Platy sick? Breathing heavy

[Nawirl]

Just noticed today my female platy is breathing heavy and staying near top of aquarium. Doesn’t appear to be eating and may be thinner. 30 gallon. Water tests normal. Last water change was 1 week. All other fish ok. I added 1 male gourami last week but he just chills in a corner. I put her in another aquarium to monitor her.

 

[Dunk2]

Just noticed today my female platy is breathing heavy and staying near top of aquarium. Doesn’t appear to be eating and may be thinner. 30 gallon. Water tests normal. Last water change was 1 week. All other fish ok. I added 1 male gourami last week but he just chills in a corner. I put her in another aquarium to monitor her.

What exactly are the waters parameters (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) and how long has the tank been running?

What type of filtration do you have on the tank and how many/what type of fish?

 

[Nawirl]

This aquarium has been up about 6 weeks. Top fin filter (prob not really good).
3 otocinclus juvenile
7 neon tetra
5 red tetra
3 Cory cats
5 platys
These are all really small fish and I don’t think it’s overpopulated but definitely maxed out. This is my mom’s tank so I just went and took 3 platys to my tank to give her some extra room. She is going to do a water change tomorrow and I’ll have her give me the test numbers. Reading other sick platy posts, could this behavior be a result of ammonia and nitrite/nitrate? The other fish are active and good. We got this platy about 9 months ago. She’s had a couple fry survive (we aren’t breeding them). I think she may have just had another batch within the last week.

 

[Dunk2]

This aquarium has been up about 6 weeks. Top fin filter (prob not really good).
3 otocinclus juvenile
7 neon tetra
5 red tetra
3 Cory cats
5 platys
These are all really small fish and I don’t think it’s overpopulated but definitely maxed out. This is my mom’s tank so I just went and took 3 platys to my tank to give her some extra room. She is going to do a water change tomorrow and I’ll have her give me the test numbers. Reading other sick platy posts, could this behavior be a result of ammonia and nitrite/nitrate? The other fish are active and good. We got this platy about 9 months ago. She’s had a couple fry survive (we aren’t breeding them). I think she may have just had another batch within the last week.

Whenever fish are acting “off” or unusual, I always suggest testing the water parameters as a first step. Will either rule in or rule out a water quality problem.

Do you know if the tank was fully cycled?

 

[Nawirl]

Whenever fish are acting “off” or unusual, I always suggest testing the water parameters as a first step. Will either rule in or rule out a water quality problem.

Do you know if the tank was fully cycled?

So I told my mom to run the tank without fish for at least 2 weeks. But she “read” that if you transfer the substrate and decor to new tank you don’t have to “cycle” it. So no it wasn’t.
Update: I just read up on this forum about cycling with an existing tanks substrate. She did that and waited a couple days, so I’m thinking it was cycled.

 

[Dunk2]

So I told my mom to run the tank without fish for at least 2 weeks. But she “read” that if you transfer the substrate and decor to new tank you don’t have to “cycle” it. So no it wasn’t.
Update: I just read up on this forum about cycling with an existing tanks substrate. She did that and waited a couple days, so I’m thinking it was cycled.

The only way to know for sure if the tank is cycled is to test the water parameters.

 

[Nawirl]

She died. She had fry couple days ago. Possible one was bound or something. Thanks for taking the time. I learned some stuff.

 

[KrissyBunnie]

I agree with the above post about testing parameters. You can get an API test kit at most fish stores for pretty cheap. That's the only way to be 100% sure if the tank is cycled.

Sorry about the loss

 

[Nawirl]

She said PH high. But didn’t tell me the number. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Nawirl]

I’m back. Male platy now doing the same thing. The ph is between 8.0-9.0. That’s the only thing that is abnormal. How does ph affect fish? All the other fish acting normal.

 

[Suniv2]

Its the Nitrate or Nitrite levels there is too high Is the aquarium new?
Edit: Or maybe there aint enough oxygen in the tank Theese are common mistakes for new Fish Keepers

 

[Dunk2]

I’m back. Male platy now doing the same thing. The ph is between 8.0-9.0. That’s the only thing that is abnormal. How does ph affect fish? All the other fish acting normal.

Maybe I missed it, but we still don’t know the water parameters of this tank (other than pH)?

 

[Nawirl]

Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ph 8.2 yesterday
Ph 7.2 today after ph down additive
Alkalinity 140
Free chlorine 0
Tank was not cycled properly. Only substrate and plants from old tank were put in new tank with some of the water from old tank too.

 

[Suniv2]

Dont use ph additive it can stress out your fish try and find other alternatives like more driftwood

 

[Nawirl]

The male platy died. The other fish started acting spastic. We did a 50% water change yesterday. See how it goes…. These test strips are hard to read sometimes. This photo is my own 55 gallon tank and is the ph good or not? If I need to lower it, what is best way?