Sick Platy?

[Oriana]

Hi everyone, I am looking for some help trying to figure out if my Platy is sick or if I am over reacting. I have 3 platies, 2 female and 1 male in a 13 g tank. The last few days I have noticed that my male Platy is not eating when I feed them, he might try but then he spits the food right out. I also noticed some strange black/grey spots on his face and noticed that he is keeping his top fin really close to his body and he spends most of his time hiding. I am wondering if I should be worried and if there is something I should be doing for him? The females are doing fine and eating lots and swimming around like normal, although I do notice a few of the same spots on one of them but not as bad as the male. I do have some issues with one of the females bullying the other two so I am wondering if these marks are from where she is biting/running into them? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have uploaded a few pictures to hopefully show the spots and how he is holding his top fin.


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[uncgirl1]

If you could answer all the questions in the sticky at the top of the forum them hopefully someone will be able to help you! Just copy and paste it here. There's some knowledgeable people but I've learned they need the questions answered.


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[Delapool]

Not really any ideas here but water chemistry (as per the info sticky) would be first thing to check.

 

[Oriana]

Answer these Qs to ensure we have as much information as possible about your ailing fish and its environment:





1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).

1 male Platy, as described above.


2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.

Ammonia: 0.25, nitrites: 0, nitrates 0, temp: 80, pH: unknown


3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

13 gallons, it has been set up for around 2 weeks


4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known. Aqueoun power filter I think 5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? 3 platies, 2 female, 1 male. The females are a little bigger than the male. 6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time? I just did one this morning. I remove 1 gallon at a time. 7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them? I have had the fish for just over a week and acclimated them by floating the bag for 30 min and then adding water gradually to their bag before netting the fish and transferring them to the tank. 8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.? I added a few live plants when I added the fish. 9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? They are fed new life spectrum floating pellets and have been on this diet since I got them. Anyone who has any thoughts I would love to hear them, in the last few days my male Platy has tried to eat a few times but only manages a little before he gives up and goes back to sitting on a rock or hiding behind a plant. Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fishdude3233]

Ammonia should be 0, and there should be some level of nitrAtes.
Is the tank cycled?


Edit: I see that you have only just set the tank up. Start researching the nitrogen cycle. Your platt could be experiencing ammonia poisoning.

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[uncgirl1]

Since the tank is new and showing ammonia and nothing else I would say you are not cycled. Are you familiar with that process? If you search in the forums there are great articles and threads to help you along. At this point, a lot of water changes and water testing will be important. Poor water quality can expose fish to a myriad of things. What do you use to test water? Strips or liquid?


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[Oriana]

I know the ammonia and nitrite needs to be 0 and the nitrate should have something but I am confused to why this hasn't happened in my tank. I have checked the water almost every day since I added the fish and have never gotten different readings than this. This leads me to believe that my tank is not cycled/something is wrong with my cycle?


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[Oriana]

I have read about the nitrogen cycle and thought I was on my way to cycling the tank, I'm confused as to why all my reading haven't changed in the last 2 weeks... I have a liquid test kit, I believe it is API.


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[Fishdude3233]

Fish in cycles take a long time because you have to constantly remove the ammonia to keep the fish safe, which hurts the cycle because ammonia is the first stage of it, which is converted to nitrite, and then into nitrate.

I would start doing some research on fish in cycles.

My advice is to never let the ammonia over .25 platys can handle that amount of ammonia. And when you see the ammonia creep of to above .25 do a water change and get it back down. This will make your cycle take 5+ weeks but it will be done right

If possible also take your fish back and start a fish less cycle

Or find cycled media.


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[Oriana]

I have read a little bit about fish in cycles and I know I need to really watch my water readings which is why I have been testing almost every day. Since this is the case shouldn't I have seen a rise in my ammonia? It has always stayed the same with maybe one time where it got a touch darker than normal.

If my Platy is sick because of the ammonia wouldn't the other two be sick as well? The other 2 are perfectly fine and seem completely unaffected by whatever is happening with the male Platy. I would prefer to keep the Platy in my tank but unfortunately I don't know anyone else who maintains fish tanks so used filter media is also out of the question.


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[Fishdude3233]

The API kit has a ph solution I Would test the ph because that plays a part in telling how toxic the ammonia is


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[Fishdude3233]

I have read a little bit about fish in cycles and I know I need to really watch my water readings which is why I have been testing almost every day. Since this is the case shouldn't I have seen a rise in my ammonia? It has always stayed the same with maybe one time where it got a touch darker than normal.

