Rapid Gill Movement

[Nikii]

Hello, im new to this site and hope you can help me please.

Im so confused with the diagnosis of my Platy, I noticed her gills were moving a little faster than normal the other day, still eating, swimming around. I was keeping my eye on her and the gill movement increased, she would come to the top when I was feeding but not eat anything, and lye behind a plant most of the time.

I have been treating the tank with Interpet Anti Internal Bacteria, for the last 7 days now and no improvement. It advised it works best with Aquarium Salt but I have never used it and unsure.

I cleaned the tank today (as I do every Sunday) and although her breathing is still quite rapid, she is swimming around more and occasionally wipes her chin on a plant - now im confused!!! Can anyone advise on a diagnosis please?

She is a mixture of colours so its a bit hard to see, but I have been studying to see if she has fungus on her, sores etc - I cant see anything.

Would you continue using the Anti Internal Bacteria? Would you add salt?

90 Litre Tank

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40 (same as my tap water)

All my other fish are fine.

Would be so grateful if anyone can advise please, many thanks

 

[Prime Ordeal]

When you say she wipes her chin do you mean just the chin or is it the gill flaps as well?

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'm not familiar with Interpet Anti Internal Bacteria, but just the name makes me think it's killing (or already killed after 7 days) the bacteria in your filter media.

 

[Nikii]

Thanks for replying.

She tends to wipe her chin and then turn to her side, on a diagonal, so yes she could be trying to wipe her gills. She only started to do this after I cleaned the tank out today. I did a 50% water change.

I have been watching her constantly since, and she is swimming around more than she has been, although she still tends to go for a rest behind her plant and her gills are quite rapid. I am not 100% sure I think she may have slight red bits under her chin (she is different colours so bit hard to tell) but I am going to have a study of the pics I got of her and see if she had these marks before she was ill - will keep you posted!

Thanks again and look forward to hearing from you

 

[Nikii]

Hiya, I bought Interpet - Anti Internal Bacteria (it is a well known brand in th UK) at the Aquarium Shop, I checked (at the shop and leaflet inside) it dosent affect the biological filter, thanks for your comments though any tips is worth looking into.

Thank you

 

[afremont]

Thanks for replying.

She tends to wipe her chin and then turn to her side, on a diagonal, so yes she could be trying to wipe her gills. She only started to do this after I cleaned the tank out today. I did a 50% water change.

I have been watching her constantly since, and she is swimming around more than she has been, although she still tends to go for a rest behind her plant and her gills are quite rapid. I am not 100% sure I think she may have slight red bits under her chin (she is different colours so bit hard to tell) but I am going to have a study of the pics I got of her and see if she had these marks before she was ill - will keep you posted!

Thanks again and look forward to hearing from you

That sounds like flashing, the fish kind of turns sideways and makes a rapid turn while rubbing against something. That would likely be some kind of parasites. It could be ick getting ready to break out, or something else like flukes. I'd probably start treating with an anti-parasitic of some type and maybe turn up the temps a bit to stimulate the fish's immune system. Sounds like you might only have external parasites at this point, but if you see any stringy white poop then that would be a sign of internal parasites. Some parasites start off externally and move inside (trematodes). You could treat external parasites with something containing malachite green or methylene blue (hard on bio-filter). There are also dips and baths that could be done using simple aquarium salt if the fish gets in dire need of immediate treatment and that's all you have on hand. I'm in the US so I don't know what kind of other meds to recommend.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Until you know what you're dealing with, it's never a good idea to just arbitrarily use medications.

 

[Nikii]

Hiya, thank you so much for the info.

I will definitely get treatment for her for parasites, I will find out what I can buy (anyone in the UK have any idea??) I assume this can affect all the fish in the tank?

I am so grateful to you, I really hate seeing fish suffer when you dont know what to do for them to help.

I looked on pics I had of her previously and im sure she had no light pinkish markings under chin, so probably is inflammed if it is parasites.

Will keep you posted how things are going.

Thank you again

 

[Nikii]

Until you know what you're dealing with, it's never a good idea to just arbitrarily use medications.

I understand what you mean, but I did seek advice from my Aquarium Shop on the symptoms she had last week, which was only rapid gill movement and the medication I used was what the shop recommended, so I did'nt randomly select medication. Reading on the Internet appears rapid gill movement can be linked to a few illness, so perhaps a little hard to diagnose without any other symptoms, it is only today she started to wipe her chin.

May I ask your advice please, so you would you leave your fish until it has several symptoms before treating with medication? I always understood it was better to treat them as soon as symptoms appear or it could be too late to save them?

Thank you

 

[Rio]

Interpet have an anti white spot medication, number six. I'm using it in my tank now.

 

[This Old Spouse]

What I would do is quarantine the fish in a separate tank and watch closely until I could determine just what I think the malady is. It just didn't sound to me as though that had been determined. I saw ich, some kind of internal or external parasites, flukes, etc. I'm not trying to be a jerk here, just trying to avoid what so often happens, and that's treating an illness with the wrong medication. I know we're not doctors here, but there's enough combined experience to be able to help. Is there any way you can post a video of the behavior?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Is there any inflammation of the gills or excess slime around them?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

What I would do is quarantine the fish in a separate tank and watch closely until I could determine just what I think the malady is. It just didn't sound to me as though that had been determined.

The problem with waiting is that if it is gill flukes, which I think quite possible, you can't really wait because by the time the fish shows any symptoms other than the initial flashing it's often too late to treat as the gills have been irreparably damaged.

 

[Yvonne465]

Hi nikki. The very first thing would do is put her in a hospital tank. This would be a 10 gallon, bare bottom tank. I would put the temperature up to 82 degrees and be sure to float her in a bag until the bag water is the same temperature. Also, be absolutely sure to use an air pump as higher temperatures lower the oxygen content of water. If you want to be agressive, you could try a product called Clout. We have it here in the states and it treats several kinds of parasites. I'm also wondering what the temp of your aquarium is and if you have adequate oxygen levels in you tank.

 

[Nikii]

Interpet have an anti white spot medication, number six. I'm using it in my tank now.

Ok great thanks, does this treat all parasites? Will need to find out more info about this, will ask in the shop tomorrow.

Thanks again

What I would do is quarantine the fish in a separate tank and watch closely until I could determine just what I think the malady is. It just didn't sound to me as though that had been determined. I saw ich, some kind of internal or external parasites, flukes, etc. I'm not trying to be a jerk here, just trying to avoid what so often happens, and that's treating an illness with the wrong medication. I know we're not doctors here, but there's enough combined experience to be able to help. Is there any way you can post a video of the behavior?

I appreciate your comments,and grateful for any help/diagnosis. Im afraid i dont have a video i can post.