Platy Skinny, Clear Poop

[ThatGirlMarie]

Hi all! I want to seek some advice on my Platy so I'm just copy and pasting the recommended format from the sticky post to get all the info, then I'll add details at the bottom.


Tank size: 13g Widescreen Aqueon
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 75F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): very skinny, clear stringy poop with blobs in it sometimes

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10-15% every 3 days and every 7-8 days we do a 25% change

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: We use Seachem Prime

Tank inhabitants: 1 Sunset Fire Wag Platy (the one in question!), 6 neon tetras, and two balloon Molly's

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): Balloon Molly's are newest but platy has been symptomatic for a while

Exposure to chemicals: none

Digital photo (include if possible): the photo of her near the black Molly is the most recent - from today. The other was taken about 4 weeks ago. She was noticeably fatter but she eats. The photo of her solo is also from today but she was swimming so fast I had to take a photo from a video so it's not the best.


Until we switched to the Angels Plus "Works" flake yesterday I alternated basic Tetramin Plus tropical fish flakes, Tetramin Tropical fish crisps (she likes these especially! She carries them around until they soften and then gobbles them) and sometimes freeze dried blood worms which the mollys and tetras especially love.

This fish is very active and and eats voraciously. I recently bought Angels Plus Antiprotozoan fish food (I meant to buy something for internal parasite and thought this was it, but didn't realize they also have a de-worm one) and started her eating it (just a day now). She doesn't have clamped fine and like I said, she's pretty active. One of the mollys is male and one female (they told me both were female but surprise! Ha) and so the male sometimes chases her but she's been like this for a while. She was always active and fat until about 4 weeks ago when she started dropping weight so I thought she just pooped weird. We've had her since the beginning - she was our first addition 10 months ago when our tank cycled.

Is it safe to continue the Antiprotozoan food? I plan to order the de-worm food but I have to wait to get paid unfortunately and don't want to wait to treat her. We have some Maracyn around here someplace but I didn't think it was bacterial.

 

[docpark]

Hi all! I want to seek some advice on my Platy so I'm just copy and pasting the recommended format from the sticky post to get all the info, then I'll add details at the bottom.


Tank size: 13g Widescreen Aqueon
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 75F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): very skinny, clear stringy poop with blobs in it sometimes

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10-15% every 3 days and every 7-8 days we do a 25% change

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: We use Seachem Prime

Tank inhabitants: 1 Sunset Fire Wag Platy (the one in question!), 6 neon tetras, and two balloon Molly's

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): Balloon Molly's are newest but platy has been symptomatic for a while

Exposure to chemicals: none

Digital photo (include if possible): the photo of her near the black Molly is the most recent - from today. The other was taken about 4 weeks ago. She was noticeably fatter but she eats. The photo of her solo is also from today but she was swimming so fast I had to take a photo from a video so it's not the best.


Until we switched to the Angels Plus "Works" flake yesterday I alternated basic Tetramin Plus tropical fish flakes, Tetramin Tropical fish crisps (she likes these especially! She carries them around until they soften and then gobbles them) and sometimes freeze dried blood worms which the mollys and tetras especially love.

This fish is very active and and eats voraciously. I recently bought Angels Plus Antiprotozoan fish food (I meant to buy something for internal parasite and thought this was it, but didn't realize they also have a de-worm one) and started her eating it (just a day now). She doesn't have clamped fine and like I said, she's pretty active. One of the mollys is male and one female (they told me both were female but surprise! Ha) and so the male sometimes chases her but she's been like this for a while. She was always active and fat until about 4 weeks ago when she started dropping weight so I thought she just pooped weird. We've had her since the beginning - she was our first addition 10 months ago when our tank cycled.

Is it safe to continue the Antiprotozoan food? I plan to order the de-worm food but I have to wait to get paid unfortunately and don't want to wait to treat her. We have some Maracyn around here someplace but I didn't think it was bacterial.

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Hi ThatGirlMarie:

Is there any chance you could isolate your platy in a quarantine tank? I ask because, if so, you could try one of the broad-spectrum antiparasitics like Jungle Parasite Clear or Tetra Parasite Guard. The symptoms you describe make it hard to pin down to a protazoa, worm, fluke, etc. The broad-spectrum product might be the best way to increase the odds of knocking out whatever internal parasite she has, and it's easier and safer to use it with one fish in quarantine rather than putting in the main tank with the other fishes.

 

[ThatGirlMarie]

******************************************************************************************************
Hi ThatGirlMarie:

Is there any chance you could isolate your platy in a quarantine tank? I ask because, if so, you could try one of the broad-spectrum antiparasitics like Jungle Parasite Clear or Tetra Parasite Guard. The symptoms you describe make it hard to pin down to a protazoa, worm, fluke, etc. The broad-spectrum product might be the best way to increase the odds of knocking out whatever internal parasite she has, and it's easier and safer to use it with one fish in quarantine rather than putting in the main tank with the other fishes.

