danny wrote:
thks again, im sorry you couldnt read my writing,

It's just a bit confusing with no capitalization or punctuation. I
think I get your meaning.

anyway i dont add the fish water they came in i fish them out of the
bag and into the tank with a net

Good. That's the best thing to do if you don't have a way to quarantine
them.

but i have noticed that both of my platys ave their fins clamped
against their bodies is this sign of bacterial infection?

Clamped fins are a general sign of stress. You've got a new tank with
nitrite, ich, and now ich medicine. It really doesn't get much worse
for a fish. :-( Keep changing about 6 litres of water (20%) every few
days, cleaning the gravel with your siphon. Small, frequent water
changes are very good for sick fish because they're gentle but keep the
water and gravel clean. Clean water helps the fish heal themselves of
things like bacterial infections and even ich. You probably know to
feed so that there is never any uneaten food left in the tank.

You could add a bit of aquarium salt if you like - it helps with both
the nitrites and ich. Don't use ordinary table salt because it has
anti-caking agents that aren't good for fish. If you can't get aquarium
salt, pickling salt or some kosher salts are pure as well. Try
dissolving 1 US tbsp of salt (about 15 ml) and adding it to the water in
2 or 3 doses over the course of a day. The water changes will dilute it
back out, so put about 3 ml of salt into each 6 litres of replacement
water. Keep the the salt in your tank until nitrites test zero, and
then stop adding any more. It will gradually dilute out and be gone.

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