please help, sick platy!!!!

tropical1

please help me. one of my platys has turned a lighter color orange and is breathing rather heavy. anyone have any suggestins. the water is on the money and havent changed anything lately to stress him out. please help him.

Tommy Gun

Hey tropical - sorry to hear about your platy.

Can you explain what your definition of 'on the money' is? (just so we are all on the same page) I guess there could be a lot of things going on so it would be hard and probably irresponsible to start making guesses with such limited information. In the meantime, I would make sure that you have some form of oxygenation occuring at an adequate level (due to heavy breathing) and maybe do a larger water change anyways....there is much more to water chemistry than the few different items we test for.

Personally, if it was only this one fish, I would either move it to a quarantine tank asap, or if it was hovering near the bottom and breathing hard, I would put it in a breeder's net (I have the plastic kind) so that it is at least able to rest near the top of the tank where the water is probably more oxygen-rich. If you don't have either of these things, it would probably be a good time to get one.....or you can do like my wife - who is apparently Mrs. McGyver and fashioned an impromtu breeder's net out of a plastic cup (big one) by cutting a couple holes in the sides so water could move through it. (Not to insult you or anything, but for my own peace of mind, please be safe if you do that)

tropical1

ok well i just turned back on my bubble strip to add a little more oxygen. and he is not hoering at the b0ottom he stays at the top around the fake plants.
water parms:
nitrate-0
nitrite-0
hardness-10
chlorine-0
alkalinity-150
ph-7.3
and i dont have any kinda quarintine tank or breeders net. and why would i need a net, he wwould still be in the same tank. please hurry he doesnt look like he will make it through the night. i need a fish emergency room.

jwurm

i believe the purpose would be if the fish was unable to get to the top of the tank on its own for whatever reason, but as you have recently told us, the platy is staying near the top of its own accord, so you don't really need one.

Was that right, Tommy Gun?

Tommy Gun

Yea, that was the point. Since oxygen enters the tank at the surface of the water, that might be the best place for a fish that seems to be having a hard time breathing...but yea, it doesn't sound like that would be worth it since your fish is already there on its own accord.

Anyways, unless your tank is brand spanking new or you just did a pretty large water change, your nitrAte level being at 0 is sort of suspicous. That is definitely one sign of an uncycled tank but if you did do the large water change, perhaps this fish is suffering due to a big change in water chemistry that accompanied that water change (if that applies anyways).

Otherwise, do you know how to tell between male and female platies? I wonder if it is about to give birth. I used to breed a lot of them a few years back and can't recall whether or not there was any signs such as the ones you describe, but maybe someone else can clarify that for us.

What other fish do you have in the tank? Is it possible that this fish is just being forced to stay in one spot by a tank mate?

tropical1

i did a 30% water change a few days ago but thats normal. and the tank is about 3 months old and pretty sure its already cycled. how could i tell if tankn isnt properly cycled? and no the fish isnt prego, it died this morning, i watched it take its last 2 breaths. it was kinda sad. and why is it weird that my nitrates are at 0? and there were 4 platy's but now 3. and i have 6 small black neons, the platys are bigger, so i dont see a problem there.

Tommy Gun

Well, because ammonia and nitrItes are turned into nitrates by benficial bacteria in a cycled tank, but for the vast majority of us, nothing is doing the same with the nitrAtes, one would expect to see those levels increase over time......which is one reason why we do water changes. Granted, there are ways around that (denitrification) and perhaps that is your case, but I guess I figured you would have pointed that out already. Anyways, if your tank is not cycled, then ammonia and nitrItes are not being made into nitrAtes, so it that is a red flag. There are other reasons why that could be happening but since a lot of the symptoms you describe fall in line with various water quality issues, I thought I would bring it up.

I am not trying to say that I think this is what is happening to you or not (although it is a possiblity nonetheless), but even though all of your fish are usually referred as being 'peaceful', I think you are going to find out that it is pretty common to find one or two that completely break that mold. Point being, your fish could have been bullied by any one of your fish and this is something to look out for as you observe your tank even though every thing you hear/read implies differently.

tropical1

how could i find out if the nitrites and amonia are working right? and also i observe the tank for at least 3 hours each day and the fish always tend to get slong. the neons actaully scool with the platys, its kinda funny. but any help iis ghreatly appreciated.

Loman

Tropical,
I just made a fairly long post on the thread about cycling. I really suspect this tank is not cycled. I am also starting to wonder if you are getting good resuts from the test kit. Do you have a way to get a second opinion. Maybe the the LFS can do a test for you but be sure to get the actual numbers.

tropical1

look on my other thread, i got my results form my master kit. help help.