Help! Need Advice, Please?

Hi Everyone,

Well...just when you think everything is ticking along nicely, it all goes horribly wrong.

I have two seperate problems.
Firstly, one of my platys has developed a growth on her tail where it meets the body. Looking it up and going by the description, (cauliflower type growth) I think it may be lymphocystis. She is absolutely fine in herself, eating like a pig and dashing around as normal.....in fact, I have been unable to catch her! Now, there were differing thoughts on this, (if I am right with my diagnosis) they ranged from it's incurable and deadly contagious and to get her out and euthanise, to, it's not fatal, not infectious...at least not to cichlids or catfish, which I am desperately hoping is correct because of my cories, and that to just leave her alone and she will only die if bacteria enters the growth site. They advise lots of water changes to combat this. One even said that the growth will eventually drop off but if it then breaks up in the water and any other fish have a wound it could infect them. What is the proper answer, please?

My second problem is my darling Rafe. He looks to have developed a degree of pop-eye. I say looks, because it isn't hugely noticeable. However, he also seems to be not himself. He is tucking himself away under plants, he does come out when I feed, but then is either unable to see the food or just doesn't want it. He seems a tiny bit off balance too, but I suppose he would do if his eyes were out of kilter.
Again, opinions seem to vary, but water changes are suggested again.
I do very regular water changes of at least 20L every week, more often twice a week.

Is it just coincidence that I have two poorly fish or are these conditions connected?

I have obviously messed up big style somewhere, your help would be very much appreciated. I am probably going to my big LFS later this afternoon, so would be able to get any meds needed.

thanks guys.

Hi Sue,

Thanks for getting back to me.
I had a look at your link....what a beautiful fish he was, by the way, but no, it doesn't look the same. This lump on my platy is definitely white-ish and my platy is blue, and it definitely looks cauliflowerish, almost like a lump of something calcified really. I will try and post a pic of her so you can see what I mean.
I really would like to get her away from the others but I don't have another tank...I just don't know what to do for the best for everyone.

I got Rafe back in March. I have done an extra water change as I figured that couldn't hurt. I will see if I can get the meds you suggested or something similar. Do I just look for something that says internal bacteria? Or would internal parasites treatment be the same? I don't think it would be.
Also, will the meds affect my other fish and what do I do about clearing the water of it when treatment is finished? Shall I get some carbon to put in the filter? If I do this what do I do about the piece I take out to make room for the carbon bit? It would seem to be a waste of useful bugglies to just throw it. Or perhaps, it should be changed now anyway? I haven't changed any of my filter sections since I cycled the tank. They are the original ones that came with it.
As a reminder, my filter is a HOB, a Marina Slim Filter S15.

Sorry for all the questions, Sue, and thanks again.             

Oh no 

I hope it all works out for you and your fishy friends.

OK....evening guys,

An update.....I went to the fishy shops and was unable to find any meds for internal bacteria I could get stuff for internal parasites, whitespot and any number of different tonics and supplements so gave up and came home and went to the chemist to get some oil of cloves....they had sold out! They said they had a delivery coming, so I thought I would have to wait. However, when I went to my patchwork group yesterday, a couple of the girls said they had a bottle I could have, so that sorted that problem.
I had stayed up all night on Tuesday, initially trying to catch the little platy with the growth.....it certainly hadn't affected her speed! I had become quite panicked and obsessed with this thing bursting and infecting the whole tank, so I had decided that I had no choice but to take her out and put her in a small bowl with some tank water until I could get the oil of cloves. Certainly, not an ideal situation as she would be without a filter or heater. Then I stayed up as Rafe looked so poorly, a few times I thought he had gone but on moving the plant he was resting on he would swim again. I didn't want him to die and then be in the tank all night as I can do without water problems as well.
Anyway, I fully expected the little platy to have died by morning as she wasn't in a very good environment, but no, she was swimming around looking completely happy Rafe also keeps having a little burst of being normal before he does his wilting over a plant.
Well. I collected the oil and came home bracing myself to do the deed. My son said, "where's the platy?" I replied, "in the little bowl", he said, "no, she's not, but there are loads of fry in there". So, I realised that she had probably been doing that silly wriggly jump and swim they do when they give birth and jumped out of the tank....on closer inspection around the tank sadly we found her. I felt terrible
So now I have a load of babies that I don't want to put in the main tank just in case they have a health issue, so I am going to put them to sleep. Rafe, meanwhile is still with us, no worse, no better.

Just in case I didn't have enough to worry about, yesterday Enzo, our spinone, was definitely not himself and looked very grey. His tongue was quite bluey and his gums were not the good healthy pink they should be. Now, he sometimes has a bad tummyache and is sick because he will go 'shrooming! As there are mushrooms everywhere at the moment, this was a possibility, but I felt there was more to it and that this was a different sort of poorly. So, off to the vet....and another night spent sitting up. He has tick fever. It's a horrible illness that can easily kill, you do need to get treatment quickly. Well, at least by this morning his temperature had dropped a bit and his colour was a little better. He is still quite poorly but responding to his medicine....thank goodness.
So, I am hoping for some sleep and for everything to settle down a bit...oh, and just so I don't get bored, there was a bit of a noise by the fireplace, I looked, and there was a glis glis looking at me! Otherwise known as a fat dormouse, they are really cute looking but a real bugger if you get them in the roof! We have had one before, a few years ago and one in the roof looking for somewhere cosy to spend the winter just a couple of weeks back. So now, first thing in the morning I will have to go and get a humane trap and try to put it into the logburner without the little devil getting out and loose in the house.
Poor little thing is probably getting quite hungry and thirsty. If he gets out of this alive I think he will be more careful near chimneys in future!
The kittens think it's their very own telly...with a special wildlife programme on

