Please Help! Platy dying???

C

crissy7399

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Mar 10, 2006
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Tank has been running little over month, still cycling, ammonia never over .25 so far and nitrites/nitrates still at zero (test ever other day), have had 5 tiger barbs for 2-3 weeks.

Just got 3 platys 2 days ago. The were all fine this morning and all ate. Tonight when we got home the male was in the corner lying on the gravel. occassionaly he gets up or moved by current and "floats" around sometimes bumping into things then lies back down.

I can't see anything physically wrong with him, but I am new to this. I was recommended to put him in a quarantine tank. I only have a glass pitcher available to use tonight, which I've never used before. I filled it with tank water and put 1 anachris plant in along with a air tube so it can get "air".

He really doesn't look good, floating around sometimes upside down, looks like he has no energy at all. I put a few crystals of aquarium salt- read that can help stressed fish or ill fish- not sure if that much will even do anything though.

WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW? Please help asap if possible, I appreciate it!
 
do a water change on the tank(s) does the hospital have heat? Perhaps add a bit of salt (try 1 tbs to 15gals) not very high... and introduce the solution SLOWLY don’t just dump tablespoons of salt into the tank... PS table salt IS safe, the iodine concentration in table salt is FAR too low to cause an issue…

it may just have been a sick fish from the store… OR you may have had a spike in ammonia etc.. and burnt the gills…
 
thank you,

actually, I had thought about the heater part, and no it doesn't have one. It's 68 in the house.

I called the place I got it today, I didn't tell him I quarantined though, and he said to feed and see if he eats, and then do the salt. He thinks has been bullied. But if her were being bullied, why would he swim so weird.

Sometimes he swims around and around with his head near the bottom and his tail a little higher. Which reminds me of a horrible story when I was a kid and my kitten got hit over the head with a fallen 2x4 and it's head was on the ground while its body was going around and around. very sad.

well. I hope I didn't just make it suffer more. I don't know what else to do- should I put him back into the tank? ugh.
 
Any amount of ammonia over 0 can kill a fish that is weak or stressed. Use water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia in the Hospital tank --which isn't cycled either -- and keep changing the water out. Keep the ammonia and nitrites down to 0.

Don't add anymore fish until your cycle is finished.

Roan
 
thankyou,

Watching him in the pitcher I had just looked horrible, (the ammonia was the same in both), he looked like he was going crazy. So I slowly put him back in the real tank- made sure of the temp and stuff.

I did a 20 % change last night, and I checked the ammonia today, and it looks the same. Should I do 10% changes every day?

When I put him back in, he went straight to the bottom. Then the tigerbarbs were checking him out, don't know if they actually nipped him or not, but I shoo'd them away and moved the platy to cover under a fake rock decor. He's still lying there, and hasn't moved in 15 minutes. I can tell his gills are moving more than the other platys so I guess the ammonia is probably the culprit.

Someone please let me know if I should do another water change as I mentioned above- I don't want to shock the fish either.

Thank you anyone!
 
Fish Is Gone`

well, he died today. Actually thought he was getting better, and then the barbs just wouldn't stop picking on him.

The other two platys seem just fine still... they are female and head strong!

I did another water change just to be safe.

Thanks again everyone. I will definitely wait now until the whole cycle is done. Hopefully it doesn't take months!

Next time, I'm not going to listen to the LFS, all they want is $$. I will keep my questions for those who will answer truthfully and with experience!
 
I'm sorry for your loss.

With my first fish (a betta) I had to do a fishy cycle because he was unexpectedly offered to me when he was discarded by a local school teacher at the end of the year. I had to do daily partial water changes (25% as I recall) for weeks.

If you can, I'd suggest using a water conditioner like Amquel+ which reduces the ammonia and nitrite levels to reduce the stress on your fish, at least until the cycle is done. Amquel+ does not interfere with the establishment of nitrifying bacteria. I found that switching to Amquel+ (which I use along with Kordon's Novaqua) really made a difference for my betta.

Good luck, I hope your other fish continue to do well.
 
Thanks guys.

I thought about the amquel, but I've also read that it causes you to have faulty test readings. So, since the other fish have been doing fine, I'm going to take everyones advice (not from the LFS that is) and not get anymore fish until the cycle has been completed!

Wish I would have known about cycling- or wish one of the LFS's told me about it, so I could have done a fishless cycle. Oh well,

THANKS!
 
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