Platy babies! (and a bunch of questions)

[Eric Ortega]

I moved a platy with some sort of infection in one of her gills into a
one-gallon hospital tank to treat her with Mardel's Maroxy. Since the
infection is a white filamentous mass in her gill I assumed it
was a fungus. She's on her 5th day of treatment with no signs of the
fungus, if that's what it is, going away. The bottle says to only treat
for five days, so I guess I'm going to discontinue using it.

What else could a white infection in the gills be? I read online it could
be a mold, but that molds usually only occur when the water is poor. The
water in the 10g tank she's typically in is clean and changed regularly.

Now, while she was in the 1g hospital tank she decided to have babies!
I've had four platies for a couple of months now and none of them have
ever birthed before, so it's a bit of a stroke of luck that she was all on
her own or else they would have all been eaten (probably) by the other
fish in her home tank. Now that I have them all conveniently located in a
1g tank, though, it seems pretty ideal to feed them and see what happens.

They all have what look like yolk sacs so I guess they'll have a bit of
food for a while. I don't know what to feed them in the future, though.
Any suggestions?

Also, will the mother platy eat them? Does she need to be moved back into
her home tank even though she has an infection in a gill? Should I get
yet another 1 gallon tank and move her into that to continue a different
kind of treatment?

Any tips would be highly appreciated. Thanks.


BTW, I posted up some pics here:

http://splot.org/~eto/hamburger_mesa/story/2005/10/13/124337/33


If anyone would care for me to try and photograph her infection to help
diagnose her I can try do so.

[Elaine T]

Eric Ortega wrote:
> I moved a platy with some sort of infection in one of her gills into a
> one-gallon hospital tank to treat her with Mardel's Maroxy. Since the
> infection is a white filamentous mass in her gill I assumed it
> was a fungus. She's on her 5th day of treatment with no signs of the
> fungus, if that's what it is, going away. The bottle says to only treat
> for five days, so I guess I'm going to discontinue using it.
>
> What else could a white infection in the gills be? I read online it could
> be a mold, but that molds usually only occur when the water is poor. The
> water in the 10g tank she's typically in is clean and changed regularly.

It could be Flexibacter ("mouth fungus" or columnaris). Treat with
oxytetracycline or a proprietary fungus medicine that includes an
antibiotic.

> Now, while she was in the 1g hospital tank she decided to have babies!
> I've had four platies for a couple of months now and none of them have
> ever birthed before, so it's a bit of a stroke of luck that she was all on
> her own or else they would have all been eaten (probably) by the other
> fish in her home tank. Now that I have them all conveniently located in a
> 1g tank, though, it seems pretty ideal to feed them and see what happens.
>
> They all have what look like yolk sacs so I guess they'll have a bit of
> food for a while. I don't know what to feed them in the future, though.
> Any suggestions?

Live bearer babies do not have yolk sacs. They use the yolk up inside
the mother and are born ready to begin foraging for food within hours.
Feed finely powdered flake food or baby brine shrimp (my LFS has them
frozen) to start.

> Also, will the mother platy eat them? Does she need to be moved back into
> her home tank even though she has an infection in a gill? Should I get
> yet another 1 gallon tank and move her into that to continue a different
> kind of treatment?

If the problem is Flexibacter, it can be quite contagious. True fungus
is not. You can give the babies fine-leafed plants or a shredded
plastic pot scrubber (a new one) to hide in if you like, or put them in
a floating breeding trap. However, live bearer babies are sensitive to
water quality and they're not likely to survive quarantine tank
conditions. I think it would be best if you focus on the mother and
worry about the next batch of babies - they'll be along a month from now.

