Fat platy - need help!

[kyle3]

my 2 cents:

my first thought is that she pregnant

second most likely possibility is constipation b/c platys are pigs and, no offense, but you;re prob. over feeding

least likely is dropsy and the like with fresh water and no other fish ailing and. . . unless i missed it . . . she doesn't have clamped fins, or hiding, or gasping, or laying on the bottom issues.

don't jump to dumping meds in your tank- your biofilter is likely to crash and it's probably not what's needed

stopp feeding your fish for 3 days then feed shelled peas for a day or two and then don't feed for 2 more

is she stays fat and doesn't die she's pregnent

if she dies in that amount of time you prob. couldn't have helped her anyway

BTW a picture would most likely end the debate- it's easy to tell the difference once you're familiar.

cheers-Kyle

edit: as far as raising oxygen levels in a warmer tank- surface agitation- so if your filter does a fair amout of it you're fine, otherwise and air stone will do the trick.

 

[danas90]

Well, I just came home and found her on the bottom of the tank (alive), but she's at about a 20 degree angle with her face near the gravel, and she's barely moving. Ooh, just a second ago she moved a little bit, maybe an inch or two... but not much.

Kyle3,

1. Pregnant is possible, but the last time she was she most certainly was not acting like this.

2. Overfeeding is also possible, though I only feed what the fish can eat in about a minute... so I'm figuring that it's not that.

3. She is lying on the bottom, but I cannot tell if she is 'gasping', as she has always seemed to move her mouth quite a bit.

Here are a few images (sorry that they're not very clear)

Do the pictures even help at all?

Oh yea and as far as getting enough oxygen in there... I've been wanting to get an airstone anyways, so now's a good excuse to get one, even if my filter is causing enough surface agitation.

 

[danas90]

Right after I posted that last message, I noticed that she was up off the gravel, swimming around... but then she swam pretty much straight towards one my the ornaments and kind of ran into it, stayed there for a minute, then swam back over to her little corner where she is currently residing... Don't know if it means much/anything, but seeing as I know so little about these little guys I figured that I might as well mention it.