Fat platy - need help!

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danas90

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Nov 6, 2005
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Several months ago I got a male and female Black Platy, but the male died a few days after which I believe was due to the fact that I put 5 fish in the tank at once (Already had 3 glowlight tetras in there for about a month, got three more of them and two platies - I thought it seemed like a lot, but the LFS said it would be okay [last time I ever listen to those idiots])

So anyways, the ammonia spiked, and it took me a couple weeks to get it back to 0 ppm... then the nitrates and nitrites became existant but I got rid of them after only two water changes. I hadn't gotten the female platy any company, and she seemed pretty depressed, just sitting around not doing much, but always coming up to snag as much food as she could get.

About two days ago, I noticed that she seemed huge, almost like a baloon. It seemed very sudden, and I'm not really sure what I should do about it. Yesterday I got her another platy to be with - another female - so I'm hoping that it may help.

I'm figuring that she's not pregnant since she has not been in contact with a male in over two months.

And I'm not overfeeding them, I give them only what they can eat in about a minute (it's plenty though, they scarf it all up quickly)

Yeah..... so any help will be much appreciated!
 
are the scales standing out like a "pinecone? if so, your fish has 'dropsy'. Dropsy, is actually a "symptom" and not a disease in itself. the standing scales and blown up appearance are the result of swelling within the tissues and organs of the fish due to a build up of fluids in the kidneys and an inability to excrete this fluid in a normal manner. in other words, advanced kidney disfunction.

the problem with treating this disease is that there are a number of "potential" causes: bacterial infection, parasites, cancerous tumors, virus', internal fungal infections or sudden temperature drop of more than 3 degrees.

If the cause is bacterial, the swelling typically comes on pretty rapidly. if swelling is gradual then one or more of the other potential causes are more likely. unfortunately, treatment is most often useless at this point due to the advanced state of the disease process. When the illness, whatever the cause, has progressed far enough to cause internal swelling, the concommitant internal damage is usually too extensive to be repairable.

the latest research has shown that if the disease cause is bacterial and if the disease process is caught early enough, treatment with Romet B, a broad spectrum antibacterial, *may* be effective when used concurrent with an increase in water temperature to 84-86F for 2 weeks minimum.

BE CERTAIN to maintain HIGH OXYGEN LEVELS during such treatment since at these temperatures, water holds significantly less oxygen at these higher water temperatures. one of the suspected bacterial precursers to the disease process -- Aeromonas, is killed at these temperatures.

concurrently add 1/8 teaspoon of EPSOM SALT -- per 5 gallons of water. feeding foods soaked in ERYTHROMYCIN will kill the second suspected bacteria, Mycobacterium. in rare cases popeye has been found to be caused by Edwardsiella etarda. this is found *only* in fish that have been bred in outdoor ponds -- the functional bacteria in this case is carried by frogs. while fair to good results in treatment have been found by feeding Romet B., even better results have been found using injectable chloramphenicol or amakacin. this is best done by your veterinarian.

If parasites are a known cause, treat for them first for 3 days increasing the temperature to 86oF as fast as possible.

EPSOM SALT may help reduce the internal pressure casued by the swelling. extremely good aeration is necessary here due to the use of such high temperatures.

NEVER USE SALT (sodium chloride, a.k.a aquarium salt) for treatment of dropsy. this will KILL your fish in a very short time. the affected fish are already having a difficult time getting rid of salts due to kidney disfunction. this causes the blown up appearance and concurrent scale standing. the osmotic inbalance caused by addition of sodium to your tank water will make this condition far worse.

EPSOM SALT on the other hand, does not pass through the walls of the gut or gills and will extract water OUT of the surrounding tissue into the gut where it *may* be excreted.
 
Some other causes of fish looking "fat" are constipation and tumours.

Here's some info about treating constipation: http://www.fishjunkies.com/Disorders/constipation.php
I've tried the treatments discusses and they worked for relieving the constipation.

If it's a tumour, I don't think there is anything you can do. My first betta died of a tumour, and in all my hunting around for answers all I found out was I should keep him comfortable until his time came. :(

But since you said it was sudden I think that it is not likely to be a tumour.

