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cq
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 01:56 pm
Saw your post Marie and my female platies are exhibiting similar
behaviour (but without the white spots). For the last two
days, I could not find them. I was actually concerned they somehow
jumped out of the tank. Finally, I found one wedged between two
leaves of a plant. This morning both came out for food and I inspected
closely and saw no apparent signs of anything wrong. Their appetites
are not what they usually are but both are very fat and close to
giving birth. My theory is that they are very stressed as they are
continually pregnant. I am considering getting rid of the male to
give them some relief which I won't like to do since he is really
boisterous and enjoys playing with my cories and my keyhole cichlids.
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marie6749
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 02:35 pm
Thanks, I really appreciate the advice. I will get the Jungle food
also and put her in the QT tank. I have noticed that my other female
has stringy feces today. I might feed her some of the food you are
talking about also Kick.
CQ- if your gals are rubbing against stuff (like they are scratching)or
clamping their fins I would worry, but if not they are probably
ok. When mine are about to give birth, they usually hide alot. If
you have a clean QT tank, maybe you could put the male platy in
there for awhile to give the girls a break. I would hate to see
you get rid of him since you like him so much.
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cq
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 02:46 pm
How long have your fish had stringy feces? Mine have had this since
I took them home from the LFS so I assumed it was normal for this
type of fish. Am I wrong? Wondering now if its some sort of internal
problem but I have never heard of this being a symptom of anything.
I used them to cycle my tank and i am hoping that this did not harm
them although my levels never got to be dangerous.
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marie6749
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 03:14 pm
Usually mine is not really long and stringy, but today it looks
strange. It is kind of transparent and about 1/2 inch long. Always
before it had some color to it. On Badman's main site, under
medication, there is internal parasites listed. One of the symptoms
is stringy feces. Sorry I can't be of more help.
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marie6749
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 03:18 pm
Sorry I didn't think of this a minute ago. If I feed the Jungle
food to all the platys and they don't have parasites, will it
harm them?
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Kick
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 03:26 pm
No marie, the food will be fine and, in fact, keep any internal
parasites away. Good to feed once a week just for a precaution.
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marie6749
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 04:20 pm
Thanks, I checked around on the 'net and the name of the food
is Pepso food. I found it at pet warehouse. I hope the LPS has it
and also the Kanacyn. I will keep you all posted.
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jeff
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 05:46 pm
do not want to get in to deep here but thought I might add that
you just may have two things going on here..bacterial and possibly
parasites with the white string feces and I would keep an eye on
that scrape..you do not want to see white fuzzy stuff there..treat
as kick suggested with the kanamycin..go 5 days treatment and instead
of that pepso food I would give tetra medicated flakes for parasites..infact
buy both kinds the anti-bacterial flakes are real handy to have
around..
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marie6749
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 12:03 am
Thanks Jeff, I found the pepso and also the kanacyn, but I can't
seem to find the tetra med. flakes for parasites. Do you know of
antwhere on the net I could find them?
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Kick
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 01:33 am
The Pepso food is what I was thinking of....could not remember the
name....but if Jeff thinks the tetra medicated flakes would be better,
then try to go with that. It is real late, but I will check my catalogs
to see if I can find somewhere that would have it for you. See you
in the morning!
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Kick
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 12:28 pm
Checked all my catalogs and can't seem to find the tetra medicated
flakes either. Jeff, help us out here. Where can we find them?
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jeff
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 01:07 pm
oh..ok..now I know who was looking for this stuff..tetra medicated
flakes are available at most LPS's...sometimes they will have
to orded them in..try hard to get them. they are really good and
the fish love them..medi-gold is another available through the goldfish
connection...check big Al's site too.
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joycedonley
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 01:49 pm
Jeff I have never been able to find those around here(Michigan).
I guess your LPS stores have more variety.Lucky!! I haven't
checked at Petsmart the only really big name one, so maybe they
have it???? If you find an on line site let us know.Thanks.
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jeff
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 11:53 pm
I guess I am lucky to get the medicated food..so here is 2 places
on line you can get it..
and the same no-name brand at aquatic waharehouse,.
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cq
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Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 07:38 pm
Here's a question for you. How do you get your fish to eat your
medicated food if they are no longer eating? I am very concerned
about my platies now. They are now very shy and spend the day hidden
under a plant not moving. One of them had clamped fins when I examined
her this morning. No sign of Ick as they do not have white spots.
They haven't eaten in two days and I am worried.
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jeff
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Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 10:38 pm
ok..cq..what is happing here?..not eating?..clamped fins?..sratching?..what
else?...don't worry about 2 days without food ..get some water
tests done..and have you started any in water meds at all?..kanamycin
perhaps?..I am not sure where you are with it all so..unless kick
is more familiar with what you have been talking about. we can all
try to help...
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cq
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Friday,
July 20, 2001 - 05:47 pm
Have not started any medication. All of my other fish (3 ottos,
4 cories, 2 keyhole cichlids) look happy and healthy. It is
just my platies.
I have been seeing the symptoms you described above. Lately though,
both females are hidden all day. They literally do not move at all.
What does Kanamycin do? Will it hurt the other fish? I will take
my water in to get tested as you suggest but what could be there
that would hurt the fish? I don't see any ammonia/nitrite and
I do weekly water changes.
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
July 21, 2001 - 08:32 am
Kanamycin is a general antibiotic. I have used it many times when
my fish have had whitish looking fins or spots. It will treat a
variety of hard to identify fungal infections and such.It will not
treat any internal parasites. I have never had it hurt any of my
other fish. I always keep it on hand.If you are going to treat your
tank remember to remove any Carbon as it will suck the meds out.It
is used over a five day period. With treatments on the first, third
and fifth day.
