fish illness expert???
- Thread starter Lillyan
- Start date
perhaps we are dealing with an internal parasite here - the fish eats and eats, gains no nourishment, and like most fish, upon becoming emaciated and weak, stops eating - then eventually dies.
It has to be internal.
I want to treat the whole tank. Anything I can put in the tank to kill off all the stuff in the water? Where do I buy any of this stuff and what's it called??
I want to treat the whole tank. Anything I can put in the tank to kill off all the stuff in the water? Where do I buy any of this stuff and what's it called??
Like most disease, worms are very prolific in the tank once infested. I would have expected problems with other fishes, not just platy. I dont recall any worm that is/are host specific.
Since most worms are visible to naked eyes or with a little assistance from magnifying glass, you can perform necropsy. I dont know if you have done Bio Lab, dissecting Frog, Mouse, etc or maybe worked on other primates (anthropology class), it should not be that difficult to cut open tummy of platy. If scarpel is not avail then use single edge blade.
If bellies are full and fish are eating well but emaciated, then I would suspect possible worms.
If platys are displaying tucked in bellies/emaciations (actually seen enough on platies/swordtails) then I would suspect other possible causes including improper diets and water conditions.
Hope this helped a bit and good luck finding solution!.
Since most worms are visible to naked eyes or with a little assistance from magnifying glass, you can perform necropsy. I dont know if you have done Bio Lab, dissecting Frog, Mouse, etc or maybe worked on other primates (anthropology class), it should not be that difficult to cut open tummy of platy. If scarpel is not avail then use single edge blade.
If bellies are full and fish are eating well but emaciated, then I would suspect possible worms.
If platys are displaying tucked in bellies/emaciations (actually seen enough on platies/swordtails) then I would suspect other possible causes including improper diets and water conditions.
Hope this helped a bit and good luck finding solution!.
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I used to keep platys in my 29-gallon. When I first started keeping fish, the pH in that tank ran between 7.2 and 7.4. I don't know what the hardness was, but I suspect that the water was at least a medium hardness. Anyway, I slowly transformed that tank to one for fish that prefer soft, acidic water. I had one male platy that "withered" away. The rest of my platys were fine. Eventually, they died one by one -- from old age, I guess, but maybe not. All I know is that after the tank became a soft, acidic water tank, if I put another platy in there to keep the last couple of survivors company, it would "wither" away and die. Soooo, my guess would be that you should test your water's pH and hardness. Your pH should be between 7 and 8 and your hardness should probably be in the 12 - 25 neighborhood.
Don't waste your time. It tastes horrible and may not work.
Get that medicated flake that I was talking about. Panacur was discovered to be very effective against Camallanus. People were making their own medicated flake with this stuff which is intended for horses and dogs originally. Fenbendazole is the silver bullet against Camallanus - it worked for me!
These worms are much more common than you think in livebearers.
Get that medicated flake that I was talking about. Panacur was discovered to be very effective against Camallanus. People were making their own medicated flake with this stuff which is intended for horses and dogs originally. Fenbendazole is the silver bullet against Camallanus - it worked for me!
These worms are much more common than you think in livebearers.
