platy behavior

[zoowks]

i picked some platies up from my local petsmart last night, acclimated them, then went out to the movies
i came back 5 of the 6 were sitting on the bottom, the other one swimming around fine, i added some aquarium salt 5 tsp/gal since they tend to be from brackish areas and they all perked up and swim a little, then laid back down
come morning 5/6 are now swimming and i have one lone guy laying on the bottom unmoving, not gasping but kinda swaying with the current, and fins limp

think he is a gonner?/the only thing i can think of is stress from the move

10 gal, ph 7.8, amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5

 

[zoowks]

i just did a 20% water change and he's perked up and is looking for food

 

[~Kswords~]

Glad he's doing better... Be sure there are enough areas for them to hide in.

 

[zoowks]

i had added a pyramid for him to take cover under/behind and to try and give him a lil more isolation which seemed to work, i also clumped some of my plants a few inches from the wall to make a sort of artificial barrier for them

 

[jm1212]

platies are not brackish fish. in fact, they will like the water better if it has no salt in it at all.

 

[zoowks]

i thought they were livebearers so they prefered a little salt?

 

[OldMan47]

Its a common misunderstanding. Some, like mollies, can adapt to some salt so some people seem to think they need it. I thought so myself a few years back. They are almost all true fresh water fish. They like good water the same as most egg layers. There are a small number of each type that prefer brackish water but the common livebearers that people keep are not brackish. Many live bearers will not only tolerate but prefer somewhat harder water than the average South American egg layer. That said, the African rift lake fish like their water much harder than most live bearers do. Hard water is not salty water.

 

[zoowks]

kk thx for the help, my water is plenty hard from the tap, so thats y i went with platies because i knew they preferred hard water, now I've read mixed same with the salt, do they prefer a more neutral ph or something higher 7.6-7.8?

 

[cadman]

I got a red platy and he mostly hangs out either at the top or the bottom. Didn't realize that they were brackish fish. Hmmm....dang....

 

[Lupin]

I got a red platy and he mostly hangs out either at the top or the bottom. Didn't realize that they were brackish fish. Hmmm....dang....

You misunderstood what was explained by the previous posters. Not all livebearers are brackish water. Your platy is not a brackish water. Is it eating well? I see no reason to worry if it is. They do not need additional salt in their tanks.