punkrockviolet5

My Scotchbrite (Female Gold Wag Platy) has been laying on the bottom of the aquarium. She used to swim up when food was present but not anymore. She kinda flips all over the place trying to swim. I don't have the heart to euthanize her, until I know its too late to save her. I've lost quite a few fish lately, one to my cat, one to suicide, Frank Zappa just up and vanished, and now Scotchbrite is on her way to the netherworld. I know I couldn't have avoided any of these, as the water and tank are great, and so are Jinx, Pandora, Chopstick and my 40+ fry. I haven't lost any of my fish to sickness yet, so what can I do She's the only colorful one left and I want to save her!!

PS - LOVE the new smilies!!

bmxer193

What are the levels in your tank (nitrates,Nitrites,ect..)? and is the tank cycled??

COBettaCouple

Are her fins clamped and/or do they show any signs of damage? Does she look like she has any fuzzy lumps on her? We just lost a gold twinbar platy to ulcers tonight and it seems like the gold twinbars get those easily. Melafix would be a general purpose med for her but you would need to be 100% sure no melafix came anywhere near your betta so you'd have to treat her in a hospital tank. how long have you had her?

punkrockviolet5

You know, now that you mention it, she does keep her side fins very close to her body and they do look kinda torn. When she used to be able to swim, at the first signs of illness, she stopped using her tail fin, like the others. Looked like she swam around with her 'muscles' very constricted and with a lot of effort. Just checked on the fuzzy lumps, don't think so, but its so hard to tell, as she's literally barely moving and hidden pretty well. She didn't eat again this morning.

She's been part of the family for about 6 months now.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Losing a pet is never easy.

COBettaCouple

the 3 biggest probable causes of her problems would be ulcers, internal parasites or septicemia.

do you have a 'hospital tank' to treat her in? melafix would be the treatment for ulcers, parasite clear for internal parasites or antibiotics in food form for septicemia. it would be deadly to the betta to be exposed to melafix and best for the healthy fish to not have un-needed meds.

punkrockviolet5

How does one tell which method to try? Are they all necessary to fix the problem? I think I need to do some research today on this.

COBettaCouple

that's really the best way.. you'll be the best to determine which to try treating since you can look at your fish and see what symptoms you see.