# Two White Dots on Adult Platy Tail, Platy Fry with Red/Bloated Tail and White Fuzz



## BlueDreamer (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting here, but I've been a lurker for a long time. You all seem very knowledgeable, and I was hoping that someone could help me identify what is wrong with my Platy and Platy fry. I don't expect the baby to make it, but I want to prevent his tank mates from suffering the same problems. I'm also wondering if his sickness is related to my adult Platy's sickness.


1. Size of tank? - *10 gallons*

2. Water parameters - *All of the following except for ammonia are from two weeks ago when I used the last of my strip kit. I have since done a 20% water change (about a week ago). I'll get another kit tomorrow and double check all of these.*
a. Ammonia? - *0*
b. Nitrite? - *0*
c. Nitrate? - *20-ish*
d. pH, KH and GH? - *PH is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8. I do not know what my KH and GH are.*
e. Test kit? - *API Ammonia Test Kit, Tetra Strip Kit for the rest.*

3. Temperature? - *79 degrees mostly, though it can get hotter during the day when I'm not home to turn on my air conditioner. *

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? - *Freshwater*

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? - *About six months*

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? - *Three female Platys, two African Dwarf Frogs, one Ghost Shrimp, and four Platy fry (in a breeder net). One Platy fry is an an inch and the other three are under half an inch. I've had them all for about six months.
* 
7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? -* No, I don't own a quarantine tank. I got all my current Platys in one batch, then my frogs soon after. I bought another Platy about a month ago, but she was really lethargic and died two days after I bought her.*

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? - *One Amazon Sword, three Anubias Nanas, and one Marimo Moss Ball.*
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? -* Gravel*
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? - *No rocks or hollow decors. There is one medium-sized piece of Mopani wood and a Greek statue and matching columns from Petsmart.*

9. a. Filtration? - *AquaClear 20 set to lowest gph.*
b. Heater? -* Fluval Submersible Heater (50 watts) *
10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? -* I don't use any lights.*
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? -* Indirect lighting from my window all day long.*

11. a. Water change schedule?- *Erratic. Between one and three times a week.*
b. Volume of water changed? - *10-20% (1-2 gallons)*
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? - *City water*
d. Water conditioner used? - *Prime*
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? -* Every time I change the water (One to three times a week).* *Though I must note that my breeder net does have some debris on the bottom that I can't seem to remove without sucking up my fry in the process. *

12. Foods? -* Omega One Veggie Flakes, API Tropical Flakes, Frozen Bloodworms (every other day).*
How often are they fed? - *Two to three times a day*

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? - *Yesterday night I noticed that one of my adult female Platys has two white spots on her tail. There is one in the exact same location on each side. They protrude a little, but I can't tell if they're fuzzy or hairy or anything. The one on her left side appears to be a short white streak, and the one on her right side looks kid of like a raised white scale. She seems perfectly normal and continues to be a little pig. I want her to stay like that. :sad: She's my favorite fish. Do you think it could be an injury? Or maybe a parasite? I really am at a loss. I want to identify it as soon as possible so I can know if I need to acquire a certain medication or set up a quarantine tank.

My male Platy fry is a mess. Yesterday he seemed fine and was eating with his three siblings in their breeder net. I did notice that the base of his tail looked a bit odd though. Almost fat? But I didn't think much about it because I was worried about my adult Platy. Today I found him lying at the bottom of the breeder net trying (and failing) to swim. I fished him out with a measuring cup and put him into one of those Betta cups so that I could see him and prevent his "buddies" from eating his fins. His abdomen/tail base is even more bloated them it was yesterday and is now a terrible red color. His anal fin is also bright red. In the right light I can barely see a white fuzz covering the area that is red. He can't really swim and just now started doing this weird thing where he tries to swim backwards. I feel so bad for the poor baby. Should I leave him in the Betta cup or put him back in the breeder net? I have no way to set anything else up for him today or tomorrow. Also, I've found a couple of dead fry before but didn't think much of it, but one of them **(that died about a month or two ago) looked similar to my fry that is currently sick, but I didn't think about it a lot because I thought he was decomposing or something.*
*
Any suggestions on what could be wrong with my two fish? Are their illnesses perhaps connected? I would greatly appreciate any help. 

* b. Appearance of poop? - *Seems normal for the adult. Haven't seen any from the fry.*
c. Appearance of gills? - *Normal as far as I can tell, but the baby is so tiny that I wouldn't really know if something was wrong.*

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? - *No*

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.


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## bigvince (Apr 13, 2012)

I have had the white fuzz on my fish I have lost a large 8 inch jack demp male two fire mouth happs and a rapheal catfish the haps and catfish also had bloated stomachs the fuzz is a type of fungus i have a 75 gal tank all cichlids inside i have used many medicines with no positive outcome but just recently i saved my fish here is how 

I came up with "cotton wool" disease and malawi bloat possible siccnes names and the treat ment i used is 
pima-fix and mela-fix regement i have my whole ordeal on another forum does my hap flameback have ich? its not super long but it may help you i also raised the temp of tank and added salt this stuff worked after 3 days goodluck


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Temperature is too warm for frog's and platy's who would be much more comfortable at 74 to 75 
degree's F.
Might perform twice weekly water change of no less than three gallon's and feed the fishes/frog's once a day and see if condition improves.
If water does indeed get warmer than the 79 degree's you posted,this will be stressful and could be conrtibuter to fish becoming sick.
I am not aware of any useful medication's that could be used with frog's but if they were moved,,then Quick Cure at half dose considering fry would maybe be my choice if condition did not improve with above suggestion's.
It is formalin,Malachite green, and has worked well for me with external parasites(Ich) and mild fungus problem's. 

Disclaimer..I am no expert on fish illness or disease, and advice I offer is based solely on my own expieriences.


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## BlueDreamer (Jun 28, 2012)

Thank you for the advice, bigvince and 1077. I will go today and get some Pimafix and Melafix for my fish. I think that I'll buy a 5 gallon to keep my frogs and shrimp in and do a 50% water change for them every day until I can put them back in their big tank. (I'll have to keep a super sharp eye on their ammonia...otherwise I'll have sick frogs and a dead shrimp on my hands too.) That way I can use salt in my Platys' tank. I'll keep the heat high as it is now to help fight whatever my Platy has, but I'll lower it after they get better. (Thanks 1077! I didn't realize that 79 was too warm. I'll put a fan or something in my room to keep the temp down constantly.)

I'm thinking that I'll dose my whole aquarium. My other fish probably have whatever it is that my red Platy has anyway. Will the melafix, primafix, salt treatment be dangerous to the three fry I have? One is practically an adult. Would it be better to move my red Platy to some kind of quarantine tank, even though it won't be cycled? I don't need to worry about my sick baby, he died last night. I'm posting a pic, as you can better see the fuzz on him. While watching him, I also saw a tiny little white thing moving around on the plastic of the betta cup near his body. It was thin and long, but not worm long. It moved like a bug. I caught it in the picture and drew a red circle around it. You still probably won't see it though...

Anyway, thanks again for the help. I really appreciate it. Thanks also to anybody who simply read about my problem, even if they weren't able to offer any advise.


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## BlueDreamer (Jun 28, 2012)

Quick question, will the Melafix and Primafix treatment wipe out my cycle? Because I was also researching some medications called Nitrofurazone and Kanamycin which are supposed to "not adversely affect the filter bed." Also, a lot of people seem to have success with Quick Cure, like 1077 recommended, but most of them seemed to have Ick, which I'm pretty sure I don't. Would Formalin and Malachite Green be effective against whatever I have? I'm so confused...and I don't have any experience with this kind of thing. Or medicine in general.


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## bigvince (Apr 13, 2012)

blue dreamer i am not sure if it affects the bed 
do you have any updates ?
I did the flix i didt notice any other issues its been about a week and the fish seem more active and healthy


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