Wierd Symptoms - Parasites or Infection??
I'm leaning toward internal parasites or some kind of infection...
Last July I setup a new 15gal tank. I did a fishless cycle and used filter material from my 20gal. I added six platys, two at a time a week or so apart, and then added four cories and a few weeks later a few mystery snails. All was fine for a while but then I started gradually losing platys. The symptoms are all similar. At first the fish blows up like a balloon (no protruding scales though just round in the upper belly area) then over the next few days, the swelling will go down then back up again (I thought at first I was overfeeding or they were gorging but that doesn't seem to be the case) and then the fish starts spending alot of time hanging near the top back corner of the tank and they progressively have trouble swimming but they keep eating through all this and their poo looks normal. After a week or so they stop eating and progressively waste away. Then I find them laying on the bottom of the tank being chewed on by my snails. Some of them weren't dead when I found them and I had to put them down :sad:
The females were the first to go, so I thought maybe they just wore out from having batch after batch of fry. But then the males started dying also. I now have one remaining adult male and five 6 or 7 month old babies that managed to not get eaten. They are in the bloating phase now but are otherwise acting normal and not showing any others signs except that I've noticed them brushing thier bellys across plant stems now and then. It's kind of a flicking movement...
I check my water parameters regularly and they are always good.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates between 10 and 20
Ph is 7.8
I also have upped my water changes from 30% a week to 50%.
I don't currently add salt to the tank but I think I may.
I'm leaning toward internal parasites or some kind of infection...
Last July I setup a new 15gal tank. I did a fishless cycle and used filter material from my 20gal. I added six platys, two at a time a week or so apart, and then added four cories and a few weeks later a few mystery snails. All was fine for a while but then I started gradually losing platys. The symptoms are all similar. At first the fish blows up like a balloon (no protruding scales though just round in the upper belly area) then over the next few days, the swelling will go down then back up again (I thought at first I was overfeeding or they were gorging but that doesn't seem to be the case) and then the fish starts spending alot of time hanging near the top back corner of the tank and they progressively have trouble swimming but they keep eating through all this and their poo looks normal. After a week or so they stop eating and progressively waste away. Then I find them laying on the bottom of the tank being chewed on by my snails. Some of them weren't dead when I found them and I had to put them down :sad:
The females were the first to go, so I thought maybe they just wore out from having batch after batch of fry. But then the males started dying also. I now have one remaining adult male and five 6 or 7 month old babies that managed to not get eaten. They are in the bloating phase now but are otherwise acting normal and not showing any others signs except that I've noticed them brushing thier bellys across plant stems now and then. It's kind of a flicking movement...
I check my water parameters regularly and they are always good.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates between 10 and 20
Ph is 7.8
I also have upped my water changes from 30% a week to 50%.
I don't currently add salt to the tank but I think I may.
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good luck