Sick Platy :-(

[wilyfox]

I've got 4 Mickey mouse Platies and have had them in my tank (23L) for 4 weeks now, they have all been fine up until now. I have 1 male and three females. I gently went away for the weekend and asked a friend to feed the fish as I was away for 4 days. I came back to find the tank filled with food! The water had been tainted orange by the food to the extent the plants were dying and the fish were very lethargic.

I immediately did a 90+% water change, and had to clean the tank and sand etc as well. I kept the filter media and plants in the old water and rinsed them etc. Afterwards the fish seemed much happier and swam around as before.

In the last 2 days my oldest (largest) female has become sick. I don't know if the two are linked but I assume so. She has a White growth under her mouth, I'll upload a photo when I can. She's quite lethargic now, appetite is fine, doesn't swim much and the male is acting aggressively towards her. The other three fish stay away for the most part.



Any ideas in what the illness/fungus is and how to treat it. I don't want to lose her.


NOTE: I'm pretty sure the other two females are pregnant.


Thanks in advance!!

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

It's most likely mouth fungus. PimaFix should help.

 

[wilyfox]

I've got some eSHa 2000 to treat them with, hopefully that will clear up the problem. Now I just have to stop people feeding the fish to see them swim lots, am getting high ammonia levels.

Thanks for the advice

 

[Homedog98]

Do a few BIG PWC's. Like... 2 50% water changes. Then I'd use primafix. It's natural, and is safer on for plants.

 

[Homedog98]

I've got some eSHa 2000 to treat them with, hopefully that will clear up the problem. Now I just have to stop people feeding the fish to see them swim lots, am getting high ammonia levels.

Thanks for the advice

Ya... Fish can live for a while without food, so if you leave for four days, just feed twice a day the day you leave, do a 25% water change, and just let them fast for four days. You can do this method for up to a week... Then you need to hire a fish sitter. What most people do for that is label a plastic bag for each day you'll be gone, and put the amount of food they'll need in each bag. That way... It's hard to overfeed.

 

[murad]

mouth fungus treat it with either aquarium salt or meds

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

mouth fungus treat it with either aquarium salt or meds

IME Epson Salt works best!

 

[Homedog98]

IME Epson Salt works best!

Epsom salt works as a laxative... Doesn't help much with illness.

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

Epsom salt works as a laxative... Doesn't help much with illness.

Sorry got confused.
Epson Salt for dropsy
Aquarium salt for fungus

 

[kaiofcanada]

Poor fish. This happened to me once a couple years ago, so I feel your pain. I ended up doing daily water changes of 50-70% for about a week and monitored the ammonia and nitrite levels closely. Clean water is one of the best medicines for any fish ailment. I have also used melafix and pimafix to treat fungal and bacterial infections. I hope your fish recover quickly.

 

[Homedog98]

Sorry got confused.
Epson Salt for dropsy
Aquarium salt for fungus

Not really even for dropsy... Lol, it's mainly for bloat and swimbladder. Also works well for parasite clear outs... Which I guess is dropsy... Ok then... Nevermind!

 

[wilyfox]

Bertha (the one with the fungus/ White growth) is looking better already, the growth looks to be receding, breaking apart which I'm pleased about. I'm worried that my java fern may be a cause of the high ammonia levels too as it looks pretty unhealthy after it's weekend ordeal. Is it worth just taking it out and replacing it?

I was planning on doing a couple of extra water changes this week, but I'll do as you suggest and do 50% pwc.

Fingers crossed its sorted before any sprats are born.

 

[wilyfox]

Still not sorted out the fungus, am dosing with melafix and pimafix at the moment. Also still have really high ammonia levels 4ppm, so am doing 50% wc's over the next couple of days. The dying fern is out of the tank too.

Hopefully this will start to help soon

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

Do u have carbon in your filter?

 

[wilyfox]

I took it out when I started treating, haven't put it back in yet.

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

I took it out when I started treating, haven't put it back in yet.

Ok! I was just making sure, because the carbon takes out the meds!

 

[wilyfox]

A sensible thing to check! Any suggestions on a plant to replace my java fern? I was thinking of one that would grow to the surface of the water so any sprats that are born have a bit more to hide it.

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

A sensible thing to check! Any suggestions on a plant to replace my java fern? I was thinking of one that would grow to the surface of the water so any sprats that are born have a bit more to hide it.

Some anachris, hornwort, moneywort, L.Repens, and L. Ovalis are the 1's i can think of!