Dark Red Blotch & Sm. White Patches On Female Swordtail's Tail

[soulsearcher]

I am pretty new with fish, so please bear with me!

Three or four weeks ago I noticed my female pineapple swordtail platy was having trouble swimming normally. She was swimming nose-down, tail-up, and using the plastic plants in the tank to lodge herself in a position such that she wouldn't float to the top. I looked it up and it seemed that she has a bacterial infection of some kind and not a swim bladder problem as her feces was also a bit whiter than normal and her swimming ease varied too much for swim bladder disease.

At first, I added aquarium salts but didn't wanna go overboard and harm the catfish in the tank. It seemed to help for a few days, as she swam a little better, but didn't cure the issue. It had been about 6-8 weeks since my last water change. At first, my sis told me to do them at that interval, but others have recently told me I should do them more often. I did a 25% water change ten days ago and began using Pimafix at that time as I already had it on hand and can't afford to buy more meds unless I absolutely must. I have used the Pimafix daily since then. She seemed to be improving for a few days, swimming more normally and was much less lethargic. But two days ago I noticed that she has a new round, deep blood-red blotch (about 1/16 inch diameter) near the center of her tail, and smaller, elongated white patches forming nearer the edges of her tail. Her fins are not affected as far as I can tell. I did more research and looked at lots of photos of tropical fish disease at badmanstropicalfish.com, but none of the diseases looked exactly like hers.

At first I thought it was tail rot/fin rot, but the pictures show fraying tails and fins, and hers is not fraying at all. I don't have an aquarium test kit, nor a quarantine tank, so I don't know my water parameters right now and I can't isolate her. I inherited the tank from my sis when she moved a few months ago, and haven't had the money to get everything I need yet. I do have a top-notch heater with lifetime warranty that works great - not sure of brand, though. The water is a consistent 81 degrees, as recommended by my local trusted fish guy (who I can't reach to talk to today). The food they eat is the regular TetraMin Flakes, and algae wafers for the pleco. It's a ten gallon tank containing the female platy, a male swordtail, a pleco, and a pictus catfish.

Should I treat the tank with an antibiotic? If so, which ones would be best given the fish I have in the tank? I don't want to make any purchases that aren't necessary, and I don't wanna rely on someone who doesn't REALLY know fish well (like most of the employees at PETCO). I want to get a water testing kit, but I want a good one that will tell me what I need to know. I've heard the test strips aren't the best, but I'm such a newbie I don't know what to think and hear conflicting things from people at PETCO. I am also willing to buy meds, but don't wanna be taking a shot in the dark. I have ammonia remover, nitrate/nitrite remover already.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallon or litres.
How many fish and which type.
take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to write the readings down for you.
I would invest in some liquid test kits of your own.

Need a more varied diet of frozen foods like daphnia which is good for digesting a fish food, and brimstrimp.
Green veg like peas, broc, spinach.

The blood patches are they beneath the skin, as it sounds like septicemia hard to cure once it has advanced.
The white on the fish does it look fluffy or a white bleaching beneath the skin.
Once tanks cycled you should be doing a gravel vac and water change once aweek.

 

[soulsearcher]

Size of tank in gallon or litres.
How many fish and which type.
take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to write the readings down for you.
I would invest in some liquid test kits of your own.

Need a more varied diet of frozen foods like daphnia which is good for digesting a fish food, and brimstrimp.
Green veg like peas, broc, spinach.

The blood patches are they beneath the skin, as it sounds like septicemia hard to cure once it has advanced.
The white on the fish does it look fluffy or a white bleaching beneath the skin.
Once tanks cycled you should be doing a gravel vac and water change once aweek.

Thanks for the response. I will get a liquid test kit today as well as checking into more healthy food. As I stated in the original post, it's a ten gallon tank with a male and female swordtail, a pictus catfish, and a pleco (about 3-4 in long). The blood spot (only one) is in the tail and looks like broken/inflamed blood vessels in a small circle. The white areas are kind of oval-shaped and resemble ich a little, but is localized and not the same shape as most ich I've seen. Appears to be on surface of tail, not inside tail. It's not fuzzy, and I've been treating with Pimafix for a week and a half now so I'd assume if it were a fungus it wouldn't be doing so well.

I will do more frequent water changes with my gravel vac. If weekly, I imagine I should only do about ten percent each time?? Should I do them so often while the fish is sick, or will the added stress of constant water changes make her sicker?

Thanks again

 

[WILDER]

Any redness to the oval shaped white patch.
Plecs are massive waste producers so you need to be doing a gravel vac once a week.
I would do a water change and add a bacterial med.
Pimafix is only good on fungus and that's it.

What's your location.

 

[soulsearcher]

Marin County, CA.

How much water should I change if doing it once a week? I don't wanna go overboard and stress them out.

Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

Maracyn one and two.
Aim for 25% to 30% water changes.

 

[soulsearcher]

I started treating with Maracyn 1 yesterday. The aquarium guy at the store said not to treat with both Maracyn medications (1 & 2) simultaneously, even though the medication's instructions say you can. He said it would be too stressful for the other fish in the tank to be exposed to both meds at once. I couldn't afford a quarantine tank so am stuck treating my whole tank this time He said if the Maracyn 1 didn't do the trick, to treat with Maracyn 2. Was this good advice? Thank you!

 

[WILDER]

Yes good advice.
Sometimes maracyn one will be enough if its not a bad strain.
If no improvement you will have to add the maracyn two.
Good Luck.