platies occasionally rubbing themselves on the leaves of the amazon swords

[Rock]

hello, everyone. I am new to the hobby and have had the tank set up with fish int it for only a few months now. I have a 60 gallon tank populated with 13 Platies, 8 zebra danio, 6 oto cats, 1 dwarf gourami, and 8 glass shrimp.

The tank is planted with some amazon swords, a moss ball, dwarf baby tears, new zealand micro swords and some brown amd green algae. have some driftwood, petrified wood and a holey piece of limestone in there; the substrate is gravel that came with the tank second hand, and running a magnum 330 filter. Ph is around 7.5. No CO2 system dosing with flourish excel and potassium. Lighting is t8, 2 bulb overhead total to 72watt, 26000K.

I noticed the platies occasionally rubbing themselves on the leaves of the amazon swords. At first I thought this might be ick, but have not seen any white spots on them and they don't do it very often. I have not seen any of the other fish in the tank doing this.

I have lost a few of the platies to what looked like fin rot, and a couple of oto cat had also died. I originally had 5 and added 3 more about 2 weeks ago. I had read that it is common to lose a few?

Due to the fin rot like symptoms I decided to treating the entire tank with primafix and melafix. I am on day 5 of the treatment and the fish seem to be doing better overall, but the platies still occasionally rub themselves on plants, and often hang out at the top of the tank behind a power head? I vacuumed the gravel and did a partial water change then turned of the canister filter before starting the treatment.

how often do fish itch themselves when they have ick? is it common for them to do it otherwise?



Ph 7.5
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate ~15 ppm

[Mzungu]

Fish itch themselves when something is irritating them. It's usually because of a parasite or gill problems. Usually. Sometimes they just itch, but if you're seeing it happen often, it might be a sign of a problem.

I'm sure that with the tank being planted, you don't have any ammonia or nitrites, but have you checked just to be sure? Ammonia and other waste products are irritating to the gills of fish, and can cause irreparable damage.

What's the history of the platies? Were they used to cycle the tank?

I've noticed that lots of livebearers tend to hang at the top of the water a lot. Not sure why, but it's nothing to be alarmed about. :)

If you're not seeing any white spots, I think you're in the clear as far as ich goes.

Have the platies always done this? You mentioned you added a few more otos to the tank - did the platies start this "flashing" (itching) behavior after that, or had you seen it before adding new fish?

[Mzungu]

Oh, forgot to ask. When they're itching, do they seem to concentrate on itching their gill area? Or are they rubbing other parts of their bodies on the swords?

[PhishPhreek]

Velvet, Ich, flukes, anchor worm, Chilodonella, Costia

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm

FYI - Platties and other fish with their mouth on the top of their heads are surface feeders (insects) and search the surface for snacks.

Otocinclus are algae eaters usually captured wild. If they do not have access to algae while they are quaranteened & shipped the bacteria in their stomach will die, making it impossable for them to digest algae and even if they are fed algae, they starve to death.

[Rock]

I have an API test kit, for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. I had checked the water quality before starting the primafix and melafix treatment. I am using both because I had read that they work well together. I have not checked since.

I have an under gravel filter which I have been running while the canister filter has been off, it has a power head on it, so the water is being circulated/ aerated. I was not running the under gravel filter 24/7 while I had the canister filter going.

The platies were used to cycle the tank; prior to that they were in a 50 gallon community tank. They had been reproducing in that tank and I was given some of them. I had my tank running about a week with the canister filter before adding them. They had the tank to themselves for about 4 weeks; then I added 5 otocats and 4 glass shrimp. After another week I added the 8 zebra danios; a week later 4 dwarf gouramis. They all started fighting and now I have only one. A week or so later I added another 3 otocats and 4 glass shrimp a week later. After I added the last batch of otocats and glass shrimp I lost 3 of the platies in the course of 2 weeks to what looked like fin rot. The fish that died, all became less active and started sitting on the bottom of the tank, there fins got duller and the fish lost color. One of the platies that died was about full grown 2” the other two were smaller.

When the platies flash/itch they kind of barrel roll into the leaves of the Amazon Swords, but it looks as if they are trying for there gills/ face / front end. Usually only a few do this at a time, but it does seem like when one does another follows suit. I typically notice this behavior in the evening, when I am home, but it does not seem to be happening every day. The platies are all golden in color, and most are the same size so it’s hard to tell them apart. I don’t know if it’s the same fish doing this most of the time or not. Otherwise the fish are active, swim around the tank and chase each other around.

On a side note all the plants are doing well.

Tomorrow is the last day of treatment with the primafix and melafix. Afterwards I will be doing a partial water change, clean the gravel, test the water, and kick the canister filter back on. I will let you know how it goes.

[wesleydnunder]

You've had the filter turned off ther whole time during treatment? Do you have another filter running right now?

If the canister has been off and filled with water this whole time then it should be cleaned thoroghly before being put back into service. If this is the only filter on the tank then expect the tank to cycle, as you have very little beneficial bacteria in the tank now. I'd test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate before and after the water change to see how healthy the water is.

Mark

[Rock]

The canister filter has been turned off while I have been treating the tank. The under gravel filter has been running. I will clean out the canister before switching it back on and check the water quality today and see what the levels are like. I guess I should have been checking the water quality during the treatment.

I have been using “ammo-carb” active carbon/ammonia remover along with a filter pad in the canister filter. Should I be using some kind of ceramic media instead or in conjunction with this?
It is a magnum 330 canister filter.

[wesleydnunder]

If you have a properly functioning biofilter, then zeolyte (the white component of ammo-carb) is unnecessary. It actually works against you by starving your beneficial bacteria of food, in this case ammonia. Like carbon, zeolyte is quickly exhausted and becomes surface area for bacteria colonization and can be left in the filter once colonized as a bed for your beneficial bacteria.

Mark

[Rock]

I checked the water quality last night and it has remained at:
Ph 7.5
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate ~15 ppm

Today will be the last day of the primafix and melafix treatment. In the seven days now it seems that the fish have been doing better.

Thank for the help and advice guys.