Help with poorly platys

[Beck106]

Hi all,
Am a newbie here after some help with my platys. They appear to have a white fungus on their tail fins which I have been treating. However they haven't picked up at all. One now looks like she can't close her mouth and is gasping. Can anyone help with a quick acting remedy? I hate seeing her suffering. ?

 

[Colin_T]

It's excess mucous caused by something in the water, usually poor water quality (ammonia and nitrite).

---------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

---------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

 

[Beck106]

It's excess mucous caused by something in the water, usually poor water quality (ammonia and nitrite).

---------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

---------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

Thank you this is very helpful. Our water levels are spot on, I had them checked yesterday. The filter cartridge was changed approx 2 weeks ago, but was cleaned today using tank water. I did a 50% water change today and we always use a gravel cleaner. I have platys, guppies, tetras, cory jhulis, shrimp, ottos and snails. We've also got a good airstone running. So do you think 4 heaped tablespoons to start with?

 

[Colin_T]

The filter cartridge was changed approx 2 weeks ago, but was cleaned today using tank water.

Don't change filter media/ cartridges unless they start to fll apart. The media develops colonies of beneficial filter bacteria that keep the ammonia and nitrite levels on 0ppm. If you replace the media, you get rid of the bacteria and ammonia and nitrite levels can go up and kill the fish.

Filter media should be squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used. The bucket of dirty water can be poured on the lawn.

If the filter media starts to fall apart, replace it with a piece of sponge from a different brand of filter. AquaClear do nice sponges and you can use a pair of scissors to cut the sponge to fit in most filters. Sponge last for 10+ years and get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used. You can add sponge to the filter while it has a cartridge and leave it there for a couple of months before removing the cartridge.

-------------------

I have platys, guppies, tetras, cory jhulis, shrimp, ottos and snails. We've also got a good airstone running. So do you think 4 heaped tablespoons to start with?

You have tetras and catfish in the tank so only start with 1 heaped tablespoon of salt per 20 litres (5 gallons). If there is no improvement after 48 hours, increase it to 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres.

Do not use more than 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres because it will stress and possibly kill the tetras and catfish.