Hlep with sick platy- torn fin, lethargy, no response to meds

She looks very sad and seems to have been suffering for a couple weeks, right after I found her to have a huge tear in her fin. I put the plays in a tank with a less aggressive betta but this particular platy is not getting any better. I have a thermometer (water is usually about 80 degrees F), the Ammonia says "safe", the ph is very high but after reading about "messing with ph and hardness" it seems that I might not want to mess with that. I have photos of the readings, it seems the reading says higher than 8.0, it's hard to tell exactly but it's the second product I've used to test and both say ammonia and nitrates are 0 but water is hard and ph is high.

The other platy might have some red on her tail end but being new to this, I can't remember if she was sort of orangey before or if this is a sign of disease as I've read it can be. There is a photo but she's blurry because she swims so fast!

I assumed the platy is sick because her fin was torn so much and might have an infection, however we are on day 4 of the 5 days recommended for "Lifeguard Tetra" meds and she is acting just as lethargic as before. She also can barely get food in her mouth even though she swims right at the little pellets. I do have extra bowls (not tanks) I can use as a hospital tank and I have a Petco 5 mins from me so if I need anything from there, I am in luck.

I apologize if so much of this is already covered BUT some of the posts and articles I have read seem to be conflicting in advice or diagnosis. Any help appreciated!

Here are photos.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

I'm sorry your Platy is having problems. The first thing I would recommend is getting a good test kit such as the API liquid test kit. "Safe" is not an ammonia reading. since the only safe reading for ammonia is 0ppm. But those test cards and test strips are highly inaccurate, plus for them "Safe" is a range between 0ppm and who knows what.

Generally the best thing for a sick fish is pristine water (or as close as you can get while using meds since it usually limits water changes).

Good luck!

 

Good advice above. While you're purchasing a liquid test kit, you may also wish to pick up a bottle of Seachem Prime. This is a water conditioner that like other conditioners, takes care of chlorine and chloramine, but it also neutralizes ammonia and nitrite. Since it is likely that the levels in your tank are not actually "safe" (IE are more then 0ppm), this would protect your fish while your tank goes through its mini-cycle. It is only effective for 24 hours, so you would add the dose for the entire volume of the tank once daily to keep your fish safe.

 

Ok, thanks so much to both of you. I will try those. I don't think the high school kids working at Petco would be any help .

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

Good advice above. I'd like to add that while sick, once the med treatment has ended to start a daily water change of 20-30% with Prime. The daily water changes are often all that is needed to allow fish to heal their own bodies.

The tail looks like it was nipped or torn on a decor item. Make sure none of your decor has sharp edges to avoid repeating this.

Good luck!

 

I think it must have been the orange betta, Alejandro who bit him, because I only had live plants and some big, smooth aquarium stones, the ones that look like the "gel marbles" or whatever they call them. They are totally smooth. I moved the platys out of that tank to my other one after that, I guess Alejandro wants to be alone :/ I couldn't believe it, that is a big chunk of tail gone and Alejandro is a little young-looking betta .. but I did see him flare during feeding time.

Is Seachem Prime the same as Amquel Plus ? I had Amquel Plus and NoAqua Plus already, and I went to get the Prime stuff but it seemed on the label that it does the same as Amquel, which I already had? (Amquel says "Detoxifies Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Chlorine & Chloramines". I also got the Freshwater Master Test kit and did a partial water change for all my tanks, the ammonia readings were .25 or .50 (it was sort of in between looking) and the nitrate looked to be .25 before the water change. I should have mentioned this tank was newly set up, for about a week, and no I didn't know about the "cycling" at the time. It does have a filter, I did do frequent partial water changes for all, used water conditioner, added a little aquarium salt, live plants, thermometer. (I don't need to heat yet .. I live in Arizona and the water is usually around 80 degrees without me doing a thing.)

This all started with me feeling sorry for a betta and taking one home in a small bowl. . then googling and realizing that was NOT good enough. A month later I have 2 tanks, 2 bettas, 4 platys, 2 ghost shrimp (lost 2 smaller ghost shrimp immediately) . .. . and wanting more tanks and to learn more! Guess I need to take care of what I have before I add to my fish family. thanks for the help!

 

Amquel+ along with NovAqua do the same things Prime does, so no need to get Prime.

 

If you have both Amquel+ and NovAqua+, then you're good to go. You do need both, but together they are the same as Prime.

It is generally not advised to keep bettas in community settings. I would put money on Alejandro being the culprit. If you can permanently house them separately, it would be best for everyone involved.

Edit:

 

Yeah unfortunately I learned the hard way. I don't plan on any more community tanks, my other betta Cornelius doesn't seem to be hurting the platys (that is where I put them after Alejandro struck) but .. . since I love the bettas most, I will just stick to them alone in their own surroundings, well maybe with some shrimp to help clean up, unless anyone's had negative experiences with that as well?

 

The betta may eat the shrimp. I have a nerite snail with my betta and they get along fine. Some people have kept bettas and shrimp together successfully though. I would maybe suggest red cherry shrimp over ghosts though, as ghosts can be a little more aggressive and may nip at the betta's fins.

 

I'd love to get some red cherry shrimp. My ghost shrimp have made a few annoying attempts it seems, to grab at Cornelius. He gets away but it looks annoying.

 

Your ghost shrimp will also being making attempts on the Red Cherry if you get one.

 

Aah. . . . so complicated, ha ha. Well, then if I get cherry shrimp I guess they can't go in the same tank as the ghost shrimp. I would have to order the cherry shrimp, I think, I am new in town but from looking online there don't seem to be very many nice aquatic stores. Oddly there is one in town that is "shipping only". I've never ordered anything live, not even a plant, but I'd like to try plants. I wonder if anything would make it alive to my place in Arizona. Some days it's ok but last week it was 105.

 

I've only ever seen RCS in LFSs for an arm and a leg. It obviously wouldn't fix the shipping issue, but once you have 50 posts, you can order shrimp from members on the forum. I ordered mine from a fellow FishLorian and they're doing very well.

 

When I first started, I was hesitant ordering fish and plants online but I took a leap of faith and have no complaints, well one vendor I am not a fan of....but it is a learning process. I would do research on the vendors that you want to order from and read customer reviews.

In this forum there is a buy, sell, and trade section but you are only allowed to use is when you have over 50 postings.

My father has a house in Arizona and I only visit during the winter ;-) It is way to hot there. I remember one summer visiting him and I practically saw no one outside during the day and when the sun goes down....people are everywhere. For a moment, I thought it was a town of vampires ;-).

 

Everyone leaves town in the summer. I'm staying with my mom & she says everything is dirt cheap in summer because at least half the town goes to Colorado or somewhere else. This is why I don't need a heater for my fish, at least not until fall. I think the fish are more comfortable than I am.

50 posts! Hmm .. . that will take a while.

 

50 posts! Hmm .. . that will take a while.

It really doesn't take that long to reach 50. Just 5 posts a day and you will be there in just a few days