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My rainbow platies have a grayish area on top of their heads. I asked the guy at the store where I got them if it was just the coloration or if something was wrong. He said they're probably ok but I'm not completely convinced.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e237/imrandy85/aquarium/101_1604.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e237/imrandy85/aquarium/101_1605.jpg

Well from the pics it seems like one of them is a bit thin... and clamped fins is never good either this can be a sign of many different problems.

1.) What is the pH?
2.) What is the temperature?
3.) Is the tank cycled?
4.) You8 can also put all this in the hospital forum they can probably help more.

If it is a grey stuff it may be bacterial or some sort of protazon fungus? Second opinion though. But please answer those questions and we can help more.

From the other thread I believe it's a cycling tank and imrandy85 was using ph down so both would add stress and might lead to the clamped fins.

If the grey is fuzzy it's probably bacterial or 2nd most likely fungus. You can try adding a bit of melafix and see if that is enough to solve the problem. Also since the tank is cycling adding Prime would relieve some stress until it's done. There are some other products like amquel but in my experience they don't work as well and sometimes throw off your ammonia tests so you won't know if the tank is cycled.

The tank has only been setup for about a week but those pics are a few days old. The one with clamped fins passed on and is no longer in the tank. I replaced it with the same species of fish. None of them have clamped fins right now.

temp is 76
pH ~ 8.3
ammonia between .25 and .5 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate between 5 and 10 ppm

I know my pH is high and I bought some pH down to fix that. I've put about 4 doses in my tank and the pH hasn't moved at all. Is there anything else I can do to get my pH down. I'm keeping 4 platies so it only needs to go down to about 7.5

Don't touch the pH. Put the pH Down away s-l-o-w-l-y.

I know that all the LFS people are very insistant that fish need the correct pH, but in most cases it is just not the case. The fish need a stable pH above all else, and if yours is stable at 8.3, that isn't a disaster. I had platies at 8.2 for quite some years without any drama.
Chemical adjusters cause the pH to swing up and down and because of other things acting on the water they rarely get it down and keep it down.

Now, first thing is first, fill a jug or glass with water from your tap. Test the pH of that straight away. Then leave the glass for 24 hours and test again. The pH of your tap water has a lot to do with the eventual pH of your tank. 24 hours standing usually will let the ph drop to whatever it will happily stay stable at.

If the measurement is vastly different to that of the tank, I'd try getting rid of the blue rocks and trying a differrent type of gravel, though I think the colour coated ones should really be inert.


And i think that the platies might have a parasite of some sort, maybe in the gut, they look a bit like they are wasting away. Keep an eye out for clear stringy droppings, irritated gills and rubbing themselves on tank decor.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I know my tap water has a very nice pH of about 7 which is why I was so concerned about my tank being at 8.3. After a close inspection of the bag that my gravel came in there is a caution that it may alter the pH of the aquarium water. Should I change it out or would this have a bad effect on the fish from the sudden change. Will lots of water changes help at all?

And i think that the platies might have a parasite of some sort, maybe in the gut, they look a bit like they are wasting away. Keep an eye out for clear stringy droppings, irritated gills and rubbing themselves on tank decor.

I'll keep an eye out for that. I have coppersafe and maracyn