Help platty fish

[Fushguy2023]

Hi I have 5 platty fish and 2 off them today won't stop doing this I have also notice the sunset platty having a really black insides all other fish fine

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Hi I have 5 platty fish and 2 off them today won't stop doing this I have also notice the sunset platty having a really black insides all other fish fine

It seems like they have red gills, this may be a sign that they are unwell.
Does the picture show them that they are trying to breathe at the surface? If this is happening often, they may not be getting enough oxygen.

What are your water parameters?

 

[Fushguy2023]

Can't check water parameters test kit was ment to turn up today taking a sample to the pet shop Tomorrow.. I am new to this tank is 3 weeks old stocked tank last week with 5 plattys.. don't seem to be opening or gasping for air just seem to float on top

 

[Liam]

They should be swimming around, as you cannot test the water, daily water changes of 50% should help and I would feed very little or none at all, your tank is new so there may be ammonia or nitrite, water changes will help.

 

[sharkweek178]

Can't check water parameters test kit was ment to turn up today taking a sample to the pet shop Tomorrow.. I am new to this tank is 3 weeks old stocked tank last week with 5 plattys.. don't seem to be opening or gasping for air just seem to float on top

Did you cycle the tank before adding them?

 

[emeraldking]

Those platies are really skinny...

 

[Essjay]

yes done all the tank cycle before adding them

Can I ask how you cycled the tank? A test kit is essential for cycling so you know when to add more ammonia.

 

[Fushguy2023]

All shop told me to do was fill tank using tap safe and a filter starter .. get to temp and do a 25%water change weekly and stock 2 days after first water change.. i told them I'm new to this and so on asked him to supply me with everything I need to make sure everything's ok .. I feel as if I'm not doing things right.. I have researched and seem to be so many right ways I'm all over the place... Shop also said feed a pinch full every other day is this correct..

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Shop also said feed a pinch full every other day is this correct..

That is definitely incorrect and too little. I feed my fish a pinch of flakes every weekday and frozen foods on the weekends. Every other day is not enough.

 

[Essjay]

OK, so you did not cycle the tank before getting the fish. The first lesson in fish keeping is do not believe anything a shop tells you. They are there to make money and many shop workers haven't a clue.
Those bacterial starters can speed up a cycle, assuming they contain the right bacteria.

To explain briefly - fish excrete ammonia, but it is toxic to them. A colony of bacteria grows in a tank which 'eats' this ammonia and 'poops' nitrite. This is also toxic, but another colony of bacteria 'eats' this nitrite and 'poops' nitrate. Until these bacteria have grown, ammonia and nitrite build up in the tank water and harm the fish.

So there are things you can do.
A large water change every day until your testers arrive. Once you have them, test every day for ammonia and nitrite, and whenever there is a reading above zero, do another water change. This will make the cycle take longer but it should stop harm to the fish. Living in Kent you probably have hard water and high pH which means a lot of any ammonia reading will be toxic - your tester will confirm the pH.

Feed once every two or even three days. The less food, the less ammonia they fish make. At least that's something the shop got right. Once ammonia and nitrite stay at zero you can start feeding every day. Fish can go without food for a couple of weeks with no harm - you can leave them without food if you go on holiday for a couple of weeks.

Live plants. Even just a few bunches of elodea left floating will help. Aquarium plants use ammonia as fertiliser and they turn it into protein rather than nitrite.