# Platy female getting skinny



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Hello guys, I have a question.

I have a female platy, it's orange with fins and the lips black. Since a swordtail platy male died a week ago, it started to miss the appetite and it became skinny. The other fishes (1 lyra molly, 1 swordtail female and 2 more mickey mouse platies) are doing fine and are basically eating both the flakes as well as the tetracolor granules I have.

I don't have any water tester .. I'm just at the beginning but the tank is running for about 2 months. It's a 15G tank and I do a 25% weekly water change.

Can you figure out what could trigger this behavior? 

Thanks


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## mihaelb (Feb 11, 2009)

george said:


> Hello guys, I have a question.
> 
> I have a female platy, it's orange with fins and the lips black. Since a swordtail platy male died a week ago, it started to miss the appetite and it became skinny. The other fishes (1 lyra molly, 1 swordtail female and 2 more mickey mouse platies) are doing fine and are basically eating both the flakes as well as the tetracolor granules I have.
> 
> ...


could be internal parasites, but it's hard to tell unless there's other behavior. I'll leave the diagnosing to someone else on here. For now, I'd isolate the platy in question in a separate tank, if you have it.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Sounds like Camallanus.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

I added i tbsp of salt into the water and also a tablet of jungle parasite clean which contains praziquantel.

Hope this will help her. For how much time should I continue the treatment?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

If you are using the Jungle, the dose is 1 tablet for 10 gallons. Three doses total, with a day in between each, along with a water change as on the package directions.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

prod ameekplec. he's ordering medication to fight callamanus. Which is pretty seriuos slag.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I'd take a step back and check your water quality.

Check your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates. 

Check your temperature.

What kind of filtration are you using?

These are typically the causes for 99% of fish deaths/illness.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

For filtration I use a Elite 20. Regarding the water testers... are pretty expensive ... I found something with vials (for 20 tests around $30) and some bands (for 25 tests with $20). What would you recommend?

The fish is dead but I managed to get it out of the tank 1h after it died ... the others are fine .. so strange signs ...


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Not sure what others would recommend, but I use the aquarium pharmaceuticals ammonia/nitrite ones.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Where could I find these and that brand?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

At your local pet store no doubt! I probably got mine at Menagerie.


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

George, the all-in-one (5 in one) dip-strips from API will do everything but ammonia, and then get the colorimetric liquid test for ammonia. Whatever your LFS carries, is fine for the liquid ammonia test. 

I recommend it this way, because you need to test for ammonia most often, it's the most toxic thing we're checking for, and and daily dip-strip testing for ammonia can get you spending a lot of coin, so stick with the liquids on that one.

If your tank has been running for a long time, you can just test it weekly BEFORE your water changes. If you've had any trouble, stay on high alert and check for ammonia daily.

No use playing with meds if you're not even checking your water quality.

W


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

What do you guys think of the "Continuous" (submersed) color-strip ammonia indicators? I've been using them in a few of my tanks for a year now, and I find they last almost a full year in my tanks. They have shown very low (but non-zero) ammonia amounts that I would have missed seeing using other techniques. I have seen 0.1 and 0.05 ppm values register as a color shift on these strips, whereas these levels were "invisible" to the dip-strip and liquid drip colorimetric ammonia tests.

Warren


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