# 'Pintail' rears its head again.



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

yesterday I see one 3 month old platy fry with a clamped tail. Today there are 3 with clamped tails. The one fish is tearing around like a firecracker has gotten into it.
I have added some salt to the water as well as some prazipro.
I cannot find any articles on the internet about this but I know there have been some before. Whereever they have disappeared to is a mystery to me.
I had this problem over a year ago with a tank ful of fry and found it was flukes. I had to treat for 3 months to get it cleared up.
In the meantime I have raised several more tanks of guppies with no problems and now this again.
i am very annoyed -- Where did it come from again?
There is nothing new added to the tank, and why would it rear its ugly head now the fry are 3 months old?
WhAT OTHER CAUSE IS THERE FOR PIN TAIL?
WATER CONDITIONS ARE SPOT ON AND THE TANK IS CLEANED 25% WEEKLY.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Try asking your question here http://aquauniverse.org/smf/index.php many of the knowledgeable fish folks have migrated there since they won't fix the chat here.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

thanks for the link.
I did a massive water change today , I have a gut feeling that it is not flukes but something else. None of the guppies are affected like before in 2009.
I checked the nitrates to double check-- I always check the ammonia and nitrites. To my shock they were 0 also. Last week I used the Prime in the tank and I know that adds bacteria that remove nitrates but I thought perhaps they would have worn off bynow as they often have in other tanks.
And to make sure that the test kit was working I checked the tank next to it and it registered over 30 for nitrates so I know the kit is good.
I have had other fry tank with 0,0,0 I do keep a lot of plants in the tank especially java moss. Perhaps it is a good ammonia eater.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

There is no bacteria in Prime. It claims to "detoxify nitrates", but may be chemically reducing them or complexing them. Plants can sponge up nitrates. 

You are right to test the test. A 0 always makes me suspicious because when nitrate tests go bad, thats what you get, always 0. 

The things I would try next, salt, or Clout, maybe Potassium Permanganate. Would likely kill your plants. Do you see any improvement with the Prazi?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

ha, you are right about the prime-- I should have said Stability!!- another seachem product.
I see improvement in 2 of the little fish but not in the bigger one. it is swimming in an awkward manner with a bit of a bend in its tail. It twitches all over at times too.
I did have some males a few generations back that developed twitches at about 6-9 months. They would clamp their tails and laid on the bottom of the tank. They would come to eat but would sink down again. treating for parasites did not make any difference there either.I wonder if it is a genetic problem. Frustrating all round as the rest of the fry seem ok and there are about 50 in a ten gallon tank.
I ahve salted them also.
Since we have high ph and high alkalinity i would not think there was a mineral deficit but i don't know much about that topic.


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