Platy acting strangely help me!!!!!

[Winterose]

Help...So yesterday i got some platies from petco and all but one seem to be doing great. they are zipping round the tank and having fun but one is just chilling by the heater up against the surface of the tank? he? just stays there he is breathing and his fins wiggle bu he won't move unless i go to like adjust the heater. then he only moves to the bottom of the heater so i can't bump him, i tried to see if maybe he was hungry cause the others come to the top like he is if they want food I've noticed but he didn't want anything. he won't even move if the other fish come over to say hello. Idk about you guys but imo a fish that doesn't socialize with his buddies and sits alone at the top of a tank by the heater is a fish with problems what do you think? and yesterday day when i put them in he was fine and zipping around like the rest are today

[jpappy789]

Fish need time to adjust to their new environment so it may take a while before they are active and eating.

[snoopy65]

Does it look fat? Could be a female getting ready to drop em.

[Winterose]

Does it look fat? Could be a female getting ready to drop em.
nope, he isn't fat at least not as fat as some of the ones i think are girls. he looks like the other ones that i think are males.

[Winterose]

Hey guys help, he is still acting funny and a second one has decided to do the same thing about half way across the tank from him...

[Blueiz]

How did you acclimate them , what are your water paramters? Do there fins look "glued" together?

[Winterose]

I put their bag into the tank and left them their for like 30 - 50 min then i caught them in a net and placed them into the tank sprinkled a little food into the tank for them then shut the lights in the room for the rest of the night. my ph was 7, My ammonia 0ppm, nitrates 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm. and no one seems to have glued fins. and he is ok with other fish around him but if someone bumps him he kinda "Jumps?" at them? i'll see if i can get a video of it.

[Blueiz]

How long was your tank set up before you added the fish? Your nitrates being at zero indicate that your tank isnt cycled, have you tested the water since you put the fish in?

[Winterose]

its been being cycled for a week or so and we picked it up with some of the old water in it to keep the beneficial bacteria along with using the old filter to.....Yes i tested it after adding the fish and it was a little darker than the 0ppm but not dark enough to be the next color on the test which was 5? my test kit said as long as the test was below like 20ppm then it was good to go? i didn't see anything about it needing to be above 0ppm


It could have been heat to maybe...I looked at my thermometer and the heat had gotten almost to hot since yesterday so i turned the heater down a hair and now all the fishies are running around the tank like normal i'll keep you guys posted on things

[Winterose]

darn, one of them is at the top of the tank again

[KarlTh]

If it's been a week without fish, it probably isn't cycled any more. The bacteria have starved.

[lucy42083]

If it's been a week without fish, it probably isn't cycled any more. The bacteria have starved.

^^I agree, the bacteria cannot live long without an ammonia source to feed on.

[snoopy65]

Your best bet, to keep the fish alive, at this point is water changes. As many as it takes as often as it takes, to keep your ammonia and nitrites down.

[Winterose]

ok thanks guys, one died last night but the rest are doing good, i'll do some water changes and stuff.

[Winterose]

ok so i checked my params again and here is what they were. PH: 7 Nitrate: 5 Nitrite: 0 and Ammonia: 0 am i good?

[snoopy65]

No, ammonia and nitrIte have to be 0. Change water until ammonia and nitrite are 0.

[Winterose]

ok so i checked my params again and here is what they were. PH: 7 Nitrate: 5 Nitrite: 0 and Ammonia: 0 am i good?


No, ammonia and nitrIte have to be 0. Change water until ammonia and nitrite are 0.
um they are at 0

[snoopy65]

Duh....sorry.....Yeah, your good.

[Galaxie]

its been being cycled for a week or so and we picked it up with some of the old water in it to keep the beneficial bacteria along with using the old filter to.....Yes i tested it after adding the fish and it was a little darker than the 0ppm but not dark enough to be the next color on the test which was 5? my test kit said as long as the test was below like 20ppm then it was good to go? i didn't see anything about it needing to be above 0ppm


It could have been heat to maybe...I looked at my thermometer and the heat had gotten almost to hot since yesterday so i turned the heater down a hair and now all the fishies are running around the tank like normal i'll keep you guys posted on things

What is the temperature? ...and what was it before you turned it down?

[Winterose]

Duh....sorry.....Yeah, your good.

no problem i mis read things stuff sometimes to.


What is the temperature? ...and what was it before you turned it down?

The temp is currently: 76 degrees f. and was: 80 degrees f

[Blueiz]

What kind of test kit are you using, liquid or strips? Strips are basically trash, they are not accurate at all and leave a lot of room for interpretation. Keep an eye on your paramters, my guess is that over the next few days your ammonia is going to rise and then your nitrites will.

[Winterose]

I'm using a liquid test kit. ok i'll keep an eye out