Help! Fattening Platy

[FishLover4+1]

Help!!! this morning i noticed that one of my 3 platys is growing really fat (more every day) and his / her fins and tail arent as spread out as usual another one is starting too. could they be pregnant? i do about a 25% water change every other week should i do it every week? there is a young oranda in there too - she / he hasnt started growing a wen yet, the oranda is about 4cm long, the less fat platy is heading towards 5cm, the really fat one is about 3cm and the normal platy is about 3cm as well i dont have any water testing equipment and the tank is about 36litres the pet shop said the tank size was fine there is and elite 10 filter which the sponges are cleaned in water taken from the tank about every month there is one live plant and a light thanks for your help

 

[Fishy friend2]

As said in your other thread


I believe we are talking about Xiphophorus variatus, right? If so then it might be getting preganant. And is close to giving birth, but it could easily be some thing else like, overfeeding, swim bladder disease, and internal parasite. Etc. so if you could fill out the form per topic then that would be great!








Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[FishLover4+1]

As said in your other thread


I believe we are talking about Xiphophorus variatus, right? If so then it might be getting preganant. And is close to giving birth, but it could easily be some thing else like, overfeeding, swim bladder disease, and internal parasite. Etc. so if you could fill out the form per topic then that would be great!








Tank size:36 litres (pet shop said that was fine)
pH:dont know
ammonia:dont know
nitrite:dont know
nitrate:dont know (sorry im not much help but i dont have a test kit)
kH:"
gH:"
tank temp:inside coldwater but i dont have a thermometer (didnt know you needed onefor a coldwater tank / the pet shop didnt say and its my first tank)

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):silver with black spots (always like that) hides so its tail is behind the filter but swims out when i go near the tank, swims fine but fins arent as spread as usual

Volume and Frequency of water changes:25% so about 9 litres every other week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:none

Tank inhabitants:two other platies - one is beginning to fatten up the other is fine and one little oranda - she / he hasnt started growing a wen yet

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):none

Exposure to chemicals:just water conditioner when changing water, not added directly to the tank

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Fishy friend2]

just one more question.
is your tank cycled? to me is sounds like Swim bladder disease, so it might be good to search that up on google or something similar and see if your fish have anything similar to what comes up.

PS, the oranda will outgrow the 36 liter

 

[FishLover4+1]

just one more question.
is your tank cycled? to me is sounds like Swim bladder disease, so it might be good to search that up on google or something similar and see if your fish have anything similar to what comes up.

PS, the oranda will outgrow the 36 liter

yeah i know the oranda will outgrow it before i had the tank we moved my sisters two goldfish out of it and into a 100 odd litre tank dont fish who have swimbladder float upside down??? it has been quite plump for a while but i only really noticed how big it got this morning... how long are platies pregnant for???

 

[FishLover4+1]

oh and what did you mean by cycled? i have a filter

 

[Man of fish]

You either did a proper fishless cycle where you add ammonia until your filter processes it into nitrites then those into nitrAtes in 12 hours or a fish in cycle where you just had the fish producing the ammonia but for this your tank would be cycled after 2-3 months with the fish.

 

[Fishy friend2]

to make things short
how old is the tank
how long has it contained fish
do you change the filter cartridges
and do you wash the filter with tap


platies are preganant for about a month, or so.

 

[FishLover4+1]

to make things short
how old is the tank
how long has it contained fish
do you change the filter cartridges
and do you wash the filter with tap


platies are preganant for about a month, or so.

the tank has been running since august so about 7 months, i set it up waited 3 days then added the oranda, just over a week later i added another fancy goldfish who died of dropsy shortly afterwards, then about a month later i added a blue oranda and another fancy goldfish (not sure what type ryunkin or something simalar) the blue oranda died of what looks like the begining of dropsy and about 2 months later the ryunkin fish did too.
after each death i did a 50% water change, and when they started looking a bit off i did one then. just after christmas this year (the one just gone) i got 4 platys, one of whom got stuck in the gravel cleaner (ironically he / she was the only one who could have even got into it, we got him / her out but he / she was too badly injured and died that night). i dont change the filter cartridges (not sure what they are) but i rinse out the sponges in water taken from the tank every month.
if you want to look up the filter its a elite stingray ten. it came with the tank. and i dont clean anything in tap water.
so unfortunatlky this hasnt been the most succesful tank ever
ive out the fat / pregnant? platy into a breeding net just in case it is pregnant do you have anyother advice?

 

[Man of fish]

I advise you don't put it into the breeding trap because that will be very stressful possibly to the point of death and she may already be stressed so IMO that's a bad idea.

 

[Fishy friend2]

okay, so right now it seems like your tank is cycled, but seriously have you tried epsom salt, SBD meds, or anything else to cure Swim Bladder disease. If you cant get any of these then try to feed it a deshelled pea

 

[Akasha72]

one thing all of you have missed I think .... are you keeping these platies in cold water? no heater in there?

 

[Fishy friend2]

yes. the OP is keeping them in cold water. s/he hasnt answered which species of platy it is though, as maculatus should hvae a heater, and variatus can do fine without one

 

[Akasha72]

I wasn't aware of that, sorry. As far as I knew all platies were tropical and needed heated water

 

[Fishy friend2]

yes. but variatus platies are considered sub tropical as they can tolerate, and do well in lower temperatures than there closely related cousin, the maculatus platy