# Geriatric Platy ?



## HFGGHG (Aug 28, 2011)

I have had my female Mickey Mouse platy for over one year.
She has been pregnant numerous times. I have a few of her offspring, some that are full grown.
She has always been chased and escorted everywhere by my red platy.
Recently, I noticed her hanging low in the anubias and looking thin and ragged. Her back is also arched. 
She is still eating but then returns to her hiding spot.
The other fish in the 29 gal are fine and water conditions are fine also.
There have been no major changes in this tank that I started July 2011.
Any ideas of what could be wrong ? Is she old and worn out ?
Thank you and Happy Holidays !


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Very easily could be. Im not up to par with the lifespan of platies, as Ive never had them till recently. What I do understand is they do have short lives. Best you can do is make her feel comfy. If shes still eating she could just be an old woman needing a rest.


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## HFGGHG (Aug 28, 2011)

I sure hope that's what it is, her need for a vacation ! She has always been so plump and healthy looking, that to see her thin and arched is difficult.
Her escort/hubby, the robust red male platy, remains devotedly by her side.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I have a sunshine platy I thank it is called and its the same way.its been like that a couple months now.it hang out in the back in a corner it does swim around a little but at feeding time she seem to eat fine.i don't think I can do anything to help her.i guess its wait and see.let us know about your platy


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

so very strange , i just read this and iv had almost the exact same experience myself just lately with a black male molly and he looked just as u described yours , none of his color really changed , he just looked like a little old raggid man . i came to the same conclusion you did . he passed this AM after eating well but sloweley just shrunk up and withered away over 2 months. i really hope you guys dont have the same experience i did , GOOD LUCK


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## Amethyst (Jul 15, 2012)

Platys have a life span of 2-3 years in a good environment. I'd guess that all of the platys mentioned have something other than age going on, such as parasites or some other illness. One symptom of internal parasites is a fish being skinny and listless despite eating as usual. Essentially the parasites are getting nutrition but the fish isn't. Other signs include stringy white poop. If you see that in any of the fish in the tank, whether they look sick or well, I'd treat the tank for internal parasites. If that is the problem and they are not too far gone, they should perk back up and be fine. 

Also, to the original poster - if you only have the one female with a male platy, that is probably part of the problem. It's best to keep 2 or 3 females for every male with livebearers, or the male will continually harrass the female - as you described. If she's the only female platy, she may be just worn out even though not past "middle aged." Sort of like women in the past having a baby every year from 20 to 35 and being dead at 40, if you know what I mean.


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## Amethyst (Jul 15, 2012)

tbub - depending on the age of your male molly it could have been age. However, it could have been any of a number of other problems. Mollies are very susceptible to various bacterial, viral, and/or parasitic disorders that are common in most tanks despite doing the best one can to maintain pristine conditions. This is why many people will tell you that mollies need brackish conditions. They are actually freshwater fish in the wild, but some do spend some time in estuaries or other places where the fresh water mixes with sea water making brackish conditions. Anyway, whatever their environments in the wild, many aquarists find mollies are healthier, breed better, and live longer in a brackish tank, because the salt in the water kills off many of the things that could cause them problems. I recently converted one of my tanks to brackish conditions for exactly that reason. I had been trying to keep mollies for a couple of years, and kept losing them. Males especially, but also a couple of females. So far I've not managed to keep a black male alive for more than a couple of months, and I've had no fry fathered by a black male
. I've had a couple of silver males that lived long enough to impregnate a female, but not much longer. At the moment my brackish tank has two female mollies, 4 swordtails (1 male), and several male guppies. I plan to move the swords out and add a male molly and another female or two, but haven't done it yet, as all my available large enough for swordtail tanks are housing livebearers of various species and ages waiting to go to the pet store.


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