> Any tips would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
>
>
> BTW, I posted up some pics here:
>
> http://splot.org/~eto/hamburger_mesa/story/2005/10/13/124337/33
>
>
> If anyone would care for me to try and photograph her infection to help
> diagnose her I can try do so.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[Eric Ortega]

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:33:11 +0000, Elaine T wrote:

> Eric Ortega wrote:
>> What else could a white infection in the gills be? I read online it could
>> be a mold, but that molds usually only occur when the water is poor. The
>> water in the 10g tank she's typically in is clean and changed regularly.
>
> It could be Flexibacter ("mouth fungus" or columnaris). Treat with
> oxytetracycline or a proprietary fungus medicine that includes an
> antibiotic.

Okeedoke, thanks.


>> They all have what look like yolk sacs so I guess they'll have a bit of
>> food for a while. I don't know what to feed them in the future, though.
>> Any suggestions?
>
> Live bearer babies do not have yolk sacs. They use the yolk up inside
> the mother and are born ready to begin foraging for food within hours.
> Feed finely powdered flake food or baby brine shrimp (my LFS has them
> frozen) to start.

Oh, I guess what I took to be yolk sacks are just them being fat like
their mother.

There are a ton of them. It's almost creepy. Most of them swim around or
at least wiggle a bit, but there appear to be some dead, or VERY LAZY,
ones. Is this common?


>> Also, will the mother platy eat them? Does she need to be moved back into
>> her home tank even though she has an infection in a gill? Should I get
>> yet another 1 gallon tank and move her into that to continue a different
>> kind of treatment?
>
> If the problem is Flexibacter, it can be quite contagious. True fungus
> is not. You can give the babies fine-leafed plants or a shredded
> plastic pot scrubber (a new one) to hide in if you like, or put them in
> a floating breeding trap. However, live bearer babies are sensitive to
> water quality and they're not likely to survive quarantine tank
> conditions. I think it would be best if you focus on the mother and
> worry about the next batch of babies - they'll be along a month from now.

Hmm. It's sad to doom all the babies. Maybe I'll just get another
quarantine tank and move the mother in there. I'll have to think about it
and do some planning because eventually the babies are going to get bigger
and who knows where I'll put them when they start crowding each other.

[Elaine T]

Eric Ortega wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:33:11 +0000, Elaine T wrote:
>
>
>>Eric Ortega wrote:
>>
>>>What else could a white infection in the gills be? I read online it could
>>>be a mold, but that molds usually only occur when the water is poor. The
>>>water in the 10g tank she's typically in is clean and changed regularly.
>>
>>It could be Flexibacter ("mouth fungus" or columnaris). Treat with
>>oxytetracycline or a proprietary fungus medicine that includes an
>>antibiotic.
>
>
> Okeedoke, thanks.
>
>
>
>>>They all have what look like yolk sacs so I guess they'll have a bit of
>>>food for a while. I don't know what to feed them in the future, though.
>>>Any suggestions?
>>
>>Live bearer babies do not have yolk sacs. They use the yolk up inside
>>the mother and are born ready to begin foraging for food within hours.
>>Feed finely powdered flake food or baby brine shrimp (my LFS has them
>>frozen) to start.
>
>
> Oh, I guess what I took to be yolk sacks are just them being fat like
> their mother.
>
> There are a ton of them. It's almost creepy. Most of them swim around or
> at least wiggle a bit, but there appear to be some dead, or VERY LAZY,
> ones. Is this common?
>
>
>
>>>Also, will the mother platy eat them? Does she need to be moved back into
>>>her home tank even though she has an infection in a gill? Should I get
>>>yet another 1 gallon tank and move her into that to continue a different
>>>kind of treatment?
>>
>>If the problem is Flexibacter, it can be quite contagious. True fungus
>>is not. You can give the babies fine-leafed plants or a shredded
>>plastic pot scrubber (a new one) to hide in if you like, or put them in
>>a floating breeding trap. However, live bearer babies are sensitive to
>>water quality and they're not likely to survive quarantine tank
>>conditions. I think it would be best if you focus on the mother and
>>worry about the next batch of babies - they'll be along a month from now.
>
>
> Hmm. It's sad to doom all the babies. Maybe I'll just get another
> quarantine tank and move the mother in there. I'll have to think about it
> and do some planning because eventually the babies are going to get bigger
> and who knows where I'll put them when they start crowding each other.

