Sick Platy? Internal Parasite?

Hi all,
So I have a couple of problems I'd love some advice on. I have noticed one of my platies exhibiting very different behavior. I put part of this down to him probably not being a platy at all and secondly a possible internal parasite.

I bought the 'platy' from P@H about 3-4 months ago and was one of my first fish. He was introduced with two other platies (definitely platies!) and always looked a little different. He was more slender and his dorsal fin was set further back. I'm pretty sure he is in fact mostly swordtail. Over time he was appeared more gaunt and his poo is white and stringy. I believe this is a classic sign of an internal parasite.

I regularly check my water parameters and NH3 and NO2 always read 0 and my NO3 has never been above 25 and usually around 10. However, I still feel he could be stressed. When I first added him to the tank, he was the dominant fish. Regularly chasing the other two. I later added another platy, not realizing he was almost twice the size of the others in my tank until I brought him home. He is now definitely the dominant fish in the tank, regularly chasing my sick swordtail and my sunset platy, though he's very fond of my blue platy.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a clear pic of him. However the questions I have are:
1. Is there a clear tell tale sign whether he is a platy or a swordtail? I think he may be too young to develop the sword.

2. What is the best course of treatment? I have inherited a bottle of Interpret No 9 Anti Internal Bacteria but have read it's pretty heavy handed. Should I remove the sick fish to my QT and treat there, or add the medication to my tank?

Thanks for any help! 

Thanks FC!

I have a planned water change for Saturday which I'll push forward to tomorrow and add the treatment. Cross fingers it will clear up any issues. Fortunately the rest of the tank look very healthy.

Keep your fingers crossed for the little fella!

Camallanus worms are the most commonly seen worm. I know quite a bit about them now as some of my fish have had them.
The obvious sign is small red things sticking out of the anus, a bit like the bristles on a child's paintbrush. But the fish are infected before you see those. They show when the fish is motionless but disappear back inside when the fish moves. The fish's anus is also red.
The female worm lays eggs by hanging out of the fish's anus. They hatch and wave around attracting very tiny crustaceans, which eat them. The fish then eat the crustaceans. It takes around a month for the worms to mature inside the fish's intestines and for the females to become old enough to lay eggs themselves - which is when we can see them.

If you are sure you have these worms, you can try to medicate though it might not work. Kusuri Wormer Plus and Sera Nematol are the two I've heard of.



My Nannacara are currently infected. They are in my QT and have had two doses of wormer plus, 4 days apart as recommended for heavy infestations. They both still have worms three days after dose #2.
I have also dosed the main tank even though I don't see signs of worms in the other fish. This makes the tank a nerite-free zone for several months to come 

Hi Sue,

Couldn't find the meds you recommended in my local MA, so picked up some Aqua Munster Argumor which contains Diflubenzuron and is supposed to treat worms and flukes.

Do you have any experience with this product/ingredient. How long to fish take to show signs of recovery? The little fella is eating fine now, but it very thin and hangs around the top of the tank a lot. Will there be any obvious signs that he's on the mend?

Thanks!

Thanks Sue.

I'm on day 3 with the Aqua Munster Argumor and the 'platy' seems much happier, though this could be because I have left the lights off in the aquarium since treating. I never actually saw worms, but it sounds like it might be quite difficult. I'll turn the lights back on after a full week of the treatment and see how he is. If he's still not right I think I'll give the Anti-Internal Bacteria a go as I have some of that. If I still have no joy I guess Wormer+ is my last hope!

Hope your treatment goes well!

This probably doesn't alter the situation but I recall that my goldfish used to have white, stringy faeces interspersed with normal ones after having been treated with either aquarium salt or with Interpet's Anti-Internal Bacterial treatment.

I have to confess that whenever I've had a fish with dropsy, I've put it down. Luckily that has not been very often. It's trying to work out what the underlying disease is that's the problem.