# Platy scratching itself off rocks



## Halley (20 Feb 2016)

Hi guys - i have a platy in a 180 litre tank with many other similar sized fish.  However, the platy over the last few days is flashing itself against rocks.  I cannot see any whitespots and none of the other platies are doing it - any idea what the issue is?


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## dukydaf (20 Feb 2016)

Sometimes they do it without any problems being visible. Other times it is an early warning sign. 

What temperature do you have in the tank?

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## Halley (20 Feb 2016)

Hi - thanks for the reply - the temperature is about 23-24 degrees celsius.  I recently started adding some nitrogen to the tank but all the other fish are fine


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## sciencefiction (20 Feb 2016)

It is not normal for platies to scratch themselves. Fish do scratch sometimes from elevated ammonia/nitrite levels but not typical to platies in particular. I'll keep an eye, could be a parasitic infection. That's the only reason they scratch.  Have you introduced any fish lately?

 A safe and very comprehensive med against a wide range of parasitic infections is kusuri wormer plus but it kills inverts. It's harmless to fish and even fry. 
It's possible to be white spot too, but I'd wait to see spots for that as the medications aren't harmless. Salt and high temperatures is safest in my opinion for that but the salt has to be upped gradually, not dumped all on day 1.

Besides white spot, many parasitic infections are very slow to affect fish or kill them, hence called parasites as they need the host to live long enough. So fish may have those for a long time before one notices, months...  It normally gets triggered when the water conditions aren't right as the fish's immune system gets weak.   But if you've introduced fish in the last 6 months, it's still possible it came from that time. If it's white spot, the time frame is very short and fish will show symptoms within a couple of weeks of being infected by new inhabitants. So I'd go from there figuring it out which is which.

What other species of fish do you keep in there?


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## Halley (20 Feb 2016)

Hi - thanks for the reply.  Yes I have introduced alot of fish recently but the all seem to be doing well.  The platy seems fine apart from the scratching.  The other tankmates are 4 praecox rainbows, 20 cardinal and neon tetras, platies, 12 hengeli rasboras, 4 siamese algae eaters, 11 amano shrimp, 3 ottos, cherry shrimp and 27 pygmy cories. 
I treated the tank for whitespot a few months ago.  The tank is about 5 months old and is heavily planted.  I would not like to add medications that would kill the shrimp.  Should i remove the platy from the tank? Is it now necessary to treat the whole tank?


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## sciencefiction (20 Feb 2016)

Most parasitic infections won't show any outward signs. It's totally different from bacterial issues. Fish live with it for months so the fish should "look" just fine but perhaps not behave fine and will eventually show worse signs.  Other common signs besides flashing are platies racing up and down the glass, shaking as if trying to get rid of something,  white poop, getting thinner or getting bloated, stunted growth, deformities, difficulty breathing, etc..not all signs at once or even just one of them at a time.
If it's just one fish and the occasional flashing, I'd hold on for now, considering you've got shrimp. It still could be an irritant in the water causing it.

If it's a parasitic infection, a few months down the line you'll have more fish with it, one by one, not all at once.  The symptoms may differ and not all species will be affected. Sometimes it's species related.  Keep an eye on the platies in particular for a start.

Do large and regular water changes. Good water quality will prevent others succumb to types of parasites that only get active when the fish's immune system weakens. If it's worms, it won't help, it will eventually kill the fish but that develops in months, even a year or years is not uncommon. Don't get spooked either, most fish carry parasites or are surrounded by them but don't ever succumb to them. Preventative measures are the best, e.g. water quality.

As for removing the platy, you can if you want if you have another cycled tank. Don't put the fish in an uncycled tank to treat it as it will get worse. If you want to experiment, separate it and medicate it with a broad spectrum parasitic as kusuri. Providing the issue is not water quality related, if the meds "cure" that fish, it will certainly cure the rest. If not, then no point dumping meds in your other tank. But keep in mind that platies don't like being alone. It will stress it out additionally which is no good if the fish is sick.
Additionally, from my own experience platies carry hexamita, no matter where you get it from.  It's a type of parasite common to livebearers, angelfish, etc.. but not bottom dwellers. They can live healthily with it for life but sometimes they can't fight it off. Waterlife octozin is active against it and is harmless to fish, plants, inverts and filter in the recommended dosage.  Again, only the weak ones get sick and it's trigged by bad water quality. They carry it in the gut but fish die only when the parasites go into the blood stream. Then they'll die for sure. This is the advanced stage and it's very rare. Until then they've got chance to get over it.

I am only giving you some info. Think and observe before you act. Patience is the key when you are in doubt. Less action and more water changes are the best first approach.


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## Halley (20 Feb 2016)

Thanks for that great reply - Im just worried whatever the problem is it will infect the other fish.  I do regular water changes of 60-70 % per week and there is alot of plants in the tank.  All the shrimp are very active aswell as the fish so i think the water quality should be good.  I think i will observe it some more time before taking action but sometimes if things are left too long it can be too late.  Not sure what to do at this stage 


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## sciencefiction (20 Feb 2016)

When you don't know what to do, do nothing  You will not wipe out parasites or bacteria completely from a tank by medicating. It just decreases their numbers so the fish can fight it off via their immune system.
If it's parasites, the likelihood is a lot more fish in your tank are carriers but are unaffected by it. We humans too carry parasites and get exposed to all sort of germs but don't normally get sick from them.
If the flashing doesn't disappear in a week or two, or more fish start flashing, then I'd worry a bit more. Until then, wait... It's worse treating fish with the wrong meds than not treat at all.


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## Halley (20 Feb 2016)

Yes I'll hold off on any treatment and wait and see what happens - thanks for the advice 


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