Good luck, I hope your fish is looking/feeling better soon.
 
Well, she certainly has that 'pinecone' look to her, with the scales kind of sticking out... Then again, I usually see large amounts of fish waste around the area where she usually hangs out, but I have not seen much - if any - if any in the past couple of days. And the fish's diet is not varied at all. So, could it just be constipation, or could the constipation have caused an infection leading to the dropsy?

I'll continue doing a bit of research, but of course any replies here will be much appreciated.
 
So, what should I do now? Is there a way to differentiate between constipation and dropsy?

I can go out and get some epsom salt tonight, but I'm unsure of where to get the "Romet B" and how much it costs.

If I can't get the Romet B tonight, would adding epsom salts and raising the aquarium temperature be good enough for one night?

Also, when raising the aquarium temperature you mention that the water needs higher oxidation levels - how might I achieve this? Do I need some sort of air stone or bubble walls in the tank? (I was considering getting something of the sort anyways)

One more question - Should I try feeding her a pea to aid in the possible constipation, or could that be detrimental if she is not constipated?
 
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Your fish probably has dropsy, which is a series of problems. The fat "pinecone" look indicates organ failure, normally kidney. Your fish cannot regulate it's osmotic balance, how much water it takes in vs. excretes out. This is normally a result of poor water conditions, but in some cases can be caused by bacteria or parasites. There is no proven cure for dropsy. You can try an antibiotic, but almost anyone on this site will tell you it does little good. You can try and keep the fish comfortable or you can euthanize.

What are your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph.
 
budrecki said:
Your fish probably has dropsy, which is a series of problems. The fat "pinecone" look indicates organ failure, normally kidney. Your fish cannot regulate it's osmotic balance, how much water it takes in vs. excretes out. This is normally a result of poor water conditions, but in some cases can be caused by bacteria or parasites. There is no proven cure for dropsy. You can try an antibiotic, but almost anyone on this site will tell you it does little good. You can try and keep the fish comfortable or you can euthanize.

What are your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph.
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Hey, thanks for your response. I'm pretty sure that it is not due to the water conditions, as my ammonia and nitrite are at 0 ppm and the nitrate is at around 5 ppm. PH is at right around 8.0.

Liv2padl recommended higher temp., epson salt, and Romet B, however I am not sure how to keep higher oxidation levels. Would an airstone or something of the sort be sufficient?
 
Okay, well, I'm gonna go against the grain and state that there is still a possibility that your platy is preggers. It seems absurd, but remember that livebearers have the ability to store sperm in their bodies for very long periods of time. I think they do this in cases where their environment is unsuitable for raising young at the time of, uh, "making whoopy". The females, instead of putting themselves or their babies at risk in poor conditions, will just simply hang on to the sperm inside themselves until conditions improve, at which point they impregnate themselves. Now I'm not sure exaclty how long they can store the sperm for, but I think it's entirely possible that your lady platy was already de-flowered, as it were, when you brought her home, but only let herself become pregnant when the water conditions improved sufficiently.
 
mandimoron said:
Okay, well, I'm gonna go against the grain and state that there is still a possibility that your platy is preggers. It seems absurd, but remember that livebearers have the ability to store sperm in their bodies for very long periods of time. I think they do this in cases where their environment is unsuitable for raising young at the time of, uh, "making whoopy". The females, instead of putting themselves or their babies at risk in poor conditions, will just simply hang on to the sperm inside themselves until conditions improve, at which point they impregnate themselves. Now I'm not sure exaclty how long they can store the sperm for, but I think it's entirely possible that your lady platy was already de-flowered, as it were, when you brought her home, but only let herself become pregnant when the water conditions improved sufficiently.
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Actually, I did consider that exact idea. She did give birth to a small number of fry a couple days or so after the male platy died, I'm not sure if that could alter the possibility of your idea. Though, when they are pregnant, do their scales still puff out in the 'pinecone' fashion, or is that a definite indication of 'dropsy'?

Thanks for your response!
 
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