Mickey mouse platty acting sick!!!

[sepideh daymean]

Hello I need help with one of tropical fish. I have a 55 gallon tank stocked with 20 fish. Mostly tetra, 1red tail shark, 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 louche, 3cat fish, 1 pleco, 2 micky mouse platty. Since yesterday one of my platy is breathing fast, mostly laying sitting on the bottom. Didn't eat today. Sometimes tries to swim up but shorty either swims back down or sinks down. I don't think its pregnant. Her belly doesn't seems that round. I tested the water. Ammonia was 1. I did a 75% water change. Vacuumed the gravel. All other dishes are acting normal. My shark mostly bothers the cat fishes. I don't know if my platy is seriously sick or stressed, and what to do? Can I save her?

 

[sepideh daymean]

For some reason any picture or video I try to attach, its file is too large and wont let me.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post a picture and short 20 second video of the fish?
Set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting so the images will be small enough to fit on here.

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the platy?
Have you added anything to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
Is the fish still eating?
Does the fish do a stringy white poop?

Poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite & high nitrate levels) can cause fish to breath heavily but so can gill flukes and internal bacterial infections. If the pH of the water is above 7.0 and you have ammonia in the water, that will certainly be a factor. However, you should check the fish to see if the scales are sticking out from the belly, and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for the next week. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
If the tank has been running for more than 2 months then clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

 

[sepideh daymean]

Thanks for responding. I've had this tank with same fishes for at least a year. Didn't add any fish for months. I added a couple decorative rocks about 3 weeks ago or a month. Tank temp was around 86. I turned it down to 82 today. No white spots or stingy pop. I think scales look fine. But she wants to be left alone. I'll try to send a video.

 

[sepideh daymean]

 

[sepideh daymean]

Unfortunately I can't attach videos. I changed my settings and took several videos from 5 to 10 sec. I'll keep trying. I did attach a few picture.

 

[Colin_T]

Both platies are covered in excess mucous and she has clamped fins. The most common cause is poor water quality.

Do big daily water changes and gravel cleans, clean the filter and increase aeration/ surface turbulence. The fish could be suffocating if the temperature is high.

You can post the video on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube.

 

[sepideh daymean]

 

[sepideh daymean]

 

[sepideh daymean]

 

[sepideh daymean]

Should I set the temperature lower than 80? Also should I add aquarium salt? Or just a routine tank cleaning every day?

 

[Colin_T]

The platy is being harassed by the male. You should add lots of plants including floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).

If you have another tank you could move the male (smaller platy) out so he no longer annoys her. If the tank has room you could add a few more females but you will end up with lots of babies. I would get rid of the male and replace him with a couple of females. However, before you add fish you should check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH (general hardness).

I notice you have an assortment of fishes in the tank ranging from a male pearl gourami, Flying fox algae eater, a couple of types of tetras and the platies. The platies naturally occur in water with a GH above 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. The other fish in the tank naturally occur in water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

If you contact your water supply company (via telephone or website), they should be able to tell you what the pH and GH and KH (carbonate hardness) are. KH isn't as essential but GH and pH are.

If your water is soft (has a GH less than 150ppm) then I would get rid of the platies and avoid keeping fish that occur in hard water.

If your water quality is good and you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and the nitrate is less then 20ppm, and the GH is around 160-250ppm, then get rid of the male platy and get a couple more females so there is a group. And get a few more of each tetra so you have groups of 6-10 of each tetra in the tank. I'm pretty sure you have a zebra danio and that should also be kept in groups of at least 6.

You should add a picture to the back of the tank to make the fish feel more comfortable/ secure.

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Unless you are treating the fish for whitespot or have discus in the tank, I would reduce the temperature to 24C (75-76F).

Do not add salt unless the fish are sick and need treating. In this case I believe the fish is stressed because of the male harassing her.

Just do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and check the water quality/ chemistry.

 

[sepideh daymean]

This was very helpful. Thank you. I do have Danios x 4. Before adding any fish I need to know if my female micky mouse platty and any of my other fishes are sick or not. My female platty is acting sick. Can you tell from pictures/ videos if the have slime disease? I don't see ick. I don't see rust colors for velvet disease. My red tail black shark does chase my other fishes so I'm trying to get rid of him. But still not sure if I should treat my fishes for anything or not.

 

[Colin_T]

I have never heard of slime disease but fish do have a thin layer of mucous over their body and fins, it helps them slip through the water easier. If the fish are stressed or in poor water quality, they produce more mucous and it looks like they have a cream/ white film over their body and fins.

Cleaning the environment up with big daily water changes, gravel cleaning and filter cleaning will normally fix the problem.

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If fish are being attacked by protozoans like Costia, Chilodonella or Trichodina, they get cream, white or grey patches on their body. All protozoan infections cause fish to rub on objects in the tank. White spot and velvet are also protozoans and infected fish will rub on objects in the tank.

The easiest way to check for Velvet is to shine a torch on the fish after the tank lights have been turned off. If the fish have a yellow/ gold sheen to their body, and they are rubbing on objects in the tank, they probably have velvet.

White spot shows up as small white spots/ dots on the fish and it looks a bit like someone has put grains of salt on the fish. Infected fish will rub on objects.

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See if the local pet shop will take the red tail shark off your hands. Most pet shops give a store credit for fish they buy in. Some places give half retail price in credit and others give less. Ask the shop if they give credit and how much they give.

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The platy has a bit of excess mucous and clamped fins in the pictures but seems better in the video. Regular water changes will usually fix that and prevent most other fish health issues from occurring.

The platy might have gill flukes, which can be treated with Praziquantel (available from any pet shop), but that's about it. You can treat them after you do some water changes.

The following link has some information about what to do if your fish gets sick. It is pretty long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/#post-3804819

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You never treat fish with chemicals unless you know what is wrong with them. Your fish don't look like they have anything major to worry about.

The following link is about a ram and some catfish but might be of interest to you, especially post #13, which explains when you should treat a fish.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/help-with-synodontis-petricola-cuckoo-catfish.450894/

 

[sepideh daymean]

I appreciate your time. This was very helpful. Thank you so very much.