Help. Platys stacked at bottom corner.

[Colin_T]

Cold water will also cause fish to sit on the bottom and have clamped fins.
How cold did the tank water get?

 

[MetiSeifu]

Cold water will also cause fish to sit on the bottom and have clamped fins.
How cold did the tank water get?

I think it was about 73 before. It is 77 now. Seems to make a big difference.

 

[Colin_T]

73F should have been ok, however if the fish had been in really warm water for a while before you got them, the cooler conditions might have upset them a bit. It might have been a combination of factors including cooler water and possibly something else.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Daily 75% water changes for 2 weeks. On initial dosing, add 1 tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt per every 5 gallons of water. After that, add 3/4 tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt daily after 75% water change. Set temp at upper 70’s F. If you have tetras in tank, move platy’s to Quarantine tank as tetra’s don’t do well with salt. Keep us posted. Watch water parameters. Be sure to dissolve aquarium salt before adding to tank as it will burn the fish otherwise. Good luck!

 

[MetiSeifu]

73F should have been ok, however if the fish had been in really warm water for a while before you got them, the cooler conditions might have upset them a bit. It might have been a combination of factors including cooler water and possibly something else.

I agree. We did everthing you guys suggestes. On top of changing the heater, we changed waters almost every day. Applied ick medication and marine salt baths twice a day. Cleaned tank repeatedly and fed fish less. This all made a difference. But I believe the main one, other than the heat increase, is the death of the two that were extremely sick. The male was covered in ick. And the female, we believe, brought the diease with her. With those two gone, maybe the last sick fish got a fighting chance. I assume having sick fish in the tank can stress immunity of the healthy fish.

 

[Waterstrider]

Definitely just as it would for any animal, having sick or dead animals around exposed to new illnesses. This is one of the reasons I don’t feed my cichlids feeders.
Also worth having a cheaper aquarium as a temporary tank for new fish to watch for illnesses before adding to new tanks

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree. We did everthing you guys suggestes. On top of changing the heater, we changed waters almost every day. Applied ick medication and marine salt baths twice a day. Cleaned tank repeatedly and fed fish less. This all made a difference. But I believe the main one, other than the heat increase, is the death of the two that were extremely sick. The male was covered in ick. And the female, we believe, brought the diease with her. With those two gone, maybe the last sick fish got a fighting chance. I assume having sick fish in the tank can stress immunity of the healthy fish.

I wouldn’t do marine salt baths when adding salt directly to tank either.

 

[MetiSeifu]

I wouldn’t do marine salt baths when adding salt directly to tank either.

Oh sorry. I meant we gave them marine salt baths. Ours is a planted tank so did not want to endanger out plants by adding salt in it.

 

[MetiSeifu]

Definitely just as it would for any animal, having sick or dead animals around exposed to new illnesses. This is one of the reasons I don’t feed my cichlids feeders.
Also worth having a cheaper aquarium as a temporary tank for new fish to watch for illnesses before adding to new tanks

Good plan. Maybe we will get a very small one sometime soon. One of our fish is pregnant, too. So may need one anyway.

 

[Waterstrider]

yeah, it’s even more worth the second tank if you do a really big tank that you want to add it to, cause it’s faster and cheaper to treat a sick 10 gallon then treat a sick 90