Fish Sitting At The Bottom Of The Tank

[Deleted member 84904]

My black tailed platy has recently taken to sitting at the bottom of the tank, sometimes even in between the larger stones. It sits very still not moving, however it comes up to the surface when I put food in the tank, then retreats back down to the bottom. Sometimes it's down there for hours, not moving. It only started doing this last Sunday after cleaning the tank.

Is this normal and he's become shy or is it something I should be concerned about?

 

[soybean]

Did you cycle the tank?

What are your readings for ammonia and nitrite?

 

[dh058977]

I would guess from your previous thread that your fish may be suffering from Ammonia poisoning. You added fish one week after setting up your tank correct? This means that your tank was not cycled properly and as such not able to deal with the bioload created by your fish. I also gather from your previous thread that you only maintain your tank on a Sunday? With your uncycled filter you should really be doing large daily water changes with dechlorinated water, try to use a dechlorinator that claims to deal with Ammonia.

Have you got a testing kit? You should be testing your water for Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites. If you havent already got one, invest in a decent liquid testing kit, avoid using strips as they are unreliable.

 

[Deleted member 84904]

Yes I did cycle the tank. The three other fish are behaving normally, it's just the black tailed platy that sits at the bottom.

 

[dh058977]

Your other thread says you brought the tank and then added fish after a week, if this is true then your tank is not cycled. It takes many weeks if not months to cycle a tank. You are currently in a fish in cycle.

 

[soybean]

So what are the readings? Sitting on the bottom is a sign of poor watee conditions.

 

[clown_loach]

Hi Vanessa

I'm a newbie myself and have taken advice from people on this forum over the past week as it turned out that I am at the fish in cycle stage. This I didn't understand what this meant as was being guided by my local fish shop.

All I would say is, follow their advice.

It sounded a pretty scary and daunting thing to do when being advised to change 100% like NOW because the nitrite reading was dangerously high, as was the ammonia level.

There's so much to learn and I'm grateful for their valuable help and advice every step of the way.

I am currently changing around 90% of water daily because there's not enough bacteria in the tank to filter and process things.

Investing in a test kit was one of the best things I've done too as means I can take regular readings.

I only have 6 little Xray tetras at the moment and so far they're holding on while I change their water daily.

A good thermometer too is a good idea to match the water temperature that you are replacing as I was advised this helps to add extra stress for your fish.

I don't know how long this is going to go on for, but my daily tests (writing results down) give me peace of mind that I'm doing all that I can during this fish in cycle I'm going through.

Hope this helps.

 

[Akasha72]

Hi Vanessa, agreeing with clown_loach aswell. Had similar troubles after moving my fish into a new tank with a brand new filter and not knowing about cycling the tank first. My ammonia was high (o.5) and it affected my platy much in the same way as you describe. If you follow the advice here I'm sure the platy will be swimming round and enjoying life once more.
My platies seem to be more sensitive to the water quality than my guppies and neons. It could be just their nature.

Good luck

 

[phishyphil]

Cycle the Tank Vanessa, I saw one of your posts last week which stated you just bought the tank, you will not have cycled the tank by now, and therefore, harming your fish and risking killing the whole lot off.

READ THIS please and if I was you I'd return the fish, and start your cycle in the right way

 

[Shaylynn]

My black tailed platy has recently taken to sitting at the bottom of the tank, sometimes even in between the larger stones. It sits very still not moving, however it comes up to the surface when I put food in the tank, then retreats back down to the bottom. Sometimes it's down there for hours, not moving. It only started doing this last Sunday after cleaning the tank.

Is this normal and he's become shy or is it something I should be concerned about?

maybe its pregnant