Platy Not Looking Very Well

[sparkster]

Hi there,

I bought my tank 11 aug and set it all up.
I bought 2 platys and 2 mollies on 21 aug.
One platy died within 4 days, but never looked settled from the start.
Both mollies are doing great and 2 weeks ago, one (not sure which!) had 7 fry. All are looking great!

However, the other platy doesn't seem to be well at all. It is sitting still on the bottom most of the time and I can't see it eating at all in the last few days. There doesn't seem to be anything visibly wrong with it - except thats it looks "pale". Today it seems to be sitting still at the top for the first time.

All other fish and fry are coming to the surface as soon as I put feed in.

I've checked all levels of nitrates, ph etc with my 5 in 1 testing kit and all seem fine. I added some aqua tonic salt yesterday, and have done 2 lots of 10% water changes, plus adding Tetra Easy balance weekly.

Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

 

[GRJ]

Those 5 in 1 testing strips are a waste of time unfortunatley. They are innaccurate and i learned the hard way about them. You need liquid drop test kits as they are much more accurate and give a true reading. Your platy doesnt sound like she/he is well. Did you cycle your tank with the fish in? If so, it could be the result of ammonia/nitrite poisoning. You really need to get you water tested accuratley and see what the true levels are. You could take your water to the LFS to be tested if you cant get your own liquid tests. HTH. GRJ

 

[sparkster]

hi, thanks for your reply, we will get one of the proper kits.
however, we did take a water sample to our local aqaurium and they tested it there and said it was fine too.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Possibly poor stock in the first place. The 5:1 test strips are also really not that accurate better to use liquid test kit although youre looking at spending around £20 to get one, API do the best master test kit. Most LFS will test water for a small charge as well. I doubt that your water conditions are "fine" as by the sounds of things your tank is probably still cycling. Click link in my sig to find ou more. Try to get liquid test results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and pH + let us know tank temp. and size also.

 

[GRJ]

Did they tell you the results? Some LFS dont even test the ammonia believe it or not. I know its very worrying and i have been there with my platys when i first set up. I lost a few platys, all showing signs the same as yours are, staying at the bottom and not eating and they didnt last unfortunatley. I hope your platy pulls through. You will be much better with the liquid tests though. I got test strips and ended up throwing them away as they were so erratic! GRJ