Platties fins clamped

[desley]

Hi,

Sometimes a few of my platties clamp up their fins. They seem to do it for a short period of time (say 30 secs to a minute) and then they swim around normally.
It seems to be when another platty is close by. Are they trying to mate or something ? Maybe they are annoying each other
I hear that clamped fins can mean illness but do their fins need to be clamped up all the time or most of the time to mean this?

Sometimes 1 of my female guppies will clamp up for a brief time too.

Any help as if it means illness then I would like to do something about it.

What is the best temp for guppies, danios & platties.

Should I use salt all the time or only when they look a bit sick ? I hear conflicting info on this.

Also I asked about rock versus aquarium salt and was advised on the forum to use aquarim salt but when I went to buy at lfs (think this is short for pet shop) they told me they run out and their salt they sell is just rock or sea salt (pure) which I can buy at the grocery store. Does anyone have experience at using salt and knows the difference ?

Thanks
Desley

 

[Dragonslair]

Fish clamp their fins for a number of reasons. Fear, stress, illness. Any of these are not good. The best thing for any fishkeeper to do is keep an eye out for trouble. Water tests, bullying by other fish and the general hygeine of the aquaria. Problems don't suddenly appear.
I would avoid putting salt in any tropical aquaria- there are other solutions better suited and a lot more kinder.
The difference between aquaria salt and rock salt is that rock salt has been purified with chemicals and additives for human consumption and ease of flow. Aquaria salt hasn't.
Salt of any kind is indiscriminate and will purge anything good or bad, and if you are not a very experienced fishkeeper you can do more harm to your fish by using salt.
The only one thing I would use aquaria salt for is disinfection after a tank stripdown and/or cleaning nets after catching sick or dead fish. I would always throughly rinse the items in clean water to wash off the salt before using them for my aquarium again.