Platy not doing well

[yes9003]

good morning, i need some advice for my mickey mouse platy. i have noticed that his left fin is not flapping anymore, he moves well around the aqauarium and eats well, but his fin worries me. Is this fin rot?

 

[dkpate]

It could be. Does it look like someone took a lighter to it and melted it? If so, I would get some Pimafix and dose the tank.
Someone else might be on later with more suggestions too.
Good luck!

 

[yes9003]

thanks for the reply.yes it does look like that. Should i separate the fish from other in the tank for treatment, because i have 2 plecos as well and guppies?

 

[dkpate]

No, I would treat the whole tank with the Melafix, make sure you do the whole 7 days.
Good luck!

 

[Blueiz]

Fin rot is caused most often by poor water quality. How often do you do tank maintenance, and have you checked to see what your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are?

 

[yes9003]

Thanks for all of your replies. I do my water maintenance weekly, I check the water for ammonia nitrates and nitrites almost every 3-4 days at this point because I have lost some neon tetras before. But by nitrites and nitrates are at 0 and ammonia is almost undetectable. I will use Melafix, will this have negative effect on the pleco ( i have medusa head pleco)?
Thanks you for your reply.

 

[bluerose]

With no nitrates, I'd be a bit concerned that your tank hasn't cycled properly. How long has it been set up?

What size tank? Common plecos get HUGE-- and they're dirty fish, so contribute heavily to the bioload. You may need to start thinking about what to do with them in the future.

 

[mfdrookie516]

The max size on that pleco is about 5 inches or so, so i wouldnt worry with rehoming it because of size... they do have a big bioload for such a small fish though.

 

[yes9003]

What i have just noticed is last time that i did the amminia nitrate and nitrite test it was all negative (2 days ago). Now I did the test agian my ammonia is at 1.0ppm nitrates/nitrites at 0, KH at about 240, pH 6.5. This aquarium set up is around 3 weeks old. This is a 30 gallon tank with enheim 2215 filter, I also have a UV sterilizer attached, I have boutght the Cycler to introduce live bacteria and tap water conditioner during initial set up. Am i doing something wrong. Currently I have 6 neon tetras, 2 guppies, 5 platys and 2 plecos they are medusa head plecos and still small wont grow to much. Is this too much fish?

 

[dkpate]

I bought some fish, who's fins looked like they were melted together, (it was nothing I did, they came with it), and I dosed the tank with Melafix, and they are perfectly fine now. Melafix and Pimafix will not mess up your biological filter, no worries there.

Also, I used the meds with my loaches in the tank, which are also scaleless, and they were fine. Believe me, I research the stuff before I it in the tank, and those meds are fine for scaleless fish.

 

[bluerose]

yes: your tank isn't cycled. You need to keep the ammonia and nitrite below .25ppm. Read up on cycling (click on Articles way up at the top just below the banner) and get ready to test and do water changes daily.

Your platy needs very clean water to heal, no matter what the problem is. Get changing!