I'm sorry to hear you are having such a bad time with your pets. Putting the paty and fry down is the best option considering the bug has the potential to wipe out the whole tank.
And for future reference, cover any sort of open topped container. I use a paper towel for small containers and a real towel for bigger ones. I used a paper towel over the tub containing my betta for the duration of removing his old tank and setting up his new one.

ooo eck, Resa, you're having a tough time. Glis-glis are a real pain, even if they do look cute. We had a wasp nest in the roof I couldn't get to last year so the pest exterminator was called. "You busy" said I. "I've been doing glis-glis all year, they're everywhere!" said he. 

I hope your schroomin' pooch pulls through. Next time tell him to make tea with them - much better!

You need a cat like Fogarty - rats and mice a speciality. He's very cute for a razor-sharp killing machine.

...and as if to prove a point, I've just had to clear up a rat which he'd spread across the bedroom floor! Really yukky - I needed a pair of latex gloves for that one. 

Hey, aren't glis-glis 'Edible Doormice' and the Romans used to eat them? I'm surprised the French don't see them as a delicacy..... especially deep-fried.

Hello Resa,
First of all – I truly applaud your resilience and will to argue... Honestly, this is a very good quality in a person – to stand by their statements/opinions...
Unfortunately, I still stand by mine... 93% stocking level according to Think Fish Calculator? Yep, sorry, - still SEVERELY overstocked...by any other calculator on the Net. Even for the Think Fish Calculator- did you not notice the red colour in the community calculator on Think Fish for 93%?
I personally rather like this calculator as it shows stocking levels which CAN be kept in any certain size aquarium with any certain size filter. HOWEVER! What I think the owner of the site has to put there is a disclaimer that the aquarist is responsible for using common sense in their routine and that the rules which are fine for 50% stocked tank are NOT the same for a 100% stocked one...
Let me explain – none of my tanks have more than 65% stocking according to TF... Hence, I can get away with weekly water changes. It gets more complicated as I am using an EI method and I don’t want to involve it in this discussion... To put things in a simple way for you: If a doctor says to a person that they are not obese as yet but very close to becoming obese, do you think that the person close to obesity CAN continue with their lifestyle? I bet you will say that they would need to make some changes NOW to avoid problems, would not you?
What I am trying to say – the calculator on Think Fish has to start posting a disclaimer saying that if your tank is in the red you need: a) reduce the number of fish or b) upgrade your filter or c) do water changes every other day. I believe that the owner of the site sort of thought that this was an obvious though but it appears it is not – judging your post...
As for Mumbai/Cairo allusion... Imagine a one bedroom flat – where you, your husband, your kids with their families are all crammed in together... You would not want his – would you? Your fish do not want that either, believe me... Whatever hygienic environment that is (e.g. with clean water, constant cleaning, etc.) all the flues and colds and any other viruses will spread there in a matter of days (if not hours)! I hope you understand what I mean – I only wish that human beings would use the same rules for their pets as they use for themselves... You are,  sadly, not the only one – this is why millions of fish die in household aquaria (mind you, that makes the fish shops thrive).
And about  your statement that I am different in my judgements depending on the people I refer to – this is an absolute nonsense. I “judge” people from what they do to cater for their fish – that is all. I am not here to make friends or to make enemies. There is Facebook for this. I am here to defend – as much as I can – the little creatures which do not have the voice and are at the mercy of people who bought them... For your information – I have lost 1 (!!!) fish in 5 years. That little fella was a wild caught one brought to the UK from across the globe and I bought him together with the other because I felt he had a right for a chance to survive if he could... I have his 16 remaining brothers and sisters – all very demanding on water quality and notoriously difficult to feed in captivity – still thriving in one of my tanks (fingers crossed). I am not telling this to boast (although I am proud of this) -  I just want to tell you (and the others) that we, humans, kill more fish than natural causes do – simply because we “want that fish” – without any consideration to what “that fish” would want to live comfortably...
As I said before – I do not care about “making friends” or “making enemies”.  I do not care about personal “scores” or going into everlasting arguments. And I don’t care what others think of me (again – this not Facebook!). One thing I care about is to educate people to stop using fish as a “decoration” to their lives and – if I start about it – any other animal in care, including cats and dogs (I have seen plenty of abuse and mistreatment there, too!)
P.S. About general “love” to animals. I have one cat – only one. Do I want more – or God, I do, and sooo much! Why I am not getting more? BECAUSE my little fluffy treasure is not easy on other animals (cats or whatever). She is a rescue which turned out to be a rejected pedigree... so she is absolutely beautiful. But she has had a very difficult life. When we got her, the rescue centre was only too pleased to get rid of her – she was scratching everybody/everything in sight and hissing all the time... She has developed into a gorgeous little thing, learnt to be a lap cat and never scratched me or my husband since we got her... The problem is – she does not like other cats (or anything else). No matter how much I would like a new kitten, I cannot betray her... So, no more cats until  her natural death – which, I hope, will not be on the agenda for another 10 years (she is 11 now, being with us for 9 years..) That is what I am trying to say – we should NOT follow our whims when it is about animals...
That’s it... Again, you can make whatever you WANT to make out of it – it does reflect your personality more than mine...