Platy laying on bottom of tank

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Hollyish18

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Hello. My platt girl has been laying at the bottom of the tank for going on 2 weeks now and I canā€™t figure it out. I was worried she may have velvet or the starting a of Ich so I treated the tank last week with ich-x according to the directions. Did the 25% water change 4 days in a row. Along with 25% water changes weekly. At first she was just hiding a lot and her condition has seemed to deteriorate. She will swim here and there and still seems to eat every morning. Itā€™s a 15 gallon I believe with 1 gourami, 1 pleco, and 1 other platt who I believe is female but her lower fin is so iridescent itā€™s kind of hard for me to tell. Iā€™ve had this tank for a year, and these exact fish for about 7 months, with no issues. I havenā€™t added anything other than the air stone about 2 months ago. All plants are love plants that have been in the tank since the beginning. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Iā€™ve attached pictures including the test strip I just used. The Dalmatian red and white platy is the sick one. The yellow one is her tank mate, which again I think is female. Thanks in advance.
 

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Hello and welcome to the forum! :hi:

It is very hard to tell from the photo what your water parameters are. Test strips are very inaccurate. I suggest getting the API master test kit. It has over 800 individual tests which is a lot.

Is the platy is alive? Is she moving? Is she eating?
 
The test strips indicate that you have soft water around 75 ppm (4.2 dH). This far too soft for livebearers, I'm afraid, and although it may not be causing the problem directly it will weaken livebearers making them susceptible to other diseases.
 
I agree with @essjay Fish in the wrong type of water do not live as long. Did you check the temperature of the water, some fish will lay on the bottom if it is too cool.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum! :hi:

It is very hard to tell from the photo what your water parameters are. Test strips are very inaccurate. I suggest getting the API master test kit. It has over 800 individual tests which is a lot.

Is the platy is alive? Is she moving? Is she eating?
She is alive, she swims around from time to time, and comes up to eat in the morning. Not eating as aggressively but still eating. Iā€™ll look into getting those tests ordered today from amazon.
 
The test strips indicate that you have soft water around 75 ppm (4.2 dH). This far too soft for livebearers, I'm afraid, and although it may not be causing the problem directly it will weaken livebearers making them susceptible to other diseases.
Thank you. I noticed it was about a month ago and went to our local tropical fish store. They too said it was soft and recommended I purchase this rock which I have in there to harden the water. What other ways could I harden the water?
 
She is alive, she swims around from time to time, and comes up to eat in the morning. Not eating as aggressively but still eating. Iā€™ll look into getting those tests ordered today from amazon.
Ok, sounds good to me in the test kit. Do you have a GH test kit?
 
You do have a nice looking tank, most issues with fish are water related. It is better to do a large water change than several small ones. I know that can be a pain. I try and do a 50% water change and though vacuuming every week,
 
You do have a nice looking tank, most issues with fish are water related. It is better to do a large water change than several small ones. I know that can be a pain. I try and do a 50% water change and though vacuuming every week,
Thank you. Being that distilled Ayer is impossible to get a hold of right now, Iā€™m using a 5 gallon bucket, filling it up with 4 gallons of tap water, and treating it with Aqueon water conditioner. According to the directions your to use 5ml per 10 gallons. I use 2.5 ml per 4 gallons. I take the water out using a vacuum, then add water slowly, about 8 or 10 cups every half hour or so. Does that all seem accurate? Thank you so so much for your advice!!
 
Lately I have been using one gallon bottles that I fill 1/2 way with cold water add conditioner and fill the rest of the way with hot water until the temp is close to the tank water. I use Imagitarium water conditioner (10 drops per gallon) I have several bottles (distilled water bottles) I had used a big 40 gallon storage pin to prepare my new water and bucket it into the tank but my dogs want to play in it. Yes you are doing fine but maybe drop it to 2.0 ml to be perfect.
 
Lately I have been using one gallon bottles that I fill 1/2 way with cold water add conditioner and fill the rest of the way with hot water until the temp is close to the tank water. I use Imagitarium water conditioner (10 drops per gallon) I have several bottles (distilled water bottles) I had used a big 40 gallon storage pin to prepare my new water and bucket it into the tank but my dogs want to play in it. Yes you are doing fine but maybe drop it to 2.0 ml to be perfect.
Iā€™ve noticed now the other platt seems to kind of be picking at her, like sheā€™s trying to clean something off of her. Itā€™s not like picking on her like bullying. Itā€™s more of a cleaning. The two plates do she to have maybe just the faintest white-Ish sheen but only towards the front. The orange one seems to be fine, but the other only swims in short bursts.
 

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Iā€™ve noticed now the other platt seems to kind of be picking at her, like sheā€™s trying to clean something off of her. Itā€™s not like picking on her like bullying. Itā€™s more of a cleaning. The two plates do she to have maybe just the faintest white-Ish sheen but only towards the front. The orange one seems to be fine, but the other only swims in short bursts.
Sorry my auto correct is the absolute worst. Platy, platies, seem***
 

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