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April 2nd, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Strange Behavior from Platy
My Platy that i've had for probably 4 months has been acting really weird lately. its been laying on the bottom of the tank for about the past two weeks only coming out or moving when bothered. i looked pretty close to see if i could see any physical signs of a disease or infection and i couldn't find anything. i tested the water recently and have been doing 15% water changes every 3 days for the past week in hopes that its a water quality issue although my tests only showed that nitrate was a bit high and that was the only problem. one thing i thought might be possible is that it could be pregnant from what i've read elsewhere the only issue is that i'm not sure of its sex. so in case its just my incompetence thats making it so that i can't tell the sex heres a photo of the fish.
edit: one other thing that i should add is that its pretty well kept its fins clamped to its body the whole time ocasionally they will fan out but only briefly
Last edited by Sam N.; April 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 AM.
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April 2nd, 2008
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| | Moderator
| The laziness at the end of pregnancy usually only lasts a couple of days, if I recall correctly.
I would suggest keeping the water changes up and keep us informed of any changes.
One question I have is this: Have you noticed it pooping? May seem like an odd question, but a lot of issues that we've seen end up being parasites (white poop) or constipation.
Welcome to Fishlore and best wishes to you and your fish. | |
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April 2nd, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| now that i think about it i haven't seen it poop since this started | |
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April 2nd, 2008
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| | Moderator
| Try feeding it a bit of broken-up pea or freeze-dried daphnia. Either of these might help if it's diarrhea.
If that works, one thing you might want to do is vary its diet after this. I feed my fish three different kinds of flakes, bits of veggies, freeze dried bloodworms, goldfish pellets, algae wafers (even the top feeders follow these to the bottom), shrimp pellets (same thing), and supplement periodic feedings with vitachem. No one food has every nutrient that every fish needs, so it's best to change the diet up constantly in order to provide everything your fish need. | |
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April 2nd, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| what sort of peas should i feed it? like snap peas? the little round ones? | |
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April 2nd, 2008
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| | Moderator
| Most people around here just get a can of peas or a bag of frozen shelled peas. However, if you happen to have snap peas around, they'll work too. What you want is to thaw it (if frozen), remove the shell (if it has one), remove the skin, and then break it into little tiny bite-sized pieces. Put only a couple pieces in at a time. Small fish can't eat a whole pea. | |
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April 3rd, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| well i tried feeding it peas but it took no interest at all. so i'm not sure what to do now, i also added a comment to the top post with some more details.
Last edited by Sam N.; April 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 AM.
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April 3rd, 2008
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| Welcome to Fishlore. 
He could be suffering from internal parasites. Is the other platy showing any symptoms? Freeze-dried daphnia is a good food for fish that won't eat other food. Also, soaking food in garlic juice might enhance the food appeal to him. | |
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April 3rd, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| well i guess my next question would be what is daphnia and where would i get it? | |
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April 3rd, 2008
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| | Fish Mentor
|  SAM, WELCOME TO FISHLORE! Sorry your fish is sick, just a couple of observations...
First it looks to me like this is a male platy....it also looks to have fin rot..and a general overall appearance of not being very happy.
Are there other fish in the tank? Do you have a hospital tank where you can medicate the fish? As long as this has been going on, it might be hard to treat...but if it were me I would use Maracyn-Two, as it is absorbed through the skin, and will treat a fish that isn't eating.....
But like stated above the fish needs to eat, and using food soaked in garlic juice is suppose to help. | |
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April 3rd, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| i just thought of something, the laziness seemed to start when i switched lighting on the tank from incandecent to flourecent. does that sound like it could have some of the effects like that. i know its kinda a stretch but the timelines do match and the fish seems to try very hard to stay in the shade in the tank | |
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April 3rd, 2008
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...79&c=3578+7933 - this is the daphnia that we get.
It is possible that the lighting is a cause. What type of tube is it? Can you change it back to incandescent to see if that helps? Or leave the lights out and have an incandescent light on near the tank? | |
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April 4th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| i can't remeber what exactly the tube was it came with the hood from petsmart. the light it puts out is definatly a bit purple. | |
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April 4th, 2008
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| It might have the color temp on it.. but it's possible the temp is too intense and hurting the platys... plants can sometimes even be scorched that way. I would try incandescent lighting with them and see if they change behavior. | |
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April 4th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| right now my plan is to treat for fin and tail rot. i'm using maracyn-tc for it right now but if that doesn't work i will definatly try the lighting change, i still have the incandecent hood around | |
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