Help Needed Please!

[orangefish]

I have just lost a guppy to this same problem, and my platy now has the same symptoms! The guppy and platy had/have rapid breathing, sitting at the bottom pracically all the time, eating little, fins clamped, and the guppy had a small amount of fin damage on her tail. The guppy was like this for 3 weeks and then died suddenly this morning. I have just noticed that my platy is doing the same, and I have no idea what it is. I have treated for swimbladder and ich/velvet. Does anyone know what this could be to save my platy please?
My water stats are
pH 7.8
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
Thanks, and please help asap.

 

[mark4785]

Your platy may have something called gill flukes but you ideally only treat for this if a swab of the fishs' mucus has been taken and a microscope has confirmed that the swab sample contains gill flukes.

Check that the water temperature is set correctly for that species of fish. A higher than normal temperature may take oxygen out of the water, and so will the treatment you've applied which MAY explain the rapid gill movement.

It might be worth providing a video or picture of the sick fish as it may give some clues as to what is wrong.

Do the sick fish stay towards the bottom with rapid gill movement or do they swim to the surface as well? If they swim do they swim upright? Also, do the fish attempt to scratch themselves on objects or the substrate? The reason I ask is due to me remembering a particular Koi which had clamped fins, scratched itself on pond objects and lost it's appetite altogether but it recovered after using a supposedly good fluke treatment named WaterLife Sterazin.

 

[orangefish]

Thanks for the advice, I don't really know what gill flukes is. In answer to your questions, she is flicking against lots of objects, and she is staying at the bottom practically all the time. The temperature is 26/27'C as normal, and I've turned the air pump on now. Any other suggestions, or do you think I should get that WaterLife Sterazin? Thanks for your help.

 

[mark4785]

Thanks for the advice, I don't really know what gill flukes is. In answer to your questions, she is flicking against lots of objects, and she is staying at the bottom practically all the time. The temperature is 26/27'C as normal, and I've turned the air pump on now. Any other suggestions, or do you think I should get that WaterLife Sterazin? Thanks for your help.

I've just looked into the water requirements for a Platy.

The hardness level of the water should ideally have a dH range between 10 and 28. An API GH test kit will give instructions for testing your water to obtain it's GH level.

The recommended temperature is 20 - 26 degrees C. Consider lowering the temperature to 25 degrees C IF you have other species that can cope with such a temperature. Lowering the temperature will mean less oxygen leaves the water which may have an advantageous effect on fish suffering with gill problems due to flukes.

I'd highly recommend using the Sterazin treatment as flicking is very characteristic of a fish that has flukes, which is something Sterazin aims to treat. As I said before, my Koi would flick itself, became lethargic and lost appetite. I took a goldfish from the same pond to my LFS so that they could conduct a swab and they confirmed to me that skin flukes were present within it's mucus and during the swimming stage of the flukes life cycle they may have made contact with the Koi which would explain why it was off it's food, flicking etc. So given the resemblance between the problem I had with my Koi and your fish I'd be happy to recommend you use Sterazin.

Mark.

 

[orangefish]

I've just looked into the water requirements for a Platy.

The hardness level of the water should ideally have a dH range between 10 and 28. An API GH test kit will give instructions for testing your water to obtain it's GH level.

The recommended temperature is 20 - 26 degrees C. Consider lowering the temperature to 25 degrees C IF you have other species that can cope with such a temperature. Lowering the temperature will mean less oxygen leaves the water which may have an advantageous effect on fish suffering with gill problems due to flukes.

I'd highly recommend using the Sterazin treatment as flicking is very characteristic of a fish that has flukes, which is something Sterazin aims to treat. As I said before, my Koi would flick itself, became lethargic and lost appetite. I took a goldfish from the same pond to my LFS so that they could conduct a swab and they confirmed to me that skin flukes were present within it's mucus and during the swimming stage of the flukes life cycle they may have made contact with the Koi which would explain why it was off it's food, flicking etc. So given the resemblance between the problem I had with my Koi and your fish I'd be happy to recommend you use Sterazin.

Mark.

Thanks for the help. You mention that there are all these requirements for platy, but my guppy also had this problem? I am going to turn the temperature down to 24/25'C, the only problem being that I have cichlids in my tank that require a higher temperature. Do you think that if I phoned/asked my LFS they would know if this was flukes or not so that I can definitely confirm that is what is wrong with her before I treat the tank.
Also, is it contaigous as I may have seen a couple of other fish flicking against plants (but not lathargic like this platy)? Thanks

 

[Noahs ark6]

2 reasons ( that i can think of). Either swim bladder. or lack of oxygen in the water. Do you have an airston or air curtain if not i strongly advice purchasing one. good luck

 

[orangefish]

2 reasons ( that i can think of). Either swim bladder. or lack of oxygen in the water. Do you have an airston or air curtain if not i strongly advice purchasing one. good luck

Thanks. I treated a fish in the water for swim bladder a week or so ago (it definitely had swim bladder), but none of the problems were cured and this fish died a few days ago
I do have an air stone, but I don't have it on that much. I will put it on now and hope that things sort out.

I am still looking into the idea that it may be 'flukes'. I'm hoping that my LFS can guide me in the right direction when I eventually get there. Thanks again, and any other suggestions appreciated.