Sick Platy, please help ASAP, *PICTURES*

[7Enigma]

Hi everyone,

I recently (2-3 weeks ago) acquired some platies from a friend at work. These were pond raised (he says he has hundreds if not thousands in his pond). I should have been more careful but my tank was pretty empty since the passing of my large gold barb (he jumped). So rather than QT them I added them, some plants (after a quick soak in distilled water), and some pond snails.

Well when I added them I noticed several had IP's. I used Jungle's parasite clear to no luck, but then went with with a combination of flubenol (Jungle's parasite pellets have flubenol in them, and while the fish refuse to eat them, I crushed them up and added them to some frozen food of which I'm sure some ate), and a canine dewormer sold at petsmart which contains the active ingredient fenbendazole which I soaked in some bloodworms which they readily ate.

So the IP's seemed to be treated but now I've got a new problem. The large female platy that was pregnant (gave birth about 2 weeks ago) had what appeared to be the beginnings of Ich. I didn't want to treat during her pregnancy or right after due to the fry and also because I wasn't exactly sure this was Ich. I have had it when I first started the hobby and didn't remember it not having a uniform shape.

So I have been watching it get steadily worse hoping it was some bad reaction to the medication (but it was present slightly before treatment). Now I'm in need of help ASAP because it has gotten really bad really quickly. Here's a bullet point of what I know:

-has only visibly affected the single platy, the others (of which some are dark blue and would be easy to spot) show no signs

-the platy has vibrant colors, eats well, and does not flash

-in the last 2-3 days the condition has gotten much worse as the scales are very badly raised

I have done some searching and come across dropsy, but the belly as you can see in the pictures looks normal. I don't see anything wriggling on the skin, there are no open wounds (unless you count the scales), and if the scales weren't raised I wouldn't even have given a second thought to this fish.

I have on hand pimafix and melafix if I need to move the fish to a separate container for longterm treatment. What I would prefer however is to use a dip. I'm assuming this is some external issue and so things like a salt water bath, formalin, potassium permangenate would be preferable. I would net out the fish, perform the proper dip treatment, wash well to prevent contaminating the main tank, and then put the fish back in.

Attached are 2 pics I just took which should help to show the problem. Again please note this is NOT ICH, the scales are visibly raised and no other fish are visibly affected in the tank. I do weekly 50% PWC's, have lots of plants, and take very good care. Over the last week I've done 25% PWC's daily to replace the water even more hoping this would clear up on its own.

I thank you in advance for any advice/help you can give.

 

[7Enigma]

1~Fish is a platy. Don't know much about them for a more specific name.
2~Ammonia/nitrAte/etc. is unknown. I do 50% changes weekly and have been doing 25% changes the last couple of days, and have lots of plants, pretty much I'm always deficient in nitrogen.
3~ 20 gallon high, almost 3 years? (I think whenever I signed up here )
4~Aquaclear50, more than I need but I have a diffuser using a floating breeder chamber that keeps the current down.
5~See sig, this platy is the alpha feMALE of the group, no aggression towards her.
6~See above and in original post.
7~3-4 weeks, gentle acclimation, definitely not a cause.
8~Nothing new added.
9~No change in diet other than the meds. They get a variety of FD bloodworms, staple flake, FD shrimp, Hikari algae wafers, and my homemade frozen food which has a slew of stuff in it that I've been feeding for the past year and a half.

 

[7Enigma]

Wow no help really? What happened to this place....

 

[jonnythan]

I've been keeping an eye on this thread. I've never heard of or seen anything like that.

I hope your platy gets better.

 

[Jnam]

Melafix would be my suggestion, done in a separate tank follow the directions for two weeks. I have had other pond raised platys do the same thing. I dont know what its called but its treatable with TeaTreeOil or Melafix. I used a bare bottom tank with a couple fake plants. gentle agitation from a bubler and i kept the temp the same as the other tanks. The scales sluff off and the fish looks a little ragged. but after week 1 there is a noticable improvement. Hope i helped

 

[bs6749]

Treat with Maracyn and Maracyn II. Melafix and Pimafix have never worked for me. Looks like a bacterial infection. You may also look into Quick Cure which contains formalin and malachite green. The formalin will get rid of the bacteria on the fish along with most of your biological filter of your tank. You may wish to do a formalin bath in a smaller dish/bowl. I'd use 3 times the dosage of what is recommended on the bottle and put the fish in the bath 2-3 times per day for 30-45 minutes until it looks like it is getting better. That way you won't lose the bio-filter of your tank.

 

[Jnam]

I would have to agree after reviewing the pics

 

[Zagz]

I would agree with a bacterial infection. It looks quite bad. I would treat also with maracyn and maracyn II but I would QT and treat constantly rather than baths. JMO. Extra aeration during treatment would also be a good idea.

 

[bs6749]

I just wanted to point out that the recommendation for the bath was for Quick Cure only and that Maracyn and Maracyn II should be used through the entire cycle and possibly even longer.

 

[Zagz]

Thanks for making that clear, I misunderstood.