platy bully.

Little-Fizz

Ok, so I have these platies in my 20 gallon. Two males and three females. I guess two males is to much, and Claudio keeps chasing and beating up Cedric. So I figured if I took Claudio out of that tank and let the serpae tetras have a go at him (They didn't) Then when I reintroduced him he wouldn't constantly attack Cedric. Apparently I was wrong, because hes been back in the tank for a day and a half and he is at it again.

But now it seems that Cedric has been injured, or has some fungus starting on his upper lip. What do you guys think? I have some API fungus cure, melafix... And I think thats all I have that would help for fungus.

Little-Fizz

Anyone? Cedric doesn't seem well, in addition it looks almost like an ich spot is on his lip too. I just bought him a coconut to hide in but he hasn't discovered it yet hah. But yeah, anyone want to help me out a bit here?

bettababy

What I see in the photo, which is not very clear and based on your description... is what looks to be a possible infected injury or possible mouth fungus.

Do you have a quarantine tank set up? How big is this tank? How many fish total in the tank? Anything besides Platy in the tank? Live plants?

Can you post your water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH? It's not safe to medicate without knowing first what the water quality is, so at this point I would say to get the info here and just sit tight a bit longer and wait. Get that fish into quarantine if possible in the mean time.

What kind of filter are you running? What is the water temp? Are you using water conditioner? Any other additives?

The more info you can provide about your tank, the fish, symptoms, etc the faster we can help.

Little-Fizz

Its a 20 gallon, ammonia 0ppm nitrites 0ppm and nitrates 20ppm. There are 5 platys, 2 ADFs, and 1 cory cat. I'm running a topfin 60 on it. Water temp is 78, yes I use water conditioner, and no the only thing I've added to this tank so far is melafix.

I do have a QT and I do kind of want to set it up for him (although I do not have a cycled filter yet) And the heater I have for it is sketchy, its like "hotter" on one end of the knob and "cooler" on the other side. I've used it before and it worked alright I just don't trust it.
I have a few live plants now, and I've added ferts once.

I haven't tested the pH yet, I'll do that, I imagine its the same as my other tank 7.4 or something, but I will recheck. This was a while ago and it hasn't gotten worse, only a little better though, his top lip is not so white but he still has the little ball ich looking thing there.

Thanks for the reply by the way :)

I tested the pH and it was slightly lighter then 7.6 so I'm going with my original guess of 7.4.

bettababy

I will suggest using the quarantine tank and completing the current treatment. If at the end of that treatment there is still a problem, let me know and I can suggest something a little more appropriate, but again, I would strongly suggest doing so in a quarantine tank.

I will then suggest you give some thought to keeping those 2 fish separated from each other. The average/healthy ratio for livebearing fish is 2 or more females for each male. This is primarily due to their breeding habits. At times there are just "incompatible fish" be it 2 males, 2 females, or one of each.
Good Luck

Little-Fizz

Should I do the QT even if I don't have a filter ready for it? Wouldn't that cause stress on him? I have cycle I could add to the tank...

About the aggression, I have three more female platys in my ten gallon, do you think if I moved them to this tank the boys wouldn't fight so much?

willow

can you not swap any filter media from another tank into the QT one.

Little-Fizz

I don't think any of my filter media would fit into my aquaclear, the one I have set aside for my QT. I have sponges for media in that one. But I do have a regent 5-15 filter running on my 28 gallon That would probably work for my QT (I don't know why I didn't think of this before). I'll give that a go, thanks guys.

bettababy

You can also borrow some gravel from an existing tank, put it into a nylon stocking or fine mesh bag and lay that either into the new filter or just into the QT tank for a couple of wks.
Small, 10% daily water changes (just water from the top of the tank) will also help keep the fish safe through cycling.

As for putting the other females into the 20 gallon... if you're willing to do the extra water changes you can attempt it once this fish is well, but that may not resolve the problem. Males don't often fight over females, they more fight for territory. Extra plants and decorations at all levels of the tank (lower, middle, upper) may help too. Just be prepared to separate the fish again if these ideas don't work.

Little-Fizz

Well my tanks not even finished being stocked and I plan on redecorating and getting way more live plants and caves and stuff. So I'll move this little buddy to a QT and then once hes feeling better I'll try again after I've changed the look of the tank.

Thanks again.