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
July 21, 2001 - 08:36 am
Cq when I put meds in my tank I usually add and airstone and pump.
Some meds deplete a little oxygen so the airstone will help keep
the levels up.The airstones and pumps are pretty inexpensive. If
you don't want to bother do a water change a day or two after
you are done treating(it should say that on the Kan instructions)
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marie6749
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Saturday,
July 21, 2001 - 06:05 pm
Here's a small update on my platies. I put the one with the
white spot in the QT tank. I had to order the Kanamycin on the internet
because neither pet store in my area had it, so sadly I am still
waiting to treat her. She seems alot happier in there though and
the white spot is not as noticeable. My male platy is a holy terror
on the two gals. Maybe I will get a few more females later on. I
emailed "ThatPetPlace" about the med. Tetra flakes and they
said that Tetra has discontinued them. I appreciate all your help.
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
July 21, 2001 - 07:30 pm
Marie if you think your platy is getting worse Badman does suggest
using Maracyin for fungus infections. If you go to the main board
and look under Medications you can find some alternates to the Kanamycin.
That one is just my choice since it works on more than one fungal
infectiona and I have had my fish tolerate it well on a number of
occassions over the years. The main board also lists some meds for
parasite control. I have never had fish in 5 years with parasites
except the ICH outbreak I had. I think fungal and bacteria infections
seem to be more common. Anyways if you are sure you have parasites
Jeff or Kick can probably better advise on that area. I would definately
increase your ratios of females to the male.I had a swordtail once
that drove his gals crazy! Good luck keep us posted maybe she just
needed a break.
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marie6749
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Saturday,
July 21, 2001 - 08:42 pm
I just checked on my order and it should be here Monday. Since I
put her in the QT tank, she has stopped clamping her fins and stopped
scratching. She seems to be acting fine now (except for the
white spot) So I think I am just going to wait for the Kanamycin
Monday. Thanks for the alternatives.
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Rose
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Sunday,
July 22, 2001 - 06:16 pm
Tetra is no longer makeing medicated flakes for anything. It wasn't
selling well enough to keep the line going. Just thought you might
like to know. Rose
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marie6749
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Monday,
July 23, 2001 - 08:19 pm
My platy is conspiring against me! As you all know, I had moved
her to the QT tank while I was waiting on the medicine to get here.
I came home today with the meds in hand excited that I was finally
going to get to treat her. Hmmmm... she's looking mighty thin
today. Yep, while I was at work she had a zillion babes in the QT
tank!!! Luckily I had another empty tank, set it up, going to put
her in there to treat her. If I get any more tanks, I'll be
moving the couch outside
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joycedonley
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Tuesday,
July 24, 2001 - 07:37 am
Congrats. That may have been why she was acting strange.Hopefully
you can get rid of the white spot and breed her again. How many
babies do you have or too many to count?
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Kick
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Tuesday,
July 24, 2001 - 08:42 am
Whoa marie, what a surprise! Instant motherhood. Congratulations
and good luck with the fry.
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marie6749
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Tuesday,
July 24, 2001 - 02:17 pm
I don't know how many babies I have yet. There is gravel and
a few plants in this tank and they are REALLY good at hiding 
I put her in the other tank and started the meds last night.
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marie6749
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Friday,
August 03, 2001 - 05:16 pm
Hello again everyone! Well, I decided to treat all the platies with
the kanacyn since they were clamping their fins and scratching.
I also fed them the Pepso food. I had to take the carbon out of
my filter and now my tank is cycling again ARGGHHH! I had put a
piece of sponge in my power filter to prevent this from happening,
maybe there wasn't enough beneficial bacteria in it yet. Anyway,
I am concerned about one platy, she is not eating and she looks
thin. I don't know if she's lost her appetite from the meds
or from the tank cycling again. Any ideas on what I might get her
to eat? Thank you all for your help!
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joycedonley
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Friday,
August 03, 2001 - 08:03 pm
Marie you can't force them to eat and if your tank is recycling
she maybe just can't stand the stress. About all I can suggest
is a small water change and hope for the best. Kanamycin never caused
my fish to lose appetities. Do some water tests for ammonia and
nitrites FIRST to see where your parameters are. That should also
let you know if the tank is cycling.
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marie6749
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Saturday,
August 04, 2001 - 10:04 am
Thanks Joyce. Here are my readings. Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0.5, Nitrate=5.0,
PH=7.2. I also have Aquarium salt in this tank at one tablespoon
per 5 gallon. Are these readings cause for alarm? When I change
the filter cartridge, I threw away most of my bacteria right? Do
you think I should get a filter with a biowheel or maybe add another
piece of sponge to my filter to prevent this from happening next
time? Thanks!
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
August 04, 2001 - 04:43 pm
Marie your readings aren't actually high yet, but keep an eye
on things. If you threw out ALL the media in your filter yes it
will recycle.The media needs to stay in the tank for about a month
to build up bacteria..if your piece of sponge wasn't in there
long enough the tank may still cycle for a bit. I really like my
biowheel. With the biowheel the wheel that spins(looks like
cardboard) has the good bacteria. You can remove cartridges
from biowheels as long as you keep the cardboard wheel with bacteria.You
will have to make the decision about treating the one platy. I wouldn't
treat them all again this soon and hate to even advise treating
the one again. If she doesn't perk up in a couple of days maybe
you should try the qt tank again. Just some fresh water in the qt
tank may help to revive her if your main tank does start cycling.
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marie6749
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Sunday,
August 05, 2001 - 12:34 am
ok, I'll keep an eye on the readings and on the one platy for
a few days and see what happens. The good news is that everyone
else seems very happy! The platy that had the white spot seems fine
and no more fin clamping or scratching.
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