Analog Kid
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Late last night, I noticed that one of my silver crescent platys was in trouble - its tail fin was ragged and it had brownish-red spots on its body, and its skin appeared milky in spots. I did some research and decided that it was a combination of septicemia and fin rot, and that I'd pick up some antibiotics this evening. Unfortunately, the poor guy didn't make it through the night.
This morning, I gave all the remaining fish a close look. One of the other platys appeared to have a single brownish-red spot - so now I'm paranoid that whatever it had is contagious. So, I have two questions:
1) Does my diagnosis of septicemia/fin rot sound correct?
2) What should I do to make sure the other fish don't catch it?
Tank stats: Up and cycled for a few months; I've only had fish for about one month, starting with the tetras (~1" each), which still look OK. The platys (~1.5" each) have been in residence for a week, and all appeared healthy until last night. No new decorations for 3 weeks; last water change was 25%, with last week's vacuum; I'm on a weekly vacuum/change schedule. AquaClear 200 filter @ 200 GPH; partial media change 2 weeks ago. Chemistry as of last night was:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
pH 6.0
The pH was at the lower limit of my test kit, so I added a little pH-Up...I'm trying to balance it between the needs of the tetras and the platys.
Thanks!
This morning, I gave all the remaining fish a close look. One of the other platys appeared to have a single brownish-red spot - so now I'm paranoid that whatever it had is contagious. So, I have two questions:
1) Does my diagnosis of septicemia/fin rot sound correct?
2) What should I do to make sure the other fish don't catch it?
Tank stats: Up and cycled for a few months; I've only had fish for about one month, starting with the tetras (~1" each), which still look OK. The platys (~1.5" each) have been in residence for a week, and all appeared healthy until last night. No new decorations for 3 weeks; last water change was 25%, with last week's vacuum; I'm on a weekly vacuum/change schedule. AquaClear 200 filter @ 200 GPH; partial media change 2 weeks ago. Chemistry as of last night was:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
pH 6.0
The pH was at the lower limit of my test kit, so I added a little pH-Up...I'm trying to balance it between the needs of the tetras and the platys.
Thanks!