# platys with ich?



## ruby716 (Feb 24, 2011)

Ugh! I think 2 of my platys have ich.. i have 3 platys, and i noticed that one of them had like 3 white spots on him but they were large.. i have heard that ich looks like salt on a fish, but this doesn't look like salt. he's acting normal, and not scratching himself on anything. however, now the female platy has a big white blotch on her head, but its not raised or anything, and doesnt have tiny white dots.. it looks like theyre skin is changing color basically... i have a 10 gallon, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, and p.h is 7.5, temperature is 77 degrees, and i have had this tank set up for 5 months..unfortunately i cant get a picture of them cuz its hard because theyre swimming around .. im gunna try though and i will post them tomorrow.. i use aquarium salt in my tank, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, so right now theres 2 tablespoons worth of salt in the tank since its a 10 gallon... should i just treat them as if they have ich even if i dont know its exactly ich though?


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

Have you put any new fish in the tank recently? How many fish are in the tank? What kinds? Any other recent changes to the tank?


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

How often do you change the water and how much do you change out? Do you have any live plants in this tank? With you having no nitrates it makes me wonder if your tank is cycled? How often do you check the levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Also what type of test kit are you using, are you using a liquid test kit like API master test kit, or are you using the stick tests? If you are able to post pictures that will help. Also in the tropical fish disease section there is a thread on freshwater and saltwater diseases. You might want to look through these and see if anything matches up with what you are noticing with your fish.


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## ruby716 (Feb 24, 2011)

ladayen said:


> Have you put any new fish in the tank recently? How many fish are in the tank? What kinds? Any other recent changes to the tank?




i have 3 platys, 2 males and 1 female, 2 bamboo shrimp and a few snails.. but the only fish i have are 3 platys.. no i havent put any new fish in there recently.. no other recently changes at all.. i recently added the snails and bamboo shrimp thats it


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## ruby716 (Feb 24, 2011)

BarbH said:


> How often do you change the water and how much do you change out? Do you have any live plants in this tank? With you having no nitrates it makes me wonder if your tank is cycled? How often do you check the levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Also what type of test kit are you using, are you using a liquid test kit like API master test kit, or are you using the stick tests? If you are able to post pictures that will help. Also in the tropical fish disease section there is a thread on freshwater and saltwater diseases. You might want to look through these and see if anything matches up with what you are noticing with your fish.



i change the water about twice a week, and i change 2 gallons each time i change it.. i have 1 live plant.. my tank is defnitely cycled because my ammonia spiked in the beginning, and them my nitrites, and then they went down.. now all my readings are 0.. i check ammonia and nitrite once a week, and i use the api liquid master test kit... im going to try and get a picture up, its just hard cuz they swim really fast and the picture comes out blurry.


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## Beaches (May 28, 2011)

ruby716 said:


> i use aquarium salt in my tank, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, so right now theres 2 tablespoons worth of salt in the tank since its a 10 gallon... should i just treat them as if they have ich even if i dont know its exactly ich though?


If you are using salt on a permanent basis in the tank, I would stop using it. Livebearers do not need salt, they are freshwater fish and it can end up being detrimental if used on a long term basis.

I would not treat for Ich unless it was Ich and it doesn't sound like it.


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## ruby716 (Feb 24, 2011)

Beaches said:


> If you are using salt on a permanent basis in the tank, I would stop using it. Livebearers do not need salt, they are freshwater fish and it can end up being detrimental if used on a long term basis.
> 
> I would not treat for Ich unless it was Ich and it doesn't sound like it.




Well I heard that adding some aquarium salt to the water if you have platys is good and that it wont due them no harm... here is a picture that i took of the fish and you can see the white marks really good on him


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## Beaches (May 28, 2011)

*I apologise for the long post.....*

Thanks for the pic. ruby...that definitely isn't Ich! It could possibly be the start of columnaris (bacterial infection), or from water quality issues, diet/lack of various vitamins/minerals, missing scales from flashing or fighting, stress...it could be due to many things. It is a bit of a concern that you are not showing any readings of Nitrate, but usually means that your tank hasn't cycled, unless you have a heavily planted tank and the plants are absorbing all the nitrates.

In relation to the salt issue.....May I say that this is a myth that keeps being perpetuated and in all honesty, Livebearers do not need salt, it has been scientifically proven, so it isn't just me stating my opinion. It is only believed so, because in the wild these fish often travel between the different water types. Apart from a published article by Dr. Ted Coletti, there are two other posts/articles that I have come across that give the best explanations/reasons as to why "Salt is not needed by Livebearers". The first quote (from a member on other forum), I stumbled upon while researching a long time ago and the second quote is by Byron, one of the Moderators here. The context/reasoning/facts are similar in both quotes....I do hope you will read them. 



> *By SaltwaterAddict:* The following statements are not merely the opinion of this hobbyist, they are founded in scientific fact.
> 
> 1. The first idea that I'd like to deal with is the ideal of "Relief of Osmotic stress." This is an idea that is not entirely a myth, however it is often presented as a blanket statement and that is where the myth arrives. For fish that come from environments that have 0 salt (aka, most captive bred fish) the addition of salt does nothing to relieve osmotic stress, it creates it. For wild caught fish that come from brackish environments or environments where there a trace amount of salt can be found, the addition of a very small amount of salt will help with osmotic stress.
> 
> ...





> *By Byron:* I along with many other members do not recommend the use of salt in any freshwater aquarium. While livebearers can "tolerate" it, many other fish cannot to varying degrees, and none need it. And while using it previously may not have appeared to have done harm, you cannot know what may have been done internally to the fish. I have researched the topic previously, and will copy my synopsis below which I think will explain the scientific position.
> 
> Salt is detrimental to freshwater fish and plants in varying degrees. To understand why, we must understand what salt does in water.
> 
> ...


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