So I went to feed my fish today, and I noticed one of my platies has lost a lot of weight. He looks very skinny, and not happy at all. This platy has always been quite shy all the time, so it is possible that he has not been getting his fair share. Any ideas? Any medical issues that could be a problem? No one else is showing symptoms. In fact the danios are quite plump. Water chemistry is perfect, water is neutral and has a kH of 8. Water temperature is approximately 78 F
Skinny Platy
- Thread starter xVitox
- Start date
I just double checked online and with the fish and there is no spine curving he has just gotten deathly thin and this is probably the first time i have seen him out in a while, so it is probably not TB...I hope...im a little worried about this now
Livebearers are more prone to that more than any other fish. I don't know how it happens. It's a parasite in your fishes stomach and I don't think there is a cure. Sorry.
Is there any way you can isolate the fish for observation? It might be something serious - like fish TB I suppose, but more commonly Camallanus worms. They look like this: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_865fXy_d37w/Str-kQ-MRLI/AAAAAAAAD_I/vGf9cvJ8gsQ/camallan.jpg
A nasty parasite for sure. When my platies had it, it started like this. One looked skinny - I think he was the primary carrier - and he eventually just got kind of pale and shimmied in the corner, eating little if anything. I isolated him and saw the worms, euthanized him since he was so weak by this time. When I cut his abdomen lengthwise with a scalpel he had a belly full of worms
What confuses the issue is that fish WILL often times pick on a sick fish. So you think they're not eating because of the bullying - but often times, I've come to find out, the bullying is telling you something. Like there's something wrong with the fish - disease, genetics...
A nasty parasite for sure. When my platies had it, it started like this. One looked skinny - I think he was the primary carrier - and he eventually just got kind of pale and shimmied in the corner, eating little if anything. I isolated him and saw the worms, euthanized him since he was so weak by this time. When I cut his abdomen lengthwise with a scalpel he had a belly full of worms
What confuses the issue is that fish WILL often times pick on a sick fish. So you think they're not eating because of the bullying - but often times, I've come to find out, the bullying is telling you something. Like there's something wrong with the fish - disease, genetics...
xV, got a QT tank? I've had mollies do this and in fact had one just collapse like that about a week ago. I got out an old 1g (that Walmart pentagonal thing; I think it's meant for bettas) and went to work to see if this one could be saved.
An airstone (don't have any spare filters), threw in some guppygrass or other random floating plant. Loaded up to medicinal levels of salt (about a tablespoon) and some old "Tetra AquaSafe" in those little packets they include free with new tanks, also about 1 tbs. And started feeding her six times a day.
and dang if she isn't making a comeback. Her belly is back to convex instead of concave, her tail muscle is filling our from paper-thin, and she's still swimming. In fact I'm thinking about putting her back in the main tank in another couple of days.
I still have no idea what the problem was. It's hard to see those worms Platytudes mentions on a black molly but I've looked as best I can and see nothing. I've cut back feeding to a couple of times a day (usual for everybody else is 1 feeding in the morning) and she is maintaining her "weight" or at least size.
Don't worry about cycling the tank as it's easy enough to scoop out a couple of glassfulls of water every day or so, and in this state excess poop (or any for that matter) is unlikely to be a problem. Re-dose with appropriate amounts of salt and whatever else you're using for the amount of water changed.
Good luck. I hope you can pull him through this.
An airstone (don't have any spare filters), threw in some guppygrass or other random floating plant. Loaded up to medicinal levels of salt (about a tablespoon) and some old "Tetra AquaSafe" in those little packets they include free with new tanks, also about 1 tbs. And started feeding her six times a day.
and dang if she isn't making a comeback. Her belly is back to convex instead of concave, her tail muscle is filling our from paper-thin, and she's still swimming. In fact I'm thinking about putting her back in the main tank in another couple of days.
I still have no idea what the problem was. It's hard to see those worms Platytudes mentions on a black molly but I've looked as best I can and see nothing. I've cut back feeding to a couple of times a day (usual for everybody else is 1 feeding in the morning) and she is maintaining her "weight" or at least size.
Don't worry about cycling the tank as it's easy enough to scoop out a couple of glassfulls of water every day or so, and in this state excess poop (or any for that matter) is unlikely to be a problem. Re-dose with appropriate amounts of salt and whatever else you're using for the amount of water changed.
Good luck. I hope you can pull him through this.
Thanks everyone!
Platy and xan I have moved him to my qt tank...which is a one and a half gallon pretzel tub I had a ich fish in that just got better a week ago. Airstone in, and I'll throw some aquarium salt in there too. Let's hope for the best.
Platy and xan I have moved him to my qt tank...which is a one and a half gallon pretzel tub I had a ich fish in that just got better a week ago. Airstone in, and I'll throw some aquarium salt in there too. Let's hope for the best.