I bought a new fish for my Red Mickey Mouse fish because he seemed lonely. He is happier now but the new platy is always at the bottom. I bought a new heater and the temp. is at 76F. He still won't come up from the bottom. I know he is alive cause he is still swimming, but what can I do to get him to come up from the bottom? I have a 10 gallon tank with 4 fish and a ghost shrimp.
Both Platy's are male? The temperature seems ok and the tank isn't crowded. They may be fighting. Or he may have gotten hurt when you bought him or on something in the tank. Does it look like there is any damage to his fins or belly that may prevent him from swimming or that would cause him to be off balance? Do you have plants that he can swim through or hide in?
I had the same problem! He is stressed because there aren't enough of his species. Try buying on more platy if its a female buy a male or buy a female Or visa versa (buy a male if you want babies).
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Okay so I have a 15 gallon tank with a common goldfish and five platy (two females and three males). When I went to feed them, I couldn't find one of the males. I found him and he's not swimming like the others. He can still swim up to the surface and will eat, but he's kinda just staying on the bottom of the tank.
Do I need more females? Or is it something else? None of his fins have been nipped and he doesn't have anything that appears to be a swim bladder problem or anything like ick.It's been years since I had fish, but here's what I little remember...platy don't like to be crowded. It is possible the tank isn't big enough for all of them and this one is having issues from being overcrowded.
Also platy need "pristine" water...so double check to make sure all of your levels are good and your filter is working correctly. That he is eating is positive, but the rest is troubling.
It is possible he has some underlying health issue, so to be safe, you may want to consider putting him into a quarantine tank to recuperate. He can be reintroduced to the group if he improves and shows no regression in symptoms for at least a week.
Don't add any new fish or make any food or other changes until this is all resolved just to be safe and not add any other variables.
In the meantime, if he was a recent purchase, I would call where
you got him to see if they have been having complaints about ill fish...just so you are aware. If they are reputable, they should tell you.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
