Newbie with a sick platy

[joeljkp]

Hi everyone.

I have a platy that has come down with fin rot (I think, the tail fin is ragged-looking, and the edge is splotched with red).

When I discovered it, she was hanging around the bottom of the tank, looking like she was having trouble swimming. I ended up moving her to a "hospital" tank, a little 1-gallon tank with some gravel and an air stone. I checked all the water properties, everything looks fine. I added about 1tsp of rock salt to the water, and put some MelaFix in there too. It doesn't have a heater or anything, but the water stays about 76-78 deg F according to the thermometer on the tank wall.

My question is about feeding: it looks to me like she's having trouble swimming up to the top of the tank (or swimming at all, really). I've tried feeding her with her normal livebearer food, but the flakes seem to sink to the bottom before she can get up there to eat them. Is there a better way to feed her? I'm kind of afraid she'll starve to death before the fin rot heals.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[elljo3]

not too sure now but have you tryed liquid fry? i no its a food for babys but it goes into the water so no need to swim to get it.
we tryed it when we had some fish that were ill it seemed to work ok.
sorry cant be off much help.

 

[kj5kb]

Hi everyone.

I have a platy that has come down with fin rot (I think, the tail fin is ragged-looking, and the edge is splotched with red).

Hi, I've had good luck with "triple sulfa" for that. I think the pills are dosed for 10gallons, but you could dissolve 1 in a known quantity of water then add 1/10th at a time.

I'd suggest a sponge filter for your hospital tank...but the airstone will help. A bare-bottom tank would be easier to clean-and to monitor the amt of food the fish is actually eating. FWIW, I find my platys often graze off the bottom. You could also throw a stem of hornwort/cabomba in there for the fish to nibble on. Your fish may be getting more food than you think.

Best of luck with it.