platy shimmy

R

richardL

AC Members
Oct 21, 2005
22
0
0
Hi

I bought 3 platies yesterday, and very soon after I put them in my tank, one of them began to shimmy. I was pretty careful about the transfer and tried to make it as low-stress as possible, so I don't know what he's suffering from. I don't see any other signs of disease on the fish except that his top and bottom fins are clamped to his body.

I would like to set up a Q-tank and try to treat him somehow (salt maybe?), but I can't do this immediately... should I wait a few days and see if he recovers on his own? Is this the first symptom of some larger disease, or is it possible that he might be just stressed about the tank change. I have had a number of fish die on me recently for various reasons, so I'd really like to try and save this little guy. Any thoughts/advice are appreciated.
 
We need to know a little bit about the tank environment you've put him into. Would you please post how old the tank is, the size, and the water parameters?

We need to know the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH numbers using a liquid test kit, not strips. Strips are not very accurate.

Soon as we can get that information we can help you.

Roan
 
I have had a number of fish die on me recently for various reasons
Click to expand...
i think the first thing you want to do is determine why you have such a high death rate and solve that problem or problems.

shimmy is a symptom of stress whether disease or environmental. try increasing the temperature of the water to 90° very gradually ... this can sometimes mitigate the effects of environmental stressors such as deficient acclimation. i would NOT use any medication at this point since (a) you don't know what you're treating and (b) medication is stressful in itself and is a last resort which may only serve to exacerbate the problem at this point.
 
Hi thanks for responding.. my tank is a 12g with live plants and in operation for about 6 weeks. I have 6 neon tetras, 4 platies, and a couple shrimp. (Sorry I can't give you the chemistry parameters at this time).

Everything seemed to be going great- the neons had been in the tank for about a week and were doing well- until a couple days ago when I added 3 platies. 2 of the platies died right away and it seemed to me like I botched the transfer from the lfs bag to the tank by doing it too fast. I went straight back to the lfs and got 3 more platies (probably wasn't the best idea)... this time I was much more careful about the transfer and they are mostly doing ok.

The 1 male platy though is doing quite a bit of shimmy (although he still eats and chases the girls a little bit). One of the neons died somewhat mysteriously yesterday. I plan on doing a water change very soon.. obviously I'm new to this hobby so for the most part I have no idea what's happening here.
 
your tank is too heavily stocked and i'm betting that if you test your water you'll find elevated levels of ammonia or nitrite .. or nitrate .. or all of the above.
 
The Neons donate almost zilch to the bioload
Click to expand...
ANY biological life contributes to the bioload of a tank and while neons are small, they do add ammonia to the water. look at it this way .. 6 one inch neons could be equated to a single 6 inch fish which, while probably having a higher mass per inch than 6 neons, would certainly contribute to the stocking density.
 
Hey all- I have a friend who can sell me a test-kit so I will have that going soon, but I'm wondering (and please excuse the cluelessness of this), if I do see an ammonia spike or some chemistry out of whack, what is the action I take? Is this a sign to change out the water? or what?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom