# Platy with bloated belly and a reddish patch, staying at the top of the tank.



## Nauriel (Nov 9, 2008)

Hello. I have a grey and blue female platy in my ten gallon tank that I am worried about. She is staying at the top of the tank. Her belly is bloated and there seems to be a reddish patch on it. She's breathing a bit heavy, but her fins are fully out. She also doesn't have any buoyancy issues: she can swim to the bottom just fine. She's also not eating. I have three hypotheses on what it could be. 

1) She's pregnant. I also have an orange male platy, and her belly looks a lot like a pregnant platy's baby. However, I don't think that being pregnant would stop her from eating and cause her to hang out at the surface. Also, I don't think the babies would have enough color to change the female's belly color. 

2)Internal bleeding. The reddish patch on her belly, to my untrained eye, looks like it could be internal bleeding.

3)Constipation: The reddish color on her belly is close to the color of her poop. She also isn't eating, which may back up this hypothesis. 

I have a ten gallon tank that is kept at 80 degrees. 
The water is changed once a week (about 30-50% of the water taken out, and the gravel siphoned)
The ammonia levels are fine, but I haven't been able to get the water tested for anything else
The other two fish (One male platy and one betta) are both fine. 
The symptoms started about a week ago. 

Any advice you can give me would be very helpful.


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## iamgray (Jul 16, 2010)

Nauriel said:


> Hello. I have a grey and blue female platy in my ten gallon tank that I am worried about. She is staying at the top of the tank. Her belly is bloated and there seems to be a reddish patch on it. She's breathing a bit heavy, but her fins are fully out. She also doesn't have any buoyancy issues: she can swim to the bottom just fine. She's also not eating. I have three hypotheses on what it could be.
> 
> 1) She's pregnant. I also have an orange male platy, and her belly looks a lot like a pregnant platy's baby. However, I don't think that being pregnant would stop her from eating and cause her to hang out at the surface. Also, I don't think the babies would have enough color to change the female's belly color.
> 
> ...


I am 99% sure that she's pregnant, and probably very close to giving birth. The babies definitely DO change the female's belly colour. It is described as a "gravid spot" and as she gets closer to dropping the fry, you will see the fry's eyes through her skin. They will look like a small black dot with a yellow circle around it, pressed up against her belly from the inside. When the female is ready to give birth, that area of her body will drop and make her look kind of boxy. And she also will usually float near the top or near the heater, and won't eat, when she is VERY close to giving birth.


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## Nauriel (Nov 9, 2008)

Thanks for your input, but there's been a development that leads me to believe the platy is sick, not pregnant. The red patch on her belly has grown and darkened a bit, and extends up one side more than the other. Also, the scales on her belly have pine coned. If you look straight down at her, those scales are fine, but from a side view you can clearly see that the scales on her belly are coming up. I'm thinking this might be dropsy. 

I'll try to get some pictures up so you can see what I'm describing.


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## iamgray (Jul 16, 2010)

Aw, that's too bad...  

Sorry I couldn't/can't be of much more help, as I've never seen dropsy in real life before.


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## Bluebirdnanny (Oct 1, 2010)

How is she now? Acting more like illness or did you loose her? Or perhaps the better scenario and you have fry now?


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

> How is she now? Acting more like illness or did you loose her? Or perhaps the better scenario and you have fry now?



She has the camalanus parasite
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/tropical-fish-diseases/emergency-platy-had-baby-came-out-54639/


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## Bluebirdnanny (Oct 1, 2010)

Is she getting better? Did you lose her? Did you treat whole tank to help other inhabitants?


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