Unwell Platy (Swim bladder maybe?)

[GeorgeFrancis222]

Hey guys,

Due to all the great help I've had here in the past I was in no doubt of where to ask when my next problem arose.

Well, I have had a 180L (47G) freshwater aquarium for about 6 months now. Inside I have livebearers, 3 Platies and their many babies, 2 Mollies and 6 Guppies. Recently my male platy "Swimmy" who has been with me in various tanks for about a year has been not well at all. This morning I found him on the gravel, tail curved and only just moving his fins, after further investigation I discovered he is able to move around, barely. His eyes dart around, but he is on his side and curved. I have put him in a breeding net as to stop the others pecking him. I performed a moderate water change and added a medicine for general illness (trusted brand). All my parameters are fine as normal (I will specify if necessary).

I thought this could be a swim bladder issue but a Molly of mine died of that a while back and she was displaying different symptoms (swimming, feeding fine just tilted).

Thanks guys really appreciate the help.

GF

 

[mr.waffles1842]

Would you mind specifying? And also could you please give us the medicine? Im sure its great, but you cant be too careful. Its possible he could be dying of old age. These symptoms are similar to what happened to some of my old fish, but if its only a yea old i doubt its old age...

 

[GeorgeFrancis222]

NO2- 0
NO3- <35
pH- 7.5

and my medicineis "Omnipur S" against the most common fish ailments. I live in Austria so most likely unrecognisable brands.

It is possible for me to do a Gh and KH test if necessary.

 

[GeorgeFrancis222]

Been at least 10 hours since I noticed it. Still alive, dormant on the net floor until any activity like a hand or fish fry that managed to get in. When it moves it moved sideways and struggles around its bent tail and lies down again. Poor thing, I hope he will be ok.

 

[jpchin]

so sorry to hear that swimmy isn't doing well. are there any obvious signs of injury or anything showing on the scales? i really would warn you that putting chemicals in your tank without knowing what you are treating puts all the other tank mates in peril as you are exposing them all to these chemicals. i would continue to watch swimmy to see if he presents any other symtoms of disease or injury. if you feel the need to do more treatment i would isolate him from the rest of the tank, treat him and then put him back in your main tank.
here is a web page that helps to identify different diseases. maybe you'll see something that matches swimmy's symtoms.

Fish Disease, Diseases of Fish, Medications & Fish Health Treatments

best of luck to you and swimmy.

 

[jpchin]

also, giving it more thought, sometimes you just have to make the tough decision to put your friend out of it's misery. as hard as it is to make that decision for me it's much harder to watch them suffer on endlessly with no hope of getting better. it's very hard but in the end it's the kind thing to do i think.

 

[GeorgeFrancis222]

Thank you, I will see if I can't separate him from the rest, I always have my hospital tank ready. I cannot see any physical flaws apart from his now "S" shape. Apart from what appears to be a tiny white nub thing near his abdomen, couldn't get a very good look though. I'll investigate further. Yes sorry I admit the medicine was sort of a panic thing, not really what an aquarium keeper should do but I was more tempted to put this medicine in because I have had fish with swim bladder problems in the past, and most recovered using this medicine. So when I thought it was a swim bladder problem, that came to mind. I wasn't sure whether to separate him, because I didn't know if any other fish could be having the same thing early on. Should I do a water change tomorrow to remove the medication? How much water would you say?

Thank you

 

[GeorgeFrancis222]

Yes, maybe if I could diagnose it I would know better, whether there is hope or not. it's so hard to tell if a fish is in pain :/

 

[jpchin]

i would do a water change. maybe a 30-40% change so that would be about 15-20 gals. just remember to match the water temperature as close as you can. and of course use your water conditioner. how often do you do regular water changes? i do a 10-15% change every 3rd day. i have a 45 gal. tank. some people prefer to do a larger change once a week. i really believe there isn't anything better you can do for the health of your fish and tank than doing frequent water changes alonf with once a week gravel vacuuming. good water keeps so many problems from occurring in the first place. your fish are in a closed system and have to live in a tank with no fresh water except for what you add. in the wild of course they are getting fresh water all the time so i think it's very important to set a good water change schedule and stick to it. as far as swimmy goes, i don't think water quality has anything to do with his problems. even though he's only a year old he could just be like people are. he might just have a short life span. and you never know how old they are when you get them really. i would be cautiously optomistic and observe him for the next few days. if he doesn't show any improvement it might be time to let him go. :-(

 

[GeorgeFrancis222]

I usually do a 15% twice a week, sometimes a 30% once a week but I try to do two a week. I know it will be painful to let him go if he does not improve but I think seeing the 20 odd Platy fry he made grow up to be happy healthy fish would make his life, although cut tragically short, a very meaning full one. I'll hope for the best, and thank you very much for your advice.

 

[jpchin]

on the web site i sent to you look under physical changes and the first symtom seems to maybe match swimmy? it says the body is distorted by a curvature of the spine. read it and see if that fits.

 

[jpchin]

you are more than welcome for any help i might have been able to give. that's what's so nice about this site. best of luck.

 

[GeorgeFrancis222]

After further research I heard that some fish bend like that as a reaction to stress, if he got a fright. I'll se if he will eat maybe.