Platy Flashing

[Silencedogood]

Hi all-
I have a stunted sunburst platy who has been flashing for the past month or so and also has clamped fins. Two months ago, two of her sisters die; the only symptoms were fish flashing, clamped fins, and rapid breathing. Not sure what this could be.
Water parameters:
ph-7
nitrite- 0 ppm
nitrate- 40-60 ppm
ammonia- 0.25 ppm

Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

Any pictures?

Fish rubbing on objects (aka flashing) are usually infected with protozoan parasites. Other symptoms of protozoan infections include clamped fins; cream, white or grey patches on the body; and breathing heavily.
Poor water quality can also cause these symptoms.

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You can treat most protozoan infections (not whitespot or velvet) with salt.

You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

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The following link has information about what to do if your fish gets sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

 

[Silencedogood]

The platy isn't flashing often; she doesn't look "sick" either. I did do a salt treatment and also an all-in-one treatment.
Could this be just this fish's problem? Or does it sound like it would it infect my other fish?

 

[Guppylover3x]

The platy isn't flashing often; she doesn't look "sick" either. I did do a salt treatment and also an all-in-one treatment.
Could this be just this fish's problem? Or does it sound like it would it infect my other fish?

Hi and welcome to the forum. I had a lot of problems with flashing guppies and also tried salt treatment. This definitely calmed the fish down but every once in a good while I see my fish still flash.

After reading up I’ve learnt that sometimes flashing can be normal if it’s rare. Fish get an itch sometimes just like humans sometimes. It’s a concern when it’s happening all the time I would say.

In relation to it effecting other fish I would say this is difficult to answer in case the fish has got some sort of disease. Dependent upon this and the type of disease it may or may not effect your other fish.

Colin should be able to advice your further.

Best of luck!

 

[Colin_T]

The pics aren't the best but it looks like the fish has partly clamped fins and tail, gill flukes and possibly threadworms.

It also appears to be a male platy and you have a pr of swordtails in the tank. The male swordtail could be picking on the platy.

Guppylover mentioned that fish do sometimes rub on things if they get an itch and that is correct. If the fish is rubbing on things regularly (more than once a day), then there is an issue.

I would deworm the fish with Praziquantel and Levamiole, and monitor the swordtails to make sure they aren't picking on it.

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You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 3-4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second and third treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

 

[Silencedogood]

This platy is a female and she has been avoiding all of the other fish in my tank.
What are threadworms and how can you tell if a fish has them?

 

[Colin_T]

Threadworms are parasitic worms that live in the fish's intestine. Camallanus and Capillaria are the most common species found in fish.

You can sometimes see them hanging out the fish's butt. When this happens you see a couple of thin red or white hair like things sticking out a couple of mm. Infected fish can also have an unusual shape just before the anal fin similar to the fish in the following pic.
http://www.fishforums.net/attachments/1-fish-post-jpg.90921/

Just about all fish that come from Asian fish farms have intestinal worms and livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) are renown for having them, and gill flukes.

All new fish should be dewormed whilst in quarantine and before they are added to an established display tank.

 

[Silencedogood]

I don't see any indication of threadworms. Also, I had gotten a platy from the pet store and then that platy had fry; this platy is one of the babies. Idk if that would affect her chances of getting threadworms.

 

[Colin_T]

if any fish in the tank has worms, every fish in the tank has worms. treat them if you like, it's up to you.