Aquarium salt and platy breeding

[mandimoron]

Two quick questions!

First: My tank water has, as of late, become a little cloudy. I've also noticed that my platies have taken to rubbing themselves all over the plants in the aquarium-- I guess this means they're itchy? To treat both situations, its been recommended that I start administering Quick Cure, carry out daily water changes, and add a little bit of aquarium salt. I've no problems with the water changes or Quick Cure, but I have a question about the salt. I know platies will do just fine with a little bit of aquarium salt, but I also have cories. Will the catfish be okay with the salt, too?

Second: From what I've read, it is inevitable that my platies will, at some point, begin to breed. How does one tell if a platy is pregnant? I've heard that with guppies, a dark spot is visible somewhere in their abdomens, and that the spot is actually the eyes of the developing fry, or something. Does that also apply for platies? Because I think I can see one on my female calico.

 

[Holly9937]

First of all, do you have test kits? Numbers for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate would be helpful. Do your fish have any white specks, like salt sort of, on them? Rubbing against things or "flashing" is often a sign of ich or some sort of internal parasite. Do some water changes every other day or so, at least 25% and see if that helps with the cloudiness, is it white cloudiness or green cloudiness? Also, I would avoid using the quick cure unless there is an identifiable disease, the corys may be much more sensitive to that than to the salt.

As for the platys, I think those are signs of being pregnant, but honestly I never see or notice when mine are, or when they actually have the fry. Unless you have your heart set on saving the babies (and have a plan/room for them once you do) I would just let nature take its course. They will be eaten and/or drawn into the filter. Sometimes putting the mother in breeder nets is stressful enough on her to cause her to abort and/or become unhealthy herself.

 

[mandimoron]

As of now, I only have an ammonia test kit, which reads 0. The water is a white cloudy, and none of my fish are showing other signs of ich. Yet. My sister is the one who suggested using the Quick Cure and salt mostly as a precaution, but she wasn't sure how the catfish would cope with the salt. At any rate, since doing a water change this morning, they've eased up a bit on the rubbing, and have resumed chasing each other around the tank for the most part. I think they must feel a little better.

I think the cloudiness has been caused by overfeeding. I had been having troubles making sure my cories got food around the greedy platies, and I think I'd been putting too much food in to compensate. >_o Is that something that would cause the cloudy water? I thought maybe the extra food was breaking down and leaving particulates in the water, or helping to make optimal conditions for new and interesting bacteria to develop. Does that make sense?

And I had planned on just leaving the fry be for the most part. I hope at least a couple will survive to give to my nieces, but otherwise I don't really care to have many more fish right now. Still, I'm a little excited to see the whole breeding process, since its all new to me.

 

[wataugachicken]

white cloudiness IS that new and interesting bacteria, in fact it's a population explosion of them that have nowhere to go except drift in the water. Unfortunately, it's not the good kind, just the "too much stuff to eat laying around" kind. Water changes, less food.

What are you feeding your cories? Algae tablets or blanched veggies like zucchini or canned/rinsed green beans might be a good option that the other fish won't go after.

 

[mandimoron]

Oo, I was right! Thanks, I guess I'll hold off on adding anything to the water and just focus on changing it every day for now. And fine-tuning my feeding regimen as well, I suppose.

I had been feeding the cories these Hikari sinking wafer things, but the problem had been that the cories could never find them before the platies did. So I tried dropping one pellet in every night after I turned off the lights, since I don't think the platies can see very well after dark. But now I'm wondering if the cories can't find the pellets either, and they're just breaking up in the water and feeding the bacteria instead. >_< How does one feed a fish its veggies? I've never heard of that before!