Clamped Female Platy

[ArcticLancer]

Hey again guys.

So, I've had my little 10 gallong platy tank running for a week now Everything is going excellent, with everyone getting along just fine and whatnot. No crisis yet

However, of my 5 small tank dwellers, the smallest (Only just, mind you) has clamped fins around half the day, if not more. It's a shame since she's definately one of the most beautiful fish in the tank, but I'm not sure why it's happening in the first place.
I don't believe it's stress. There's just too little going on in any sense, and nobody picks on anyone else.
There are no visible signs of any infections (That is, she has nothing asthetically wrong with her, to denote a fungus or fin-rot), nor does she act weird in any way (Swimming patterns, eating habits, etc.).

So, do you think she's just a funny little one, or that she could actually have some sort of problem?
I just don't want any mishaps, of course

Thanks for reading anyway.

 

[WILDER]

Clamped fins are a sign of stress, what are your water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, if the tank has only been set up a week the tank is cycling, i would recommend a water change.

 

[dwarfgourami]

5 platys is far too many to cycle a 10 gallon tank; that is more like the final stocking you should end up with when the tank is mature. You need to get a test kit so you can test for ammonia and nitrites ASAP. If either is high (above 0.5 ppm) this could explain the distress signals of your fish.

 

[ArcticLancer]

Perhaps I should clarify.

I set the tank up in January, and finished a fishless cycle at the beginning of February. The platys were added last week, as the permanent inhabitants of the tank.

I'll also note, every other platy is very content, showing no signs of stress at all. It is because she was the lone inhabitant with clamped fins, that I brought this question to you.

I'll do some water test in a little while and get the stats for you guys.

 

[Nevergone815]

from my experiences wit hoverstocking tanks (yes i have done this unknowingly in both my tanks). if you put more than like 2 fish in per week or two the ammonia levels skyrocket quick. this could be from fear and being and pooping a lot (i don't know for sure but just a guess). i noticed in a lot of animal species being put into a strange enviroment/situation makes them scared or nervous and they poop and pee a lot. since ammonia is the result of fish urine and feces, i am guessing that for this reason, the ammoniaa levels skyrocket when you add new fish. it could be high ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels which all can be very harmful to the fish. i recommend doing daily water changes of 20-30% twice daily to be on the safe side. and remember, just because a fish doesn't show symptoms of being sick doesn't mean that they aren't. at the first sign of something being wrong (i.e. illness) start treating the tank, assuming you can tell what it is. stress makes the fish very subseptible to both initial disease as well as any secondary infections that might happen.

my male black platty was stressed from too high ammonia levels... well he died but he had literally everything that you can get in the fish world. it started w/ swim bladder, got tail & fin rot, cotton mouth body fungus/culmanaris (sp). it was bad an no saving him. just look out for any tell tale signs and continue the water changes and in a week or so everything should be alright

good luck!

*remember everything that i type is from my own peronal opinion/experiences and what i have learned on this forum* *so if i'm wrong... other people on this forum be gentle *

 

[ArcticLancer]

Ugh. Sorry that one took so long, guys.

Water stats are as follows:
Ammonia - < 0 mg/L
Nitrie - < 0 mg/L
Nitrate - <0 mg/L

Like I said before, the tank has been cycled. The low nitrate can be explained by the 20% water change I do every 2-3 days.

Also, a few days later now, I have slight observations to add:
-Still, only the single coral blue platy is clamping her fins.
-I have returned the male I had accidently gotten, and added a 2nd high-fin, who has had no problems meshing with the group, and has exhibited no signs of stress whatsoever.
-While more active in the day normally, the coral blue tends to be more content and active during my solstace, and at night when the lights are off.
-All inhabitants continue to show no other signs of ill-development.

It's just sorta confusing, and I feel concerned for her since she's still rather small (Not the smallest in the tank, but only by a little). There is cover in the tank, but I rarely see her take advantage of it, however it's worth noting that the main soruce of cover in the tank was going to be Java fern. While this is true, the only ones I could purchase were so small that I actually got a discount on them ... (They are not, in any way, large)

That's that for now ...
Any thoughts?

 

[WILDER]

Any signs of parasites as they clamp the fins with them.

 

[ArcticLancer]

No, none at all.

I made sure to choose the best I could while I was at the store. It's not impossible something is amiss though, as nearly all the platys in stock were in quarantined tanks, or are now in quarantined tanks ...

My greatest suspision is that she simply gets afraid, because the cover in the tank really is quite measly right now.
The only ohter true accusation I have is that they're getting spooked over (And I'm not happy with this, so if it keeps up, I'll have something done about it) the bass coming from the room next door. The last few days have yielded some lound songs, and I've noticed the 5 girls all congregate in the lowest corner of the tank (Which they had never done before yesterday). However, as I type this, there is some low volume music coming from there, and everyone is quite active, with no clamping at all.

Is there a simple drug suggestion anyone could make in the line of internal parasites? If things keep up, or I notice a hint, I may consider medicating the whole tank as a precaution.

Thanks for the continued interest Wilder.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Sorry I missed the bit about the fishless cycling; once you've done that of course you should be able to add almost your full stocking. So something else must be the matter.

What is her poo like? No sign of her passing white stringy stuff? Is she still eating ok? It's all a bit of a mystery, isn't it?

You could try shoving in some big plants for her to hide in- you can always take them out afterwards if you don't like them. Generally speaking, platies tend to like quite a furnished tank, with things to dive in and out of.

The difficulty with medicating as a precaution is that some symptoms might suddenly develop, of something totally different, and then you wouldn't be able to start treating it as medications don't tend to mix.

 

[ArcticLancer]

Judging with all other 4 totally healthy females, I believe she may actually have some form of internal parasite
Her poo is a bit stringy, and somewhat transparent because of its radius. She's also spending most of her time on the bottom of the tank.

I guess I'll pick up a 1 gallon for her tomorrow and start to med it. The way she just wedged herself under the driftwood makes me think something is indeed amiss.


Well, pray for the poor little coral blue