New Female Platy acting strange.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Muse

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 14, 2011
Messages
19
Hi,

I have a new female Hi-Fin Platy, that is behaving strangely today. I have had her for three days and she was acting normal last night when I went to bed. I thought, when I got her that she might be pregnant, but I don't think she is large enough to be ready to give birth yet. But, what do I know... LOL! My Bumble Bee male Platy has been chasing her around like crazy since I got her. He seems to like her the most, even with other female Platys to choose from, he seems to just want to chase her.

This morning, when I fed my fish, she wouldn't come off the bottom of the tank to eat. I also noticed it looks like somebody took a bite out of her tail fin. She has spent all day hiding on the bottom of the tank and for the last few hours she has been sitting in some plant leaves. My Bumble Bee male Platy has finally decided to leave her alone and has stopped chasing her today after she went into hiding.

So my question is, is she just stressed, is she sick, or maybe about to give birth?

I'm worried and would like to know what I should do, if anything.

I did a 20% water change on Wednesday, and will do another one tomorrow as scheduled. The tank is a 55gal, set up for about a month. It houses 6 Platies, 6 Tetras and one Chinese Algae-Eater (taking this one back tomorrow). Ammonia is 0, GH is 30 KH is 240, pH is 7.5, Nitites 0 and Nitrates 0.

Thanks!
 
She is hiding atm, so hard to get a good shot of her. Hope this helps.
fem-platy.jpg
 
She just moved, so I got another shot of her.

fem-platy2.jpg
 
I posted some pics... waiting for moderator approval though.
 
Well there's still no pictures up. I'm assuming she's just stressed. Is she showing any other signs of disease?
 
Fins clamped and sitting on the substrate can definitely be signs of disease. I've seen this as beginning symptoms of ich, velvet, and parasites. A chunk taken out of her can sometimes also indicate sickness, as the others often try to take the sick one out. It could also have something to do with her pregnancy, but if she was acting normally the past two days I doubt this is stress.

I do wonder, why are your nitrates zero? A cycled tank will almost always have some nitrates.
 
OH NO! Poor, poor Sunset. :(

I just went to check on her again and she was not moving at all... not even her gills. Went to move her into a separate bucket of tank water, and then realized she is DEAD! RIP!

:confused:

All the other fish seem perfectly happy and fine. Should I treat my tank water for anything?

I do wonder, why are your nitrates zero? A cycled tank will almost always have some nitrates.

Well, my nitrite/nitrate test strips are hard to read. I can't really tell the difference between the 0 reading and the 20 reading because they look the same to me, so maybe it is 20.
 
Test strips are very inaccurate. You should try to find an API master test kit. They Give much more accurate results. I have one on my wish list :)
 
Don't treat for anything unless you are positive of what it is. I am sorry she died. Stress is a possibility, so is disease though. I think I saw that you only had for a few days? She may simply have come to you sick. Keep an eye of the water params and the other fish's behavior just in case though. I would recommend getting a liquid test kit instead of the strips if possible.
 
I'm sad that my fish died, but I only had her for 3 days, so the good news is I can take her back tomorrow and get my money back. While I'm at the pet store I'll have them check my water and see if I need any drugs for my tank.

Can they test for Velvet and Ich?
 
Don't treat the tank just yet, but do a large water change and gravel vac thoroughly. Do not use the same equipment on any other tanks, if you have them, without first sanitizing it until you know for sure if there is any disease in the tank. It may not have had something contagious, but it's impossible to be sure. I would watch the tank closely for any signs and avoid adding any new fish for 4 weeks.
 
Thanks for the help and replies folks! I really appreciate it.

After Sunset died, I went ahead and did a 20% water change. Should I start doing daily water changes for a while? If so, how long?

I do not have any other tanks, so no worry about cross-contamination. I will not be getting any new fish for a while, as this episode has me sooooo stressed out. I'm very worried about my other fish. I don't want anymore to die.

I was watching my fish closely tonight after I fed them. I sat for about an hour, and just watched. I also examined all of my fish closely and watched each one's behavior. I noticed a few things:

1. My tank water looks clear. It smells nice too. No bad odors or cloudiness.

2. Most of my fish seem happy and are actively swimming around the tank, occasionally looking for food on the bottom, playing together, etc. One exception to this... see #4-6 below.

3. I can not VISIBLY see any signs of damage or sickness on my other fish. No spots or weird looking stuff.

4. Buzz (my Bumble Bee male Platy that was chasing poor Sunset around for the last few days) is now chasing around after one of my male Blue Mickey Mouse Platys (his name is Indigo).

5. Indigo, does seem a little stressed. He keeps his pelvic fins in tight and when he is not trying to get away from Buzz, he is usually hovering near the surface.

6. Twice I saw Indigo swim over to the filter intake tube and rub/slide his head against it. I thought this was very odd behavior.

EDIT: Oh yeah, what is the proper way to sanitize my aquarium equipment, for future reference? Thinking about getting a small quarantine tank tomorrow when at the pet shop.
 
One more question please:

Are any of these fish diseases, harmful to humans?
 
Back
Top Bottom