Platy Turning White

[shadowhywind]

In my brothers tank, He has a couple of my red wag platy fry (now about an inch). Today he found one sort of head first into the gravel/plants. He thought it was dead, so he went to take it out of the tank, but it was still alive and noticed that the back half of the platy is turning white. Its not white spots, or cotton-like growth, its allmost like he is losing the red/orange. Any ideas?

 

[shadowhywind]

Couple more things I should have added, the whiteness is almost like a frost look. Or if you you rub up against siding on a house, you get that white flim/look on you. Also the platy is shacking back and forth in place, if that helps any.

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litries.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Does it look like bleaching beneath the skin.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.

 

[shadowhywind]

Hi its a 37 gallon tank, has 2 seapre tetras, 4 fancy tail guppies, 4 red wag platys, 2 pitbull plecos, and 3 longfin zebra
As for stats, I don't have any exact numbers, however i took a water sample in last week and everything checked out. We also did a small water change last night as well. I will try to get another water test today and post the results if I can. There does not seam to be any rubbing, just him swimming back and forth in place and resting on the gravel. As for the bleaching under the skin, all I can say is possibly. It not totatly white, but an orangie-white.

 

[WILDER]

Need to look at water stats to rule bad water quality out.
But bleached out patches can be columnaris.


Shimmies



Symptoms:

This disease is named for the curious behavior seen in afflicted fish. Fish will swim with an odd, shimmying movement of the body. If left untreated, the afflicted fish will become unable to swim and will sit on the bottom, listlessly shimmying. This disease affects mostly livebearers, and particularly Mollies.



Cause:

Cause unkown but may be due to a variety of numerous pathogens, including protozoan, bacterial, and fungal.



Treatment:

Isolate the fish in a hospital tank and increase the temperature to 85°F (27°C). Treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic. Also ensure that the water chemistry is within acceptable ranges. Livebearers' should always be kept in water that has a pH of 7.8 - 8.3 and a hardness of 15°DH+.