# Help With Platys!



## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

I have three Platys in a ten gallon tank. They haven't been doing all that well, especially my Mickey Mouse platy. She used to be fat and healthy and now is skinny, sickly, and barely looks like a fish at all. She also has something on her side that is like a little white bump and is oozing some white stuff out of it, like pus. I have no idea what to do! Help please?


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Hi

Please fill out this form when seeking help for your Betta. This information and a clear photo posted directly into the thread will help us give you the most accurate advice possible. Without the information and photos the best we can do is guess.

Even if you're already answered many of the questions in text form you we ask you fill out the form so we will have a quick source of information.
*Housing:*
How many gallons is your tank?
Does it have a filter?
Does it have a heater?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?

*Food:*
What food brand do you use?
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Freeze-dried?
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?

*Maintenance:*
*Before* your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
What percentage of water did you change?
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
What additives do you use? 

*Water Parameters:*
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):

*Symptoms and Treatment:*
When did you first notice the symptoms?
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
Is your Betta still eating?
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she a rescue?

*PLEASE PROVIDE CLEAR PHOTOS*


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

_*NOTE: This is a MICKEY MOUSE PLATY that i need help with, not a betta!!!*_




nickau said:


> hi
> 
> please fill out this form when seeking help for your betta. This information and a clear photo posted directly into the thread will help us give you the most accurate advice possible. Without the information and photos the best we can do is guess.
> 
> ...


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> ph: 6.0


Isn't that kinda low for platy's?


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

I don't really know much about water parameters, so I wouldn't know... Sorry. I looked it up and the first thing I saw was that regular ph levels are around 7.6 to 8.2, but I'm not positive so I'd rather not make guesses....


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## Gariana (Jul 22, 2015)

bettagurl777 said:


> ph: 6.0
> hardness (gh): 0


These are most likely at least somewhat responsible - platys like hard water with a ph above 7. Like guppies and mollies they will suffer in soft acidic water and won't survive for long.


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## Yorg (Jan 10, 2015)

bettagurl777 said:


> I have three Platys in a ten gallon tank. They haven't been doing all that well, especially my Mickey Mouse platy. She used to be fat and healthy and now is skinny, sickly, and barely looks like a fish at all. She also has something on her side that is like a little white bump and is oozing some white stuff out of it, like pus. I have no idea what to do! Help please?


Hi bettagurl777:

I'm sorry your fishes aren't doing well. As other posters have mentioned, platys generally don't do well in soft, acidic water. The stress of the water conditions can cause them to become vulnerable to diseases.

If you want to keep platys you can try raising the hardness and ph of your water somewhat by using limestone, crushed coral, or dolomite. There are also some products available, such as Seachem Replenish, that can raise hardness and ph somewhat.

A broad-spectrum antibiotic like one of the Maracyn products might treat your fish's external problem, but remember if she is already weakened by the water parameters then the treatment might not be enough to save her.

If your water is simply softer and more acidic, in the long-term you may want to move to species that prefer such water; there are a lot of them that you could keep in a small tank.

-Yorg


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

I will se what I can do unfortunately my local fish/pet store doesn't have much in the way of medicines or other fish chemicals. Last time I needed mess I had to go to about three different stores before I found what I wanted - and none of them were close by. 

Is there anything I can do raise the ph of the water in the mean time, in case I can't find what I need to help them?


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## Yorg (Jan 10, 2015)

bettagurl777 said:


> I will se what I can do unfortunately my local fish/pet store doesn't have much in the way of medicines or other fish chemicals. Last time I needed mess I had to go to about three different stores before I found what I wanted - and none of them were close by.
> 
> Is there anything I can do raise the ph of the water in the mean time, in case I can't find what I need to help them?


Hi bettagurl777:

Yes, if you have some baking soda on hand you can use that to elevate the ph temporarily. Since your tank is very small, you'll have to be careful not to use too much and raise the ph too quickly; that will also be stressful on your platys. You might try checking your current ph, then adding 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda and retesting ph after 30 minutes or so.  You want to avoid very rapid changes in ph, so this may take you some time between testing, small dosing, testing again etc.

