Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => The Emergency Room => Topic started by: Frankie on April 07, 2019, 10:52:33 AM
-
I'm back needing help again unfortunately!
I've inherited a fish tank and i have lack of experience, so appreciate any help please.
I have a platy which has been sitting on the bottom of the tank for the last couple of days.
Info:
I am already treating the tank with Interpret Anti Internal Bacteria for couple of poorly fish who had pop eye/not eating.
Platy sat at the bottom of the tank is female
Oldest fish & big. Can only guess approx 2 years old (she's the boss in the tank).
Not eating. Tried her favourite peas - no luck! Normally she is greedy & eats everything!
No scales sticking out
Fins not pulled in
Can't see any sores
Eyes ok
Male platys keep hanging around her, she either has a go at them or swims at low level to somewhere else and sits at the bottom again.
She wobbles very slightly from side to side when sat down (this may be normal?)
She has gone shy & hides now.
Attached a couple of pictures.
Please can anyone help me!!
Thank u, Frankie
-
Another picture
-
Looking at the photos, she is about to give birth. The body shape at this time is often described as squaring off, or that the female looks as though she has swallowed a box. You can see the fish from all angles, but in the photos she does look as though she has swallowed a box. If she really does look like that, you have the answer.
Female livebearers which are about to give birth often go off by themselves. They get grumpy with any other fish that comes near. They appear to be breathing heavily. And they probably have no room left inside to be able to eat anything. Males will hang around her for 2 reasons - they know there is a tasty meal of fry coming soon, and they want to mate with her as soon as she gives birth.
Just leave her alone for now and let her give birth. Ideally, the best thing to do is remove all the male platies to another tank for a week after she gives birth to give her time to recover before the males pester her. But I do understand if this is not possible.
Do not try and move the female or you will probably damage her internally at this stage of pregnancy and/or kill the fry.
-
Picture platy facing straight on - blurry sorry.
-
Oh thank you Sue, that is a relief! I've been panicking I've done something else wrong!
I tried to attach PIC, she does look big straight on, almost puffed out. I try and see if I can spot the box shape when she comes out but she keeps hiding !
I'm sorry to have troubled you again....my lack of experience eh! but I'm learning fast thanks to you.
I will keep you posted how she is doing.
Thank u,
Frankie
-
Sue, can I ask one more question please.
How long does it take for a platy to give birth?
How long should I expect her to be off her food, sat on the bottom of the tank etc
Thank u !!
-
I've copied your image and added a rough square to show what I mean by squaring off.
By the shape of her she could start to give birth at any time. Since she is quite mature there could be a lot of fry - the numbers increase with the mother's age - so it could take a few hours for them all to be born. As soon as each fry emerges it will drop to the bottom of the tank. With other fish in there, they could well be eaten before they make it that far.
The males will then try to mate with her. This is instinct as each one 'wants' to father more fry.
Can I just check, how many males and how many females do you have?
-
Thank u for the diagram. I can see what you mean now.
I think there is approx half males & females. They are too fast to count !! Approx 18 fish in total.
Various sizes, small, medium and 1 large, all Platys.
To my knowledge the fish have interbred over the years. Can't remember any new fish being bought for years.
Plus they all look similar, silver, black, blue & spotty. Mixture of clear or black fins. I'm sure over time I will get to learn who's who.
-
Ideally you need at least twice as many males as females. Preferably 3 or 4 times more females than males. this is because male livebearers have one track minds and they won't leave females alone. With many more females than males each female gets time out while the males pester other females. Some people go as far as to say that males and females should be kept in different tanks and one male put in the female tank every so often for breeding purposes.
Since you've inherited the tank and fish, they are not necessarily what you would have bought. If the tank is big enough you could keep some female fry and rehome all the males. But if space doesn't allow that, I would think about rehoming some males. Maybe even see if a shop would take some males and give you part-ex for some new females.
But remember that every female will have fry every month. And they'll soon mount up even if most of them are eaten.
The fry wil all look female when they are born. The anal fin of males only changes once the fish reach puberty.
-
I'm gutted Sue, she has died. What a shame, never thought I would be upset over a fish ! Just shows how you can get attached, she was such a character.
Thank you for explaining re. Males/females, I'll try & have a proper count see how many I've got.
Thank u, Frankie
-
@Frankie I'm so sorry to hear that your platy has passed. She was a lovely looking fish.
It is sometimes quite surprising how attached we get to our fish, especially those with character, and the passing of a fish can be such a blow. :(
-
Thank u for your kind message. I am gutted.
She was a funny thing, if she seen anyone in the barrel or boat, she would charge & bonk them out..... but she never used either of them to hide in but she owned them!
We did laf at her.
-
I'm sorry to hear that. It can happen with older females, though usually after the fry have been born.
The trouble with taking over a tank that someone else has stocked is that it isn't always 'perfect' or exactly what we want. We have to work with whatever fish are already there.
-
Thanks Sue. She could have been older, I could only give you approx age.
I appreciate all your help & time again, I'm learning more & more from you. I get myself muddled searching the internet.
I did try and count males & females at feed time when they were all gathered..... bad idea !! they wouldn't stay still (bet your shaking your head in despair with me) ha ha!! I'll try again at sleep time this afternoon if I can spot them all.
Thanks again for your help Sue.
-
I've given up trying to count my fish. It's hard enough even in a tank with no decor but once you put decor in, it becomes impossible ;D
-
I did try and count males & females at feed time when they were all gathered..... bad idea !! they wouldn't stay still (bet your shaking your head in despair with me) ha ha!! I'll try again at sleep time this afternoon if I can spot them all.
Hi Frankie,
Good to 'meet' you! Counting fish when they're darting around is nigh on impossible. Try taking a few photos to freeze the action. Easy nowadays with smartphones. Then you can count them easily - unless, like Sue says, they're hiding somewhere. If you take photos from as many angles as possible, you should be able to snap all of them.
JPC
-
I'm gutted Sue, she has died. What a shame, never thought I would be upset over a fish ! Just shows how you can get attached, she was such a character.
I concur and empathise so much at how :'( it is to lose a fish, especially one with character / own personality.
I'll try & have a proper count see how many I've got.
To count fish, choose a feature that some have and others don't eg I do each species at a time but even sub-divide a species depending on certain features (eg chubby bellies, small stature) and some are unique. In your case, it might be numbers of "all black fins" or "all clear fins" or "a mix of black and clear fins", or "all square bellied fish", or "the one that does x".