new fish are not sick before putting them into your main tank as well as to prevent a fish from spreading its illness to others. If at all possible, it would be great if you could get a QT tank started. You could buy a large bowl and get a small in tank filter to start it up. Just as with any tank, a QT tank will need to be cycled unless you have a mature filter from another tank that you could place on it.

This is what I would recommend....find a glass bowl or tank 1-5 gal is fine. Consider filters such as this....Tetra Whisper In-tank Filters at PETCO. They are very affordable and will get the job done properly.

Take some gravel from your 20 gallon and put it in the qt tank to accelerate the cycling. The same nitrogen cycle needs to occur regardless of the tank.
Treat your sick fish in this tank....molly's and guppies are small. A 2-5 gallon should be suffiecient to treat 1-2 at a time in a 2 gal and 3 in a 5gal. This is probably the least expensive way to set up a QT tank. You could also use a bucket that is clean (never had chemicals, cleaning agents, or other questionables in it ever) and add an HOB or in tank filter.

When you are not treating fish...add the qt in-tank/HOB filter to your main tank to keep the bacterial filter healthy and alive, with a new filter cartridge (so as not to transfer any cooties back into your main tank). This way in the future you will have a mature filter to restart your QT tank up again.

As for treating various fungal infections or scepticemia...there are several drugs you could use. Be sure you are treating the right illness. Post some pictures of your sick fish so that we can help diagnose it properly.

 

[newtothegame]

So I was able to kinda get pictures of my sick platy. The red streaks didn't show up in the picture. I got one picture where you can see the white I'm assuming fungus. But it goes along his whole one side and the red streaks are in that.
White on platy
http://s810.photobucket.com/albums/zz30/golfergirl_02/?action=view&current=P1020696.jpg
behind his pectoral fin and before his tail. The discoloration is not present on the other side of his body. Zooming in can be viewed better.
He just sits on the bottom all day. This is how he acted ever since I got him. Same fish as above.

platy behaviour picture by golfergirl_02 - Photobucket
You can see from this angle that there is no discoloration.
Sorry I couldn't get it better, it was really hard to get it with the camera.

 

[newtothegame]

platy picture by golfergirl_02 - Photobucket
fish more in focus but can't see white as well.

 

[spoonman]

I can not see these pics from work. Someone that can see these please check them out......

 

[JPKeenan]

looked to me more like a white fuzzy coating... mold or mildew like than the white heads of ich. But I know how hard it is to get the fish to turn for the camera and smile ;(.

My one tank is mostly plateys and it was the tank I didn't have cycled all the way and had the ich infection in. The Plateys and Danioes were totally unaffected by the ich from the new fish.

I didn't know before I got them but a Platey is sort of like a super fish and can take more "damage" than a lot of other species.... You have a lot more people on here who are a lot more experienced in fish keeping than I am. But it does not look like ich to me.

Do you have any "outside influences" in your tank? Say rocks or driftwood or other stuff which came from the outside world? From the one pic the one fish looked almost like the white fuzzy mold you get one "refrigerator experiments".

I know the 2 ich treatments I have also treat other ailments. Wondering if your's is also a fungal treatment.

You also said your pH has gone ape. Can't finding it when I need it. Mine has been slowly going down cause of some driftwood I placed in my tank. A neighbor of mine saw me cleaning a tank outside and he has a marine tank, gave me about 10lbs of crushed coral, which would raise my pH..... part of why I also asked if you added anything recently to your tank.

 

[portia]

My platy sits at the bottom alot too and my tank is cycled and numbers are great. Maybe it's a platy thing.

 

[JPKeenan]

My platy sits at the bottom alot too and my tank is cycled and numbers are great. Maybe it's a platy thing.

Mine are all over the tank no matter if I have the light on or off. Maybe just the personality of the fish itself.

 

[newtothegame]

I ended up going to this one pet store in town that seems pretty informed about fish and fish diseases. Unfortunately the fish in that picture is no longer with us The casualties seem to be climbing. Its a shame. I told him about my ick problem, what I was using and this new found white stuff in my tank. He said it was a secondary infection of fungus which makes perfect sense because my female platy had become covered in it as well. (Same stuff as pic provided) So far she is still around. Fingers are crossed that this whole thing blows over. He told me to buy this fungus cure with victoria green in it which was supposed to battle the ick. My guppy fry have suffered heavy casualties as well unfortunatly. One I'm sure was due to the ick, for he didn't look well before I purchased the new medication. I've lost three of my five fry, and the others don't look well either. I looked at it as a catch 22. Either the medication would kill them or the ick would. I know for a fact I have ick in my tank as well. Many of the visible ick patches have fallen off my fish recently so hopefully I'm on the downward end of things.
I guess there are some battles that are easier to win than others.