Sinking Platy

[coyemuse]

So as Ive mentioned in a previous post somewhere, I moved my fish back to my house after a friend took care of them for a few weeks. Now I have a platy that is trying his very best to swim and live, but he keeps sinking to the ground so sometimes he gives up. I dont have a hospital tank, but to get him out of Sydney's path, I put him in a breeder box. What kinds of things could cause him to lose his ability to float as hes trying to swim? its been 3 days since he was moved.

 

[phoenixgsd]

your pictures arnt showing, but could it be swimbladder?

 

[coyemuse]

Fixed the pics. whats swimbladder?

 

[slimeneo]

about swim bladder: http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/swimbladder.php

 

[coyemuse]

So how do I treat it? And what if i treat, but it ends up not being that?

 

[Nightstar99]

You can try swimbladder meds from a petstore. Also you can try a salt bath a few times a day as this will change the osmotic balance inside the fish. Google should tell you how to do that.

Before doing that I would check water parameters and do a big water change, as it could also be ammonia poisoning, or simply platy old age.

 

[coyemuse]

The water stats are fine, I've done the water change part. If had the platy 7 months or so... how do I do a salt bath or meds without affecting the other fish in the tank? Since I dont have a different tank to move him to.

 

[Lockhart]

Could need some vegetables in his diet.

 

[coyemuse]

Could need some vegetables in his diet.

Like?

 

[lolobunnz]

Peas are a good veggi. Take a couple frozen peas in a little water and microwave for one to two minutes, de-shell and squish to soft edible peices. Platy love peas and it is good for their digestive system.

Learned that from slimeneo

 

[LucyB]

de-shelled peas

 

[coyemuse]

Do they have to be frozen or can I use fresh ones?

 

[coyemuse]

i have fresh snap peas...

 

[Nightstar99]

You usually feed cooked peas as they are laxatives for fish. If the fish is bunged up and there is pressure on the swim bladder it can alleviate it. You can also try feeding garlic as this can help counteract internal parasites temporarily.

In many cases there will be concurrent symptoms like bloating, swimming at an angle, or swimming upside down. Sick fish will often linger at the bottom of the tank as well, so he may not have swimbladder.

This is a fairly complete guide about salt baths for fish. You take them out while you do the bath. If you dont have all the things they mention you can take him out and bathe with aquarium salts.

http/answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071020074348AATRiRu

I would be cautious about treating for disease unless you are sure of the diagnosis. I would be trying frequent, partial water changes for the time being, if for no other reason that they cant hurt and will stop a build up of toxicity.

What are your water parameters?

 

[coyemuse]

I dont have a liquid kit, just the test strips, hoping to get a liquid kit when petco restocks... shipments rent very frequent up here. I just know the nitrates and Nitrites are on the low end (pale or no pink) I have hard water, the ph and alkalinity are fine too, apparently