Platy Problems

[KNM]

Hi... I am hoping for some advice about my Mickey Mouse platy who doesn't seem to be too well... I have had a look at a couple of Tropical Fish books and have come up with some symptoms but no exact diagnosis about what is wrong with the platy. It seems to have clamped fins (all of its fins are very close to its body), it is very lethargic and spends most of its time either at the bottom of the tank (almost resting on the gravel) or at the top of the tank (possibly gasping, it is hard to tell). There are no marks, discolourations, gill problems etc visible. It did look slightly bloated and did a couple of really, really long excrements a while ago, but it appeared to recover from whatever was bothering it at that time.

Currently, the only time it is animated is feeding time, when it eats as much as the other fish and seems to behave quite normally. It is not bullied at all and has always been quite content (we have had the tank for about 8 months and it is one of the first fish we bought for the tank), there is another (Tuxedo) platy in the tank which is perfectly healthy, so it doesn't seem to be the conditions (the other fish in the tank are fine - some of them are even breeding in the current conditions) so I'm really not sure what the problem is. Is it possibly a parasite of some variety (the bloating and the long excrement had me suspecting this before)? How should I treat it... it was one of my first tropical fish and so I am quite attached to it and would like to see it a lot happier!
Thanks for any help!
KNM

 

[BIGMAC]

Have you tested your water for ammonia and nitrite?

 

[Madi's Platy]

Something very similar happened with one of my platys, she would just kind of float around in a daze, sit at the bottom, or sit around at the top. I couldn't see anything wrong with her and the other fish weren't bothering her either. She had her fins clamped most of the time too. This went on for over a week and I thought for sure I was going to lose her. But then all of a sudden she was fine!!! I wondered if maybe it was a pregnancy or hormonal thing?? Is yours a female, maybe the bloat is actually babies? I think that it is a good sign that she is still eating, you know you are in trouble when those PIGS don't want food.
Good luck I hope she snaps out of it.

 

[KNM]

Yeah... my platy was really bad there for a while and just sat on the bottom barely moving and had given up eating... I kept thinking it would be dead in the morning. I gave it a fungal bath every day for about a week and its started eating again and doesn't spend all of its time lying around on the bottom of the tank... However one of its eyes looks really misty and it sometimes goes back to the bottom of the tank to scratch it on the gravel (or that's what it looks like). Its swim bladder also seems to be a bit awry too... although I know buoyancy problems are often symptomatic of something else...
So really... I'm not sure if the fungal baths are what helped it, or whether it just semi-snapped out of it by itself and... I'm worried that it is suffering with its sore eye... any advice or diagnoses, folks?
Thanks so much!

 

[cutechic]

What size is your tank? How many other fish? Do you know the water parameters (esp. ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate)? Do you have adequate filtration?

The clamped fins is a sign of stress, not a symptom of a particular disease. Lethargy is also a sign of stress, and can also be caused by swim bladder disorder.

Long exretions are normal for platies. If they are quite bloated a while after eating, they may not be digesting their food properly. Try feeding a little bit less, and vary the foods they get. Perhaps try some frozen food as a change.

Don't treat it with anything yet- you don't know if it's sick. You can add aquarium salt to the water if you don't have scaleless fish. The aquarium salt is siad to be beneficial to livebearers, especially when they're acting a little perculiar. I'd be hesitant to give fungal baths unless you are confidant your fish has a fungus.

Scratching on gravel/ ornaments often indicates external parasites.