Unsteady Platy

I have noticed that one of my female Platies has lost weight and seemed to spend a lot of time hiding. The other female does tend to pick on her if she goes near her but doesn't go out of her way to find her.  Today every so often she seems wobble when she is swimming or stationary.  She is using her pectoral fins but all her other fins including her dorsal are flat against her body, her tail isn't as wide as normal as if she has tensed it up.

I have moved her into the quarantine tank and she seemed to perked up a bit within 15 minutes.

I have checked the water and it is ok, nothing unusual.  I did have a WCMM die 2 weeks ago but it was never a strong fish and had failed to thrive in the 6 months I'd had him.

The other 2 Platies are both fine.  Any suggestions on what my next step should be would be welcome. 

It's froozen blood worms tonight for her tea in the hope that she will put some weight on.

Anne

Hi Sue, thanks for replying.

Her weight loss has been gradual, she is considerably smaller than the other female but about the same size as the male.

Originally she was one of the first to the food but in the last couple of weeks she tends to get there a little bit late as she likes to hid at the back of the tank behind the plants.  I have seen her eating though, she normally gets something.

My water is soft to slightly hard.

She hasn't pooped yet in the quarantine tank and I hadn't noticed anything untoward while she was in the main tank.

She does seem to have perked up quite a bit her fins are fine and she is swimming normally exploring her new surroundings.

I have just fed her and she has eaten a couple of worms but it seemed to be an effort, it would take her about 5 goes to eat a worm as she kept spitting it back out after a couple of seconds and then trying again.  There are still some worms on the floor of the tank which at the moment she isn't bothering with which is unusual as Platies are very greedy.

Anne

Thanks Sue, will see how she is tomorrow.

Anne

Glad to hear she's doing a little better in the QT; that sounds the right place for her to get some rehab.

Her behaviour sounds similar to what my goldfish, particularly fancy goldfish, went through phases of doing and it had an effect on their swimbladder / buoyancy. From what you've told us, and based on my experience with goldfish (who, incidentally, definitely yawn - I don't think I've noticed my tropicals doing it), I'd try the following:

* I appreciate you won't want her to lose weight but I would try feeding her something just for one day which has a laxative-type effect, just to help clear out any blockages internally, such as ingested substrate. (I had goldfish who had a habit of swallowing gravel and then sand, with all sorts of problems, so I ultimately had no option but to convert the tank to barebottom.)

* I would also experiment with the filter outlet and see whether increased surface agitation, helping with oxygenation, might reduce her desire to gulp at the surface, or, if that doesn't help, maybe even try the opposite of decreased surface agitation, as sometimes fish mimic what's happening (eg creation of bubbles).

* It might also be worth releasing the food midway down in the tank rather than on top of the water, to break her habit of going to the surface, and also ensuring that any pieces of food are chopped up extra small, just in case the food is having trouble getting past any internal blockage. Feed little and often.

Good luck.

Thanks fcmf and Sue.

I have had a pleasant day visiting LFS and now have both eSHa 2000 and some live daphnia.  I had tried her with some blanched courgette earlier in the week but she wasn't very interested in it.  She has spent the last 20 mins happily hunting down the daphnia albeit it in a leisurely fashion, unlike the 2 minute frenzied scrum that took place in the main tank.

I do have the filter on low as it is a Fauval U1 for up to 50 litres and the QT is only 20, also she got stuck against the inflow when she first went in as she wasn't strong enough to swim away.  I have raised the filter higher in the tank and increased the flow slightly as well as using the Ventura.  The surface agitation has increased and she doesn't seem too interested in the bubbles from the outflow.

Visiting 7 LFS in a week hasn't helped my MTS as I had to check out all the fish, I couldn't just pop in and ask if they had the medication and leave.  Also with having the QT up and running for a week now it looks like it's always been there.  I keep thinking maybe I could put a bigger tank there and add some shells and coral sand to harden up the water to keep my Platy happy also she might like some company.....arrrrgh... 

Anne
Anne