# Platy with white indent in her back?



## marieb519 (Aug 6, 2010)

1


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your fish. If you could provide a pic it would help.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

I'm worried from the sound of it that it might be saddleback columnaris. Saddleback columnaris is kind of weird in that it always attacks the back of the fish in approximately the same area, it is a tough customer - it is resistant to everything but very specific medications, so if it is saddleback you have to make sure you get something that mentions columnaris right on the label, and it does not respond to natural treatments, and it is very contagious, so treat the whole tank ('cause they will all have been exposed by now). What I would do is do a google images search on columnaris and look at the pictures of fish with lesions on their backs and see if they resemble your fish. If they do I'd run right out and buy meds and follow the directions closely. You're going to hate me for saying this, but the chance you can cure the fish with the actual wound is small (I've done it once, when I caught it early, but many people I talk to on the list have lost the first fish to come down with it), and it might be best to euthanize her, and just treat the rest of the fish so they don't come down with full blown columnaris. I'll keep an eye on this thread, and help as much as I can.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

In general what you would be using is an antibiotic, and it would not harm the fish from the point of view of being poisonous to the fish, since it has to treat the microbe and leave the fish alone. So long as you follow directions carefully you should not have any trouble from toxicity from the medication. The fact that you don't have redness, just the white layer is a good thing, I think it means that the infection hasn't eaten through the top of the skin layer yet, and there may still be hope here. I still think a picture would help us be certain, but I feel pretty sure you'd be wise to treat for columnaris at this point, particularly in order to have a chance to save this individual fish.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

Here's a link that has some good info on columnaris. Its mostly about bettas with columnaris, but a lot of the advice translates just fine:

Friends of Fish - Best Friends Network - Social Networking that saves lives


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

Oh! wow - now I am stumped. 'Cause that doesn't sound like columnaris - columnaris will be wooly, not smooth. Well dang. I would love to see a picture. How big is this spot? Just estimate in millimeters. We may have a little time to piece this together. I will dig around and see if I can find a better candidate.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Here is one of my own pics of saddleback columnaris. If you notice the top fish and the discoloration behind the dorsal fin. Very common Guppy ailment. Never had any other fish that had, although I know it is not Guppy specific.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Really the columnaris looks like a discoloration to me. Maybe your fish got injured on something in your tank? During catching at the store?


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

If you think about where a fish would bite, bites would normally happen in the fins, not the top of the back, its just a very awkward place to try to get to with your mouth, if you're a fish. I think it could be an injury, though, a fleeing fish can scrape itself on a tank decoration or something. 

Lets talk about your water parameters. What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, your PH, how often do you do partial water changes, and what percentage of water do you change? These fish have survived for a good long time in your hands, and I'm sure you're doing a great job of taking care of them, but sometimes senior fish are just fragile, but sometimes they're also the first to show signs of a problem. Lets see if we can rule out the obvious ones. Also keep an eye on this fish, maybe take daily photos just to track and see if there is any growth in the size of this injury. If it is just an injury, it should get smaller, if it is a lesion it will get bigger, and that will be a clue. Melafix is a good tank additive when fish get injuries, its kind of like neosporin for fish. You might want to try some of that just to keep it from getting secondary infections - any time there's an interruption in the skin bacteria and stuff can get in. Stress coat can also be a help. Before you add any additives, do your regular scheduled partial water change, then do the additions - its just easier.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Odd place and odd looking. I would say injury.


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## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

I had a neon that had this once. It was years ago and I can't remember what I tried for it, but I remember putting it in quarantine and the hole in its back just got bigger and bigger like it was being eaten away. Eventually the fish succumbed to it sadly, but I've never had anything like it since and no other fish caught it. Would be interesting to know what it is...


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

I read something that said this may be hemoragic septicemia (scales falling off) I'll keep poking around - look closely at her fins, are there any red threads that look like blood vessels showing in them? any red streaks on her body anywhere? That's what I'm used to seeing with HS but apparently falling scales is another way it can manifest. Don't worry, we'll stay with you until we have this licked one way or another.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Red streaks on a Red Wag Platy....lol.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

@JR well, it will be blood streaks, and so it would be darker red, in theory, but yeah, I suppose they could be there and you could miss it. 

@Marie I'll look around, a new white blob is a new clue...? (sometimes fish pictures turn out better without the flash, at least for me they do, i'm always getting glare off the glass with flash, so if there's a way to turn your flash off you might want to try it that way)


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If that were ich, you wouldn't be able to see tell in that pic. Ich looks more like the fish has been sprinkled with sugar or a tiny air bubble is attached to them. The crustations are very faint, although would show up nicely on a Red Wag, but not that well. In other words, it'd be a lot smaller and lighter in color, sort of opaque.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

I think the frequent water changes and filter changes are a good idea, with the high population and all. Have you spotted any darker red streaks on the sick one? I'm also a little worried about this one virus that I thought primarily effected labrynth fishes. Does the new spot on her fin look like a speck of cottage cheese kind of, more three dimensional and curd like? Or is it more like a bleached out spot on her fin? and is it growing at all since yesterday?


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

Melafix makes lots of claims, but I don't think it can cure absolutely everything by itself. If there is a virus involved, it can help keep it from spreading, though, so I'd absolutely dose the tank. It will also help wound healing and septicemia, so if there's an element of this going on, it will help. 

The ball (is it round? is it getting any bigger? Smooth or rough?) sounds a bit more like the virus I've seen or a tumor. If you're feeling brave, you may wish to net her and get a closer look at it, confirm it isn't any kind of parasite or leech or anything, that its really a growth. If it is a growth, I'm starting to come down in favor of euthanasia again. She is an old fish, she's lived a long good life, and sometimes older animals come down with these kinds of things. If it is the virus, it is usually fatal, there's nothing anybody can do about it, but it could spread to the other fish. If it is a tumor, it sounds like it is fast growing the other fish won't catch it, but it could spread around her body and effect her quality of life. 

Let us know what you observe.


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## tscott (Jan 7, 2011)

About 4 years.

Red Wagtail Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus)


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

I'm sorry, maybe I misunderstood, I thought you said she was old. Okay. If after all the various theories we've floated you've heard something that seems more likely to you and you have something that will treat that likely option, feel free to double up on melafix and your treatment. Melafix in general can be combined with most treatments in my experience. If you don't feel we have a fit, hold off on medicating. Doing something is only better than doing nothing if we have a reason to believe the something we are doing will be effective.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

This is a good sign! Hopefully things will continue to improve.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

That's good. Surprised something appeared and disappeared that fast. Especially as large as it appeared to be. Wonder what the heck it was?


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

I'm hoping something that was susceptible to the melafix - maybe a fungal outgrowth or something, or some kind of viral something that just got knocked down fast. Sure didn't match up to anything on the charts that I could find.


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