I got a nursery tank in case the Molly gets pregnant but it has slits so it would still be main tank water and cross contaminate. We have a small tank cycled for a betta but it has another (aggressive) fish in it that will be rehomed in a few days.

Would treating the whole tank be bad if I could get one of those treatments? I wish I could get a mixture food instead of being faced with giant 3 oz bags of every medicated option. I'll look for those other ones on Amazon.

 

[docpark]

I got a nursery tank in case the Molly gets pregnant but it has slits so it would still be main tank water and cross contaminate. We have a small tank cycled for a betta but it has another (aggressive) fish in it that will be rehomed in a few days.

Would treating the whole tank be bad if I could get one of those treatments? I wish I could get a mixture food instead of being faced with giant 3 oz bags of every medicated option. I'll look for those other ones on Amazon.

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You can certainly treat the whole tank with one of the broad-spectrum antiparasites if necessary. If you currently have activated carbon in your filter you should probably remove it before you add the treatment. Depending upon which product you get, it might advise that you do a partial water change between treatments. When you're done with the treatment another partial water change is a good idea, and even if you don't routinely run activated carbon it might be a good idea to use some for about a week to mop any remaining medication in the water. When I've used a similar product it didn't have any noticeable affect on the biofiltration, but when you're done with the treatment you might want to check ammonia and nitrite just to be on the safe side. I hope your platy gets better!

 

[ThatGirlMarie]

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You can certainly treat the whole tank with one of the broad-spectrum antiparasites if necessary. If you currently have activated carbon in your filter you should probably remove it before you add the treatment. Depending upon which product you get, it might advise that you do a partial water change between treatments. When you're done with the treatment another partial water change is a good idea, and even if you don't routinely run activated carbon it might be a good idea to use some for about a week to mop any remaining medication in the water. When I've used a similar product it didn't have any noticeable affect on the biofiltration, but when you're done with the treatment you might want to check ammonia and nitrite just to be on the safe side. I hope your platy gets better!

Thanks so much! The Tetra Parasite Guard says it's tablets and treats the water. That wouldn't treat internal parasites, would it? I also saw Seachem Para Guard. But they all seem to treat the water and I thought these fish didn't "drink" the water so medicated food was the way to go. Is there a broad spectrum medicated food? I really appreciate all the help!

 

[docpark]

Thanks so much! The Tetra Parasite Guard says it's tablets and treats the water. That wouldn't treat internal parasites, would it? I also saw Seachem Para Guard. But they all seem to treat the water and I thought these fish didn't "drink" the water so medicated food was the way to go. Is there a broad spectrum medicated food? I really appreciate all the help!

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You're right -- freshwater fish don't actually drink the water! But they do absorb it into their bodies in other ways, including through the digestive tract when they eat, so if the medicine is in the water it will eventually get into the fish. Tetra's product is intended for both internal and external parasites, but I think the Seachem product is only for external parasites.

I don't know of any broad-spectrum medicated foods, although other people on the forum may be familiar with some. The ones I know of are specifically for protozoans, like the one you already have.

 

[ThatGirlMarie]

Positive update! So we finished the course of antiprotozoan food and she has stayed active! She has enjoyed the transition to this prevent & recovery high protein food AND she had normal poops! Yay!

The tetra parasite guard arrived and we treated the tank with it and something VERY weird happened: green whisps - almost like smoke but in the water - from the gravel near the fizzy tablet. Odd. But the tank looks great - we did a 50% water change right before anyway. It says you can treat again after 48 hours with a 25% water change in between so we might do that too.

So glad they're remaining active and eating voraciously and pooping normally.

 

[ThatGirlMarie]

Another update: so our Platy is still quite skinny but she is MUCH more active. We've continued our very regular water changes every 3 days, they vary between 25-40%. We tried to treat again with the tablet just in case, but overall, I don't think it's working. We are moving in a week and will be upgrading our tank to either a 29g or 40g breeder (can I convince my husband we need both a dog AND a giant fish tank?!) and going with a planted tank, so hopefully she'll blossom again. I rescued a very pregnant silver balloon molly from a big box store when the guy working told me they usually euthanize the pregnant ones because people don't want them. WHAT?!

Needless to say I have a bunch of fry waiting to move into the 13g tank once we upgrade. But the platy has responded really well to other fish. Maybe she was lonely? She isn't in the corner hardly ever anymore and the few fry I managed to save, that died later, she gobbled them up immediately (so I know she's getting plenty of protein!). She is still a good eater and goes after the freeze dried bloodworms I got. She has also joined the Molly's in believing my fingers are food hehe

We'll see if she continues to stay stable.