Odd Growth On Platy

[fishy187]

Tank size: approximately 20 litres
pH: neutral
tank temp: 25 degrees celsius

My platy has been in the tank for over a month now and looks really healthy. She is swimming fine and will probably be giving birth any day now. However, today i noticed a growth just under her mouth, which looks like a little tube or something. Its a white, near transparent thing that comes out about 2mm or so, and is a little less wider than that. As I said, she looks fine otherwise. Any ideas of what could be the problem?


Tank size: approximately 20 litres
pH: neutral
tank temp: 25 degrees celsius

The water was only changed last weekend and it was only about a quarter change. It was the first time as the tank has only been up and running for just over a month.

The tank has another platy, a bristle-nose catfish, and for cardinal tetras-which were introduced a week ago, and 2 male guppies which were introduced today after the growth had appeared.

The female platy in question originally had another platy and a dwarf gourami in the tank with it but the gourami became dominate and harassed the platies-eventually making one of them sick and then eating it. That platy died and we returned the dwarf gourami to the store. We then waited a week before we got the new batch of tetras, platy and bristle-nose.

As I have said, her behaviour is normal and she is looking healthier than ever. The other fish do not bother her so other than this tube growth, everything is fine. Im not sure if it something i should be worried about but I thought I may as well check

I havent been able to take a photo as of yet, i just wanted to see if anyone knew of this happening before. If not i will try to take a picture. Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

Your tanks overstocked.

The tank isn't really big enough for any of those fish.

Do you have water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.


Is it possible to load a pic up of the sick fish.
Any cotton wool on the mouth. Is the mouth swelled up or rotting away.

 

[fishy187]

Do you have water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.


Is it possible to load a pic up of the sick fish.
Any cotton wool on the mouth. Is the mouth swelled up or rotting away.
[/quote]
We consulted a few different fish places before we put them in, and that's what was recommended. We even showed the tank to them . It's probably more like 24 litres-litres not galleons.

Other than the tube thing, there is no other sign anything is wrong-it doesnt even look like an infection or disease. The mouth isn't swelling or rotting away, there is just something underneath it.

I am just waiting for my camera battery to charge, as soon as it does I will post a pic

All the other levels you asked for I have no way of testing. The Ph is neutral

I was just wondering if anyone had heard of it, but guess not. Pic will be posted soon!

 

[WILDER]

Does it look like a parasite.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing, excess mucas, laboured breathing or gasping, darting.
Does the tube have anything comimg out of the end of it.

Does it look like any of these pics.
http/training.fws.gov/EC/fishparasite/parasite.html

 

[fishy187]

None of those signs and the tube end looks hollow. As I said she is acting normal and looks very healthy.

If I had to pick a picture I would say the first one but unless the things coming out of it are really small, they aren't there

Like I said, I'll post a pic as soon as I can

 

[WILDER]

Only thing I can think of is a parasite.
Would you say it looked like a vase.

 

[WILDER]

Anchor Worm (a.k.a. Lernaea)



Symptoms:

Infected fish can be seen with whitish red worm-like threads, about ¼ inch long. Trailing at the rear of female parasites are two long, tube-like egg sacs. The parasites can be found anywhere on the body of the fish, including the eyes, gills and fins. Raised ulcers may appear at the site of attachment. Consequently, secondary bacterial infections may occur. The tale-tale sign that your fish is infected will be if you notice it rubbing or scraping against objects in the aquarium. It does this in an effort to remove the parasite.



Cause:

The parasitic crustacean Lernaea. Lernaea burrow into the muscle and gill tissue of fish, often times reaching as deeply as the internal organs, causing severe damage. Heavy infestations can cause significant weight loss and death.



Treatment:

You should kill all visible worms by dabbing them with a cotton swab, dipped in Potassium Permanganate or an anti-parasitic medication. Then you should carefully remove them from the fish with tweezers. You should kill the parasites before removing them because if they have burrowed deeply, removing them alive could cause the fish pain and significant physical damage. Once you’ve removed the parasite, you should then dab the wounds with Methylene Blue to prevent secondary bacterial infections from occurring. It is highly recommended that you feed the fish with medicated food. The tank will also need to be treated to kill any unseen, free-swimming juvenile parasites. You can use Fluke Tabs, Clout, Paragon or Trifon for this.

 

[fishy187]

I have just been looking up Ambiphrya and I think it could be it. However I could not find much information on it or any pictures of it on fish. The fish isn't showing any of the signs menioned, other than it looks like a skin scraping.

The cause of it, decaying plant, seems a bit odd as we only have two small plants in the tank at the moment which are healthy, but maybe not?

As both platys are pregnant, what would be the best way to treat the parasite if thats what it is? If i do a water change, that might stop others from getting it but will it treat the one that has it?

 

[fishy187]

It does not sound like an anchor worm, and the fish is not rubbing or scraping against anything

 

[WILDER]

http/www.geocities.com/steevward/ambiphrya.html

 

[WILDER]

If it is that parasite I would only half dose if she about ready to give birth.
Without a pic its hard to say what it could be.

 

[fishy187]

If it is that parasite I would only half dose if she about ready to give birth.
Without a pic its hard to say what it could be.

How do I do a salt bath, and does it hurt unborn fry? Or even live fry for that mater as i just discovered a baby hiding in the plants today.

I will do a quarter water change soon and again and post pics up asap, prob not for a few hours yet. I wont do anything else until then

Thanks for your help so far

 

[WILDER]

Ignore.

Try a salt bath it shouldn't hurt the unborn fry.
Salt dosn't always work on some parasites.

 

[fishy187]

How do I do a salt bath?

 

[fishy187]

Here are the pictures...the best I could get

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