The babies sound premature and you may actually be seeing yolk sacs.
This happens if the mother gives birth because of stress (like being
sick and moved to a quarantine tank). If that's the case, they may not
live no matter what you do. Baby platies normally seek cover shortly
after birth and actively swim after food.

Normally, I use a breeding trap inside a large tank for babies.
However, you would break quarantine by doing so. It's hard to guess
whether the babies or Q-tank water would be a hazard to your other fish
becasue I don't know what your platy has.

If you really, really want to save the babies without exposing your
other fish to diseases or the babies to strong medicines, get another
tank or bowl and leave the bottom bare. Two or even 5 gallons will work
better. Get a filter that has space for some cycled media or a bag of
gravel from your main tank. I like the clear plastic air-driven ones.
The cycled media is important because you must have absolutely no
ammonia in the baby tank. Fill and warm the baby tank to the same
temperature as Mom's. Gently siphon the babies into a small, clean
container, float it right away so they don't cool off, and gradually add
water from the baby tank to the container so they are not shocked by a
change in water quality or temps. Small changes in water conditions can
sometimes kill baby livebearers and yours will be unusually fragile.
Release them when you have about 2/3 baby tank water and 1/3 of Mom's
water in the container.

Once they start eating, feed often (I feed baby guppies tiny amounts 4-6
time a day for the first month) and siphon any uneaten food off of the
bottom of the tank or breeding trap at the end of the day. Leaving it
bare makes the food easy to find. Change water often. When you are
sure the babies are healthy and they seem large enough that they won't
fit into the mouths of your other fish, you can put them into the main tank.