If my Platy is sick because of the ammonia wouldn't the other two be sick as well? The other 2 are perfectly fine and seem completely unaffected by whatever is happening with the male Platy. I would prefer to keep the Platy in my tank but unfortunately I don't know anyone else who maintains fish tanks so used filter media is also out of the question.


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hmm.

can you confirm that it is the API master freshwater test kit?
and check to see if it is expired, (black date on the bottles)

 

[Oriana]

So it is the API test kit and the expiry is 2019, the one thing to note though is I don't have the pH test as I bout each test separately. When I originally purchased my tank I was advised I only needed to test for ammonia and nitrite so I bought the separate tests, then upon reading more about the nitrogen cycle I went back and bought the nitrate test kit.


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[Fishdude3233]

So it is the API test kit and the expiry is 2019, the one thing to note though is I don't have the pH test as I bout each test separately. When I originally purchased my tank I was advised I only needed to test for ammonia and nitrite so I bought the separate tests, then upon reading more about the nitrogen cycle I went back and bought the nitrate test kit.


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ok,

A ph test kit would be good because a low ph of 6 for example the ammonia is WAY WAY (several thousand times IIRC) less toxic then a ph of 7.6

there is a coverer to see how much less toxic it is, but I do not remember the procedure.

 

[Oriana]

Ok I will have to pick the pH test up next time I go to the store.

So I'm still trying to figure out why it's only my male Platy who isn't doing so hot, he seems to be almost having a hard time swimming? When he does move about he is kind of jerky and his movements aren't as fluid as the two females...

On a side note, these weird water reading have me really stumped so I went and looked through everything again. At the fish store I got tap water conditioner and they advised me its a 2 part system so I got the 2 bottles (picture below) and I'm looking at the "step 2" bottle, and I'm thinking it's the cause of the odd readings. It says it reduces nitrites and ammonia and rapidly matures new aquariums, is this something I need to be adding to my water or is it messing with my cycle? I'm starting to really question the knowledge of the person I spoke to at the fish store...


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[Fishdude3233]

Ok I will have to pick the pH test up next time I go to the store.

So I'm still trying to figure out why it's only my male Platy who isn't doing so hot, he seems to be almost having a hard time swimming? When he does move about he is kind of jerky and his movements aren't as fluid as the two females...

On a side note, these weird water reading have me really stumped so I went and looked through everything again. At the fish store I got tap water conditioner and they advised me its a 2 part system so I got the 2 bottles (picture below) and I'm looking at the "step 2" bottle, and I'm thinking it's the cause of the odd readings. It says it reduces nitrites and ammonia and rapidly matures new aquariums, is this something I need to be adding to my water or is it messing with my cycle? I'm starting to really question the knowledge of the person I spoke to at the fish store...View attachment 266021


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That second bottle could be the cause of this. Since it removes ammonia it would make dive that your readings arnt jumping up. As far as the male platy being the only one, it could be that the females have not succumb to the ammonia.

I recommend doing a water change as seeing how the male is doing a little while later


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[uncgirl1]

I've done a fish in cycle before and it took weeks to even see ammonia. Then weeks of water changes before I saw nitrite. Then over a month before that turned into nitrate. All in all, it was about a 3 month process. I vowed to never do that again. lol I've recently completed a fishless cycle and it took a lot less time. About 2 weeks with the help of TSS and media from a established aquarium. In my experience, 2 weeks isn't long enough to have a completed cycle doing it with fish.


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[Fishdude3233]

I've done a fish in cycle before and it took weeks to even see ammonia. Then weeks of water changes before I saw nitrite. Then over a month before that turned into nitrate. All in all, it was about a 3 month process. I vowed to never do that again. lol I've recently completed a fishless cycle and it took a lot less time. About 2 weeks with the help of TSS and media from a established aquarium. In my experience, 2 weeks isn't long enough to have a completed cycle doing it with fish.


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100% agree how often were you doing water changes?

This persons tank is most likely smaller then yours and has fish with larger bioloads



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[Oriana]

That second bottle could be the cause of this. Since it removes ammonia it would make dive that your readings arnt jumping up. As far as the male platy being the only one, it could be that the females have not succumb to the ammonia.

I recommend doing a water change as seeing how the male is doing a little while later


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Alright I did a water change using both bottles to condition the water this morning and haven't seen any change in the males behaviour. Should I do another water change (or multiple water changes?) without the use of the second bottle and only use the first bottle of conditioner?


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[Fishdude3233]

Test the water for ammonia and let us know the results

Also are you shaking the nitrate bottle when you do the nitrate test? Iirc its a lot of shaking

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