Sunset Platy Has Lost Half Of Its Tail Fin

[Mola Mola]

Thanks Tizer.

I have scooped him out of the tank now, and he is in a plastic container filled with water from the tank.

He is just laying on his side on the surface, and the only movement is the gills.

Where do I go from here? I really don't have any space to set up a separate tank.

Does it sound like I might be able to save him?

 

[Clarousel]

Is he still able to move though? It'd be good to have an air pump in there and try adding some salt. I don't think you need to set up a big tank, a good supply of oxygen and clean water should be good right now.

I had a gourami who was once bullied until near death. I took him out and wasn't expecting him to survive. However in 2 days he was up and swimming. I hope your platy makes it!

 

[Mola Mola]

I had a gourami who was once bullied until near death. I took him out and wasn't expecting him to survive. However in 2 days he was up and swimming. I hope your platy makes it!

Thanks Clarousel. Unfortunately, I think that he has died.

To be honest I'm not surprised, the poor thing was clearly suffering and I think that the mollies must have terrified it this morning.

I've taken a video, simply because I am hoping that somebody might be able to give me a better idea of what might have been wrong with him. The video shows the white patch on his side, and also some more of the tail fin damage.

I'm wondering if he has just been attacked, or whether there could also have been an illness involved here.

When I was taking the video, my youngest walked into the room and said, "Ooooh, fishy in there...fishy not moving". I just said that he was asleep

I've added a couple of dashes to the start of the URL, just so that the thumbnail of a dead fish isn't shown here. However, if anybody could have a look, I'd really appreciate it.

--http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvtLbLoq8mQ

 

[fluttermoth]

Sorry for your loss, Mola Mola

I think what's happened is that your platy was sick for some reason (maybe some kind of bacterial infection as these things often are, but I'm only guessing) and the other fish have started picking on it because it was weak.

It's very common for animals that live in groups to pick on sick individuals and kill them, so the sick one doesn't attract predators to the group

 

[Clarousel]

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear about this. I really wonder what made him ill

Hope the rest of your fish are fine.

 

[Tizer]

I presume you still test the water now and again? If the filter gets packed full of gunk, the flow can slow down considerably and the filter struggles to do its job, thus ammonia levels rise. Keep on top of maintenance with the stock you have, its quite heavy as i said earlier. Sorry to hear that he snuffed it, most livebearing fish are horribly weak these days and its doesnt take much to knock them off. Hope you move onto some more interesing fishies one day

 

[Mola Mola]

Thanks to all for the kind words, much appreciated.

To answer Tizer's question about the water quality. I generally vac the gravel every 7-10 days, and I tend to do quite a big water change when I do that, perhaps as much as 80%.

I also test the water at least once a week, and the levels have been fine since the temporary spike a few weeks back, when I added some more fish.

So, hopefully this is just a bit of bad luck.

Thanks again to all. As always your thoughts and advice are much appreciated.