BTW, I'm a bit surprised your other platies haven't birthed. Are you
sure you've had a male and a female in the tank? Most folks who keep
platies are shortly overrun! That's why I was so blase about your
current crop of babies.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[§tudz]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
...
> Eric Ortega wrote:
>> On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:33:11 +0000, Elaine T wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Eric Ortega wrote:
>>>
>>>>What else could a white infection in the gills be? I read online it
>>>>could
>>>>be a mold, but that molds usually only occur when the water is poor.
>>>>The
>>>>water in the 10g tank she's typically in is clean and changed regularly.
>>>
>>>It could be Flexibacter ("mouth fungus" or columnaris). Treat with
>>>oxytetracycline or a proprietary fungus medicine that includes an
>>>antibiotic.
>>
>>
>> Okeedoke, thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>>>>They all have what look like yolk sacs so I guess they'll have a bit of
>>>>food for a while. I don't know what to feed them in the future, though.
>>>>Any suggestions?
>>>
>>>Live bearer babies do not have yolk sacs. They use the yolk up inside
>>>the mother and are born ready to begin foraging for food within hours.
>>>Feed finely powdered flake food or baby brine shrimp (my LFS has them
>>>frozen) to start.
>>
>>
>> Oh, I guess what I took to be yolk sacks are just them being fat like
>> their mother. There are a ton of them. It's almost creepy. Most of
>> them swim around or
>> at least wiggle a bit, but there appear to be some dead, or VERY LAZY,
>> ones. Is this common?
>>
>>
>>>>Also, will the mother platy eat them? Does she need to be moved back
>>>>into
>>>>her home tank even though she has an infection in a gill? Should I get
>>>>yet another 1 gallon tank and move her into that to continue a different
>>>>kind of treatment?
>>>
>>>If the problem is Flexibacter, it can be quite contagious. True fungus
>>>is not. You can give the babies fine-leafed plants or a shredded plastic
>>>pot scrubber (a new one) to hide in if you like, or put them in a
>>>floating breeding trap. However, live bearer babies are sensitive to
>>>water quality and they're not likely to survive quarantine tank
>>>conditions. I think it would be best if you focus on the mother and
>>>worry about the next batch of babies - they'll be along a month from now.
>>
>>
>> Hmm. It's sad to doom all the babies. Maybe I'll just get another
>> quarantine tank and move the mother in there. I'll have to think about
>> it
>> and do some planning because eventually the babies are going to get
>> bigger
>> and who knows where I'll put them when they start crowding each other.
>
> The babies sound premature and you may actually be seeing yolk sacs. This
> happens if the mother gives birth because of stress (like being sick and
> moved to a quarantine tank). If that's the case, they may not live no
> matter what you do. Baby platies normally seek cover shortly after birth
> and actively swim after food.
>
> Normally, I use a breeding trap inside a large tank for babies. However,
> you would break quarantine by doing so. It's hard to guess whether the
> babies or Q-tank water would be a hazard to your other fish becasue I
> don't know what your platy has.
>
> If you really, really want to save the babies without exposing your other
> fish to diseases or the babies to strong medicines, get another tank or
> bowl and leave the bottom bare. Two or even 5 gallons will work better.
> Get a filter that has space for some cycled media or a bag of gravel from
> your main tank. I like the clear plastic air-driven ones. The cycled
> media is important because you must have absolutely no ammonia in the baby
> tank. Fill and warm the baby tank to the same temperature as Mom's.
> Gently siphon the babies into a small, clean container, float it right
> away so they don't cool off, and gradually add water from the baby tank to
> the container so they are not shocked by a change in water quality or
> temps. Small changes in water conditions can sometimes kill baby
> livebearers and yours will be unusually fragile. Release them when you
> have about 2/3 baby tank water and 1/3 of Mom's water in the container.
>
> Once they start eating, feed often (I feed baby guppies tiny amounts 4-6
> time a day for the first month) and siphon any uneaten food off of the
> bottom of the tank or breeding trap at the end of the day. Leaving it
> bare makes the food easy to find. Change water often. When you are sure
> the babies are healthy and they seem large enough that they won't fit into
> the mouths of your other fish, you can put them into the main tank.
>
> BTW, I'm a bit surprised your other platies haven't birthed. Are you sure
> you've had a male and a female in the tank? Most folks who keep platies
> are shortly overrun! That's why I was so blase about your current crop of
> babies.
>
> --
> Elaine T __
> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
> rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I've had my platies for over 5 months and never had a birth.
Well I say that I have seen them get fat, and have large gravid spots, but I
have never seen any babies, they were probably eaten though lol.
c'est la vie

[Eric Ortega]

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 23:40:58 +0000, Elaine T wrote:

> The babies sound premature and you may actually be seeing yolk sacs.

It's hard for me to tell, because I've never seen this before. I would be
surprised if they were very premature, though, because there are so many
of them and they're all fairly big. I couldn't imagine them getting even
larger before birth.


> This happens if the mother gives birth because of stress (like being
> sick and moved to a quarantine tank). If that's the case, they may not
> live no matter what you do. Baby platies normally seek cover shortly
> after birth and actively swim after food.

Well, they're doing that. They hide out in a plant and the gravel, and
every once in a while swim around. Actually, there are so many of them
that there are a bunch doing both things pretty much all the time. :)


<snip transferring and feeding advice>

I'll see what I can pick up at the fish store today.


> BTW, I'm a bit surprised your other platies haven't birthed. Are you
> sure you've had a male and a female in the tank? Most folks who keep
> platies are shortly overrun! That's why I was so blase about your
> current crop of babies.

Yes, I'm definitely sure that there are three females and one male. The
females got big fairly soon after I got them, but since I've never had
platies before I didn't know if they were pregnant or just putting on some
serious weight because they eat EVERYTHING. Now that I've seen how this
one mother has slimmed down it's pretty obvious that the others are
pregnant.

Since it took this one hours and hours to birth them all, and she looks
significantly different afterwards, I'm pretty sure that the others
haven't had any babies since the time we got them. They look ready to,
though.