Epsom salts, which you can get at just about any drugstore, will also raise ph and water hardness.

If your local stores don't carry things like crushed coral or other long-term solutions for raising ph/hardness, you might have to order online and use the baking soda or Epsom salts as a temporary fix until they arrive.

Good luck!

-Yorg


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Common hardwater aquarium fish do just fine in soft water. I highly doubt the pH has anything to do with your sick platy. It's soft water fish that often have a harder time adjusting to a higher pH. I wouldn't mess with the pH if I were you, especially since you already have a sick, likely stressed, fish.


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## Gariana (Jul 22, 2015)

SplashyBetta said:


> Common hardwater aquarium fish do just fine in soft water.


Speaking from my own experience - that's not true. In the beginning I kept my guppies in soft water and all of them started to wither away and die. I changed the gravel in their tank to coral sand, water parameters changed slowly and every guppy is now healthy and happy with no signs of distress.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Gariana said:


> Speaking from my own experience - that's not true. In the beginning I kept my guppies in soft water and all of them started to wither away and die. I changed the gravel in their tank to coral sand, water parameters changed slowly and every guppy is now healthy and happy with no signs of distress.


There are exceptions I'm sure, depending on the fish, strain, previous parameters, etc. etc. I was speaking in general, from my own experience and that of several fellow aquarists who have kept guppies and platys in softwater for 10+ years.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

I have soft water also and can't keep live bearers alive in it, few months and they all die.

Soft water fish belong in soft water, Hard water fish belong in hard water.


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

She can't even swim now. She wiggles and waddles and looks like she is trying really hard and then she gets up a bit and rests on something before going back down, or when she does get up she swims raidlu across the top to try to eat the food that I have put there and then - because I can't think of any other word to describe it - plummets back to the bottom. I thought maybe swim bladder, but aren't fish with swim bladder usually fat? She is really skinny


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

She had an infection of some sort, She needed a full round of antibiotics, now it's ravaged her whole body & is slowly dying infront of your eyes. I hope you have started treating the whole tank on antibiotic medication otherwise you are just going to see your whole tank slowly die on you.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

NickAu said:


> Soft water fish belong in soft water, Hard water fish belong in hard water.


Where a fish "belongs" is a very opinionated subject. My neon tetras have been thriving in hard water for almost a year so there's no way I'm messing with the parameters now.


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

Sadly she past away earlier today. 

I would like to help the rest of the tank though, so what type of medicines do you suggest?


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

bettagurl777 said:


> Sadly she past away earlier today.
> 
> I would like to help the rest of the tank though, so what type of medicines do you suggest?


Please don't take this advice as me being rude but go back & read the original replies to your 1st post & take the advice already given.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

bettagurl777 said:


> Sadly she past away earlier today.
> 
> I would like to help the rest of the tank though, so what type of medicines do you suggest?


Are the other fish showing any signs of illness? If not I wouldn't necessarily recommend messing around with any medications, but dosing with Seachem ParaGuard for a week wouldn't do any harm. It's a decent mild preventative.


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

Well they don't swim around as much, but one is very fat (like excessively, and I can't figure out why) and one is very young, only a few months old. They don't swim around that much but they are not skinny and sick and hiding either


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Perhaps the fatty is pregnant? Have you sexed them? 

I recommend doing the ParaGuard treatment. I've used it when things just seem 'off' and it's actually helped. Weed out any parasite/infection early.


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## bettagurl777 (Mar 19, 2015)

I think that they are/were all girls, but it is possible they may have been pregnant when I got them, though unlikely because I've had them for around Four or five months now


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

I'm not entirely sure how long, but livebearers can store sperm for quite a while. That's why you'll often get 2-3 pregnancies from one breeding. 

If you post a photo I can probably give you an idea if she's pregnant or there's a different issue.


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