# Can someone PLEASE give me an answer?? What happened to my Platy?!



## Luti-Kriss (Nov 18, 2009)

This is going to be a long post so please bare with me.

A little over two months ago I bought some Platys. And something really bizarre happened to one of them after a couple of weeks. It was one of my female Platys. When I bought her, she looked and acted perfectly healthy. Then one morning, I literally woke up and went over to the tank and found her stomach looking completely emaciated! And it was really weird because she looked perfectly fine the night before!

So at first I thought maybe she just gave birth. But her stomach never went back to normal. Now it's about two months later and I just found her dead in my tank after returning home. 

I want to know what the heck this was! I haven't been able to find anything! She acted perfectly healthy, just didn't look it. She swam around all day, her fins were never clamped up, would always eat when I fed all of them. Only strange thing was that I never actually did see her poop...

Then as of this past week she looked like she was getting even worse. Her scales started to look unhealthy. Her bottom fins were turning red for some reason. And the last symptom I found just yesterday, I saw a very dark spot that seemed to be inside her body. It was just behind her gills and above her pectoral fins. And I could see it from both sides of her body. 

Now it's too late for her because she's dead but I want to know, is this a parasite??? Because if it was then my other fish are most likely in danger because parasites leave the host once the host is dead!

Can someone PLEASE give me some kind of answer??? Please, and thank you!


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## PaulLamb (Nov 15, 2009)

It is possible that she did give birth and simply was not able to recover from the experience. In my recent research into livebearers, I have come across numerous accounts of female live-bearers "withering away" after giving birth until they eventually die, especially if it is their first "pregnancy". The accounts often mention changes in coloration, which also coincides with what you described.

However, I am in no way an expert on live-bearers, so it could very well be something else.


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## Luti-Kriss (Nov 18, 2009)

Hmm that kind of would make sense. But she didn't change colors at all until just the end of this week when her bottom fin turned red and her scales looked unhealthy. Her colors were always bright and vibrant before then. But it's something to think about I'll do some research


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

A concave (sunken) stomach can be a sign of internal parasites, the fish starves because worms in her gut eat all the food, but its usually a gradual process. PL is right that livebearers often have complications from pregnancy and whether fry survive or not,they can take internal damage that can kill them slowly. 

You never know if a dead fish is "just one of those things" or a sign of contagious disease until the second fish get sick. Sorry I can't be more help. Watch the other fish for sinking belles, for poop that is white or clear and/or wiggles or balls up (like a little poo pom pom). Clean up the gravel and check the waste water for movement. Look for signs of infections of all kinds as fish with one illness with often get others.


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## DavidAl (Nov 17, 2009)

Hi Luti-Kriss,

It could have been a number of things, but I would lean toward this being a parasitic condition. Organ failure and complications from past births could have played a role in this as well. It's a tough call, really. Did she by any chance develop a curved spine?

There's an internal parasite called Camallanus, which is a nematode, that can wreak havoc in a fish's intestinal track. A sure sign of Camallanus is a red anal area on the fish, and even worms protruding from the anus is not uncommon. You did not mention this so I doubt this was the issue.

A concave belly can also be indicative of fish TB, although I doubt his was the cause.

David


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## Luti-Kriss (Nov 18, 2009)

DavidAl said:


> Hi Luti-Kriss,
> 
> It could have been a number of things, but I would lean toward this being a parasitic condition. Organ failure and complications from past births could have played a role in this as well. It's a tough call, really. Did she by any chance develop a curved spine?
> 
> ...


Yeah. Well I dunno I actually came across that online but I didn't think it was the answer. Her spine didn't curve and her anal area didn't look red until a few days before she finally died. I'm just thinking it was probably round worms or something.


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## Luti-Kriss (Nov 18, 2009)

DavidAl said:


> Did she by any chance develop a curved spine?
> 
> There's an internal parasite called Camallanus, which is a nematode, that can wreak havoc in a fish's intestinal track. A sure sign of Camallanus is a red anal area on the fish, and even worms protruding from the anus is not uncommon. You did not mention this so I doubt this was the issue.


It's over 2 months later, and for some reason I came back to this thread and just now reread your post. I have some updates on this subject.

After my Platys death, I noticed the same exact symptoms in one of my Zebra Danios, only this time, the curved spine you were talking about appeared in him. It killed him after a couple of weeks. And it has continued to spread from fish to fish in my tank. Now I only have 4 left and 2 of them already have the sickness.

I really strongly think "Camallanus" is what is going around in there. All of my fish after my Platy have gotten all the same symptoms, a curving spine, and it only spreads to a new fish after the last fish that had it has died.

But yeah I just wanted to let you know. Thank you for your help, even though it is pretty much already too late for my tank. At least now I know what the heck it is.


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