newbie101

my platy has pale red gills and is hanging around at the surface. she doesnt appear 2 be gasping a lot though. would this be gill flukes or just a water quality problem? what should i do??
plz help!!

Butterfly

Never hurts to do water changes. Try that and then see how she is. I forget, do you have a water testing kit? If so please test the water and that will give us a direction to go.
Carol

Dino

A water chage when there are problems in a tank is always a good move.

Dino

Isabella

And a good substrate vacuuming with each water change. Plus, as Carol said, check your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels.

newbie101

i just did a gravel vac/water change before i posted that. thats how i noticed she was sick.
i dont have a test kit yet but hopefully ill be getting one 2day or 2morow?? i know, its really important *sigh*

Butterfly

Hang in there!! how is she today?
Carol

newbie101

shes still pretty much the same. i just thought of something maybe shes waiting for me to feed her because as soon as i come to the tank she swims up there and stays till i leave...dont know about the red gills though.

Butterfly

Keep doing those water changes and by all means feed that baby girl.
Carol

newbie101

well she died the other day and the other one is still doing it too and looks really sick. its probably the ammonia...its at 4.0
i woulndt have put in any fish at all until 2 weeks after the start-up but i had a surprise birthday party with a fish theme and everyone gave me some fish so i kind of had to put them in. ug...i got a COMMON pleco (in a 10 gallon?!) 4 neon tetras, 4 mollies (?! they need salt in the water and different conditinons, etc) 3 platies, 2 of which are dead. those would not have been my choice of fish. and i like to pick out my fish myself to make sure they and their tank are disease free. for all i know now my tank could be crawling with parasites from the store. well i didnt have to put all the fish in because my tank wasnt even set up yet so i put them in an insulated fish bucket (like they use for fishing, carrying minnows) and returned the mollies and tetras. but my parents kinda pressured me into adding the pleco and platies that night!!!! (i said to myself fat chance theyre going to survive...) i was going to have 2 nice little cory cats, a pair or so of platies, and 4 zebra daios but ah well....
and thats my sad tale.

Butterfly

Emma I'm so sorry. You are right on the money , with Ammonia that high I would say thats whats killing your fish. Doing Large water changes 25% -50% water changes is all thats going to get your fishes through this and lower the Ammonia. Good luck and keep us posted.
Carol

chickadee

Emma-

I'm so sorry. I know how much you have looked forward to setting up your tank, but don't give up. You have the most drive to have a tank that I have seen in a long time so I know you will get just what you want eventually.

Take care.

Shalom,

Rose

newbie101

well the other platy died this morning.
i wish i had picked them out myself though. i think they were sick to start with, one had cottonmouth and the other had a bad color loss and clamped fins.
gunnie in my other topic about danios and gupies you said i shouldnt add guppies. do you think now i have room for a pair?

newbie101

um and would i even have to put any female guppies in? would the males be ok with no females? because i dont really have room for fry. i cant get another tank, and the tank i have is only 10 gallons.

Butterfly

Emma refresh my memory as to whats still in that tank. Thanks
Carol

newbie101

4 zebra danios

Butterfly

You could put male guppies in the tank with the danios, but you will have to watch because the danios are so fast the guppies might not get enough to eat.
but first how about giving the tank about a week to make sure all is well before adding any more fish. And remember to quarantine them first
Carol

newbie101

i kind of have a dilemma. what do i quaratine them in? i cant realy just get another tank and i dont think dixie cups are big enough...lol...my parents would say "just throw them in!"
and yes i will give the tank some time

Butterfly

Don't know what you could quarantine them in but your other fish are being jeopardized if you just throw them in. LOL no dixie cups are not big enough.
Carol

newbie101

my dad has a minnow bucket (for holding minnows when ur fishing) that he sterilizes after he uses it. Would that work, just for a short time? And how long minimum do i have to quarantine?

chickadee

Emma -

Could you get one of those small betta tanks (holds about a gallon and costs about $4.95 at Walmart) to use as a quarantine tank? It has everything in it that you will need and it is easily cleanable when you are done with it. It is smaller than a shoebox and has a divider down the center so if you get two fish you can put them in together without them arguing. (they still share water) I keep one to my Bettas in while I do BIG water changes (90-100%). Wouldn't be without it.

Just a suggestion. Hang in there.

Shalom,

Rose

Butterfly

You need to quarantine for about 2-3 weeks. a one gallon container probably wouldn't be big enough for that length of time. You need at least 5-10 gal.
Carol

newbie101

ouch...