One of my platy's seems to have been struck with a mystery illness.These are the symptoms : it (i think it's male) keep pointing his head upwards, like vertically & he seems to have a white stripe on his back fin (i'm not sure if this is a symptom but i've never noticed it before) he tried to swim normally if he's disturbed but keeps standing back up on his tail.
the only thing i can think of is it could be a swimbladder problem...does anybody else know what it could be? he's only started doing this today...
thanks :)

I'm sorry. This doesn't sound too good. Maybe it's a swim bladder problems and once that arises forget it. All I can suggest is to obviously check you water parameters, do water changes and maybe give him a bit of aquarium salt. A good site to check http://www.fishforums.net/

here is the A-Z fish disease section
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=59440

eta: dropsy maybe?
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&showtopic=59440&view=findpost&p=498241

I'm guessing it's not a swim bladder disease and the fish is not swimming right due to illness since there's other symptoms.

As for a white stripe....if it's a cottony growth could be fungus.

Could be bacterial disease?.. and actually if it doesn't look like fungus, I'd take my chances and treat it like bacterial disease.

Thanks for your replies.As i wasn't sure what to treat it as, i added some aqaurium salt to the water & this morning he isn't swimming vertically but is kind of hanging around the bottom of the tank - i'm not sure if that's better or not.He's still eating.Shall i treat it as internal bacteria?

Anytime my fish just aren't acting right, but I can't figure out what is wrong with them I try one of the tea tree oil products they have on the market. They're pretty good against mild cases of just about everything, so sometimes they help, and even if they don't it gives you something to do until more definitive symptoms show up.

Thanks belovedtree...are teatree products available in petshops? (i'm in the uk, so i'm not sure if they sell it over here)

OH NO! i've just checked the little platy & he now has streaks of blood on his tail fin! does anyone know what this could be? i'm really worried!!

Ok this is a more definate symptom. Yeah I think I'd go with internal bacteria infection. Sounds like it might be septicemia.

Can't remember if you'd need gram negative or positive meds to treat that but you could just go by the list of diseases a med treats.

Sounds like something in the fish's enviromental is causing some major stress or the fish is new if that's the case. So you'd have to check basic stuff at the same time.

I was thinking it might be septicemia too Eclipse, i've quarantined him & he's being treated with aquarium salt & internal bacteria solution.I believe he may be the platy who was getting some stick off one of the other platy's so that could have stressed him out.Thanks for your replies.Just have to keep my fingers crossed now :)

Beepingbird, I don't know what brands they have in the UK but here the most widely available tea tree oil product is called melafix, it's in every pet store, walmart, etc. though I doubt it will help in this case it might be good to throw some in the main tank in case whatever the platy has is contagious. I've never dealt w/ those symptoms so I can't help you w/ a diagnosis. I hope your little guy/gal gets better!

Thanks beloved tree :) I've noticed a small cottonwool growth on one of his fins - but i think the aquarium salt will help get rid of that, my guess is it's more important to deal with the septicemia.The stuff i'm using is called interpet anti internal bacteria.I had another look in the petshop today to see if there was any other treatments that may help him but that was the only one i could find.I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.thanks again belovedtree :)

got some questions for you...1. is this a community tank? 2. How long have you had him?
3. Is the tank an older tank (established) or new (out of the box less than a month or two old)
Did you recently add new fish? You may want to treat the other fish proactivly. If it is an older tank I would suggest tearing the filter apart and replacing the filtration medium. (Like cotton batting or spinge like stuff?) It should be replaced and if you have a biowheel I'd replace that too.

1.yes it is a community tank 2. i've had him for about 2 months. 3.the tank has been set up for about 3months.
I haven't added any new fish recently & i replaced the filter pads yesterday.
I'm treating the other fish just incase.
Hope that's all the answers you need keenkitty :)

Just a heads up that you don't want to mix medications unless it says so. Which means it helps to buy meds of the same brand.

The internal bacteria solution says it can be used with aqaurium salt.Thanks eclipse :)

Sounds like you are doing everything that you should

Good luck keep us posted!

:D

Thanks keenkitty :)
Just a quick update,he's hanging on, he's lost part of his tail fin (he must've had finrot) but there is definately less blood streaks in his fins.I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, one day i think he looks better,the next i'm not so sure.If he does make it though, i'm going to buy him his own little tank, seeing as this all came about by him getting bullied.
Just have to keep my fingers crossed :)

P.S I treated the rest of my fish with melafix, as you advised belovedtree.

Fins grow back as long as it isn't lost from the "tail root" area/all the way down to the base of the tail.

Not sure setting up a tank with a single platy sounds like a good idea, got another platy to put in?. I don't think a platy is a solitary species.

Not sure setting up a tank with a single platy sounds like a good idea, got another platy to put in?. I don't think a platy is a solitary species.
If he does make it & we get him his own little tank, i'll put my two little orange platy's with him - they're really placid so he'll be fine with them :)

Is the fish better?

Is the fish better?
Well he's still in his hospital tank but he looks way better than what he did.The blood streaks are almost completely gone & the fin rot seems to have stopped.He still doesn't look 100% but i think we're getting there slowly.Fingers crossed :)
Thanks for asking keenkitty :)