Platty disaster

[lambpie89]

Hi,
i added 1 male and 1 female platy to my new tank today but have already seen a worring display from the male.
When choosing the 2 we wanted we picked the most lively of the tank, we picked 2 doing an escape act.

we got the fish home and i noticed the male had wriggled his way into the corner of the bag. Anyway i floted them to equlize temp then added a little tank water to the bag left it 5 more mins then opened the bag under water to let them escape.

The female shot out and has been lively all night, the male however refused to leave the corner of the bag, after a little encouragement the male swam out.
I noticed at this point he was strugling to swim, very rapid fin movement and his tail seemed to be to heavy for him to swim straight. After a min or so he simply sank to the bottom and didn't move again for about 20 mins, he then got up and tried again returning to the floor after another sttugle. He has been doing this all night getting more and more infrequent as he seems to be getting weaker.

at 10.30pm when i left for work he was lying on his side in a plant leaf flapping just his side fins.

To be honest i dont expect him to survive the night but i do want to get some idea of what caused this.
I double checked my amonia and nitrite levels, both are 0.
?

 

[Dubby]

he may have got stressed out. Add some salt to your tank and some stress zyme.

what are your nitrate levels?

 

[jvis0606]

make sure you keep the lights off in the tank too, while they adjust, and i would wait to feed. i agree with adding some salt to the tank and stress-zyme. i am sure he is just in shock.

 

[tstenback]

I agree with Dubby, as it could very well be stress of the move but it also sounds an awful lot like PH shock ( A difference between the ph of the water in the bag and your tank) or temperature shock(A difference between the temp of the water in the bag and your tank) but where you floated the bag the temp should have been close. PH shock affects some fish more than others so that may explain why one is OK and the other is not. As a tip, when you acclimate fish to your tank float them for 15 mins or so then add some of your tank water to the bag wait for a few minutes and then add some more of your tank water to the bag, wait for a few more mins and then net the fish from the bag to the tank. You should never add aquarium shop water to your tank as you never know what it contains.

Great tip from jvis0606 as well. HTH

 

[GuppyDude]

ya sounds like stress and shock add salt and stress coat.

let us know how he is

 

[lambpie89]

i called the supplier the next day for some advise as he had survived the night. i was asked to return him - which i did. they took a look and said that he may have problems with his swim bladder or just lazy? sounds fishy to me. ended up taking another and walking away from the shop feeling extremly guilty.
i will be going back to ask how he got on.
i now have 4 platies and all have been fine racing around in a tank that is far bigger than they are used to, they have really settled in and are getting braver - approching the surface of the water around feeding time.