Miss Mouse

My poor little platy has turned completely white and is swimming upside down - I thought she was pregnant but could that have been an illness instead? I'm worried if its an illness it might affect the others.
Any input would be great

Thanks guys

0morrokh

I'm sorry about your Platy, but I'm just as puzzled as you are. I was looking on my Aquari-Sol package (it's mainly an ICH treatment, but it treats lots of other things too), and it said it treats a parasite that gives fish a grey-white film...does that sound anything like your platy? If so, you might try Aquari-Sol, just take out any snails because it kills them. However, this is a total guess. As for swimming upside down, she could have a swim bladder problem, in which case I'd stop feeding for a few days, or she could be dying On the other hand, I know nothing about platys, so this could be normal for pregnant females. If I were you, I would isolate her, raise the temp. to 85 F if she can take it, and add at least 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gal. as a general treatment in case she's sick. I'd also try Aquari-Sol, since it's mild enough that it won't hurt your fishie, even if it doesn't help (plus it's good to have on hand, since it treats a lot of diseases). I hope this helps, and I hope your Platy gets better

0morrokh

I was just looking at a site (http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm) that has descriptions & cures of diseases, and the only one I saw that included loss of color was a bacterial infection. If your Platy looks like she lost her color, isolate her immediately because it is extremely contagious!

Miss Mouse

Thanks for the help Omorrokh - unfortunately she passed away only minutes after I posted the message. I am on constant watch over the others although they dont have any of the signs that she did. I have a few books and websites which I looked at for a clue to the disease but none of them describe anything like it. She was extremely fat and her scales were pointing out rather than flat against the body - a bit like a spikey puffer fish. She was eating and swimming fine but within about 3 hours she turned almost totally white and turned upside down. Very sad

FishFan

0morrokh

Sorry about your platy. IMPORTANT: A bloated belly and sticking out scales are the symptoms of dropsy, which is always fatal--there is no cure. If any of your other fish show these symptoms, isolate them immediately, but there is nothing else you can do--from what I know, no one knows the cause or cure of this disease.

fletch

My red tailed shark lost its swimming balance and was swimming on its side. I took it to the shop and the guy said it had swim bladder problems through swallowing too much air. He advised to put it in a seperate tank and that it would be 50/50 if he survived.
It lost all the colour in its fins and turned a realy light grey.

0morrokh

I've heard swim bladder problems can also be caused by overfeeding. It might be a good idea to not feed your shark for 3 or 4 days so he can get any excess food out of his system, and the problem might clear up. Also, if you are feeding floating flakes, which could have caused him to gulp too much air, swishing them in a cup with tank water will make them sink. Hope he gets better!

0morrokh

Hey, I was just reading about Dropsy on this site, and apparently there are some medications that claim to cure it.

fletch

Cheers, but the shark died about 2 months ago. thanks for the advise on the food tho