Is My Platy Sick, Pregnant Or Both?

[sixplus]

I've had a painted platy for about 5 weeks (which is all the experience I have is fish keeping). Judging by the anal fin, it's a female. Over the last several days she has been passing what I've seen described as "dental floss" stool, which I presume to be symptomatic of a capillaria infection. Her appetite has diminished, she divides her time between hiding at the bottom and hovering at the top of the water. Her abdomen has become noticeably distended over the last couple of days, but I cannot see a gravid spot. Her fins are not clamped, she swims normally.

A lyretail molly from the same tank also had been passing the white, stringy stools. Soon after, she developed an ich infection and then died very quickly. I have treated the tank for Ich (2 doses of tank buddies) with no more signs of it. I also have applied one dose of tank buddies parasite clear and will apply a couple more as needed.

The other fish in the 10G tank are two female and one male glow danios and two 5-week old molly fry; also some plants. I test the water regularly and do my best to keep it healthy; I have done plenty of water changes, especially with trying to control parasite and brown algae problems.

My questions are:

1. Does a platy store sperm and therefore make it possible that a lone female would become pregnant after 5 weeks?
2. I've read comments on internal parasites causing wasting; do some also cause distention?
3. If hovering at the water line is due to oxygen starvation (the other fish don't do this), could pregnancy or parasites putting extra demand for oxygenation on her be the cause?
4. What water temp is good for this population? I've had it at 98, but that was based on two angels we've lost as well.
5. How long should I quarantine additional plants before adding them?

Any other impressions/suggestions are appreciated.

 

[modaz]

well for someone who has only 5 weeks experience in fish kepping you really seem to have your head screwed on at the right angle

Firstly correct me if im wrong but did you mean to type in 98 degrees? if so the temp is far too high 75 - 79 is the required temp you need to reduce this slowly at about 2-4 degrees twice a day until it reaches the best temp for them. dont do it too quickl as this can cause severe stress on your fish.

Your treating correctly for the parasite and yes it sounds like thats whats going on so carry on with the treatment.

Platy do store sperm throughout a 7 month period, gestation is between 4-5 weeks, shes prop not feeling to good with the combination of the parasite and high temp.and this would cause her to surface quite a lot

Gravid doesnt always apply to platys, depends on the species and colouration of that area of the body, she could well be pregnant and starting to box off and ready to drop fry, a clear pic would be helpful to determine this though the sitting on the bottom is also typical of a heavily pregnant female.

how long have you quarantined the plants for already?

 

[sixplus]

Thanks for the quick answers. I meant 78 on the temp (sorry). I have wondered if they would be more comfortable with the water a bit cooler. But it's a very steady 78. The plants are in their 5th day of quarantine. I didn't realize with the first set of plants that I should do this, but they're still in there and doing well.

I appreciate your reassurance. I'm learning the hard way that I can't just throw a new aquarium together and not have big problems. One more question, please. What effect on the fry will the parasite and treatment have?

well for someone who has only 5 weeks experience in fish kepping you really seem to have your head screwed on at the right angle

Firstly correct me if im wrong but did you mean to type in 98 degrees? if so the temp is far too high 75 - 79 is the required temp you need to reduce this slowly at about 2-4 degrees twice a day until it reaches the best temp for them. dont do it too quickl as this can cause severe stress on your fish.

Your treating correctly for the parasite and yes it sounds like thats whats going on so carry on with the treatment.

Platy do store sperm throughout a 7 month period, gestation is between 4-5 weeks, shes prop not feeling to good with the combination of the parasite and high temp.and this would cause her to surface quite a lot

Gravid doesnt always apply to platys, depends on the species and colouration of that area of the body, she could well be pregnant and starting to box off and ready to drop fry, a clear pic would be helpful to determine this though the sitting on the bottom is also typical of a heavily pregnant female.

how long have you quarantined the plants for already?

 

[modaz]

PHEW!!!!!! glad you got it wrong
the fry at 5 weeks should be ok with the meds, TBH honest they will need to be treated anyway aswell.

I only quarantine plants for 1 week and only ever had 1 problem with anything nasty going into the tank via dodgy bloodworm that was sold to me.

 

[sixplus]

That's another thing - bloodworms. I've read that being frozen destroys parasites they may have, but I don't completely believe it, and I suspect that's where my troubles began. How is this viewed among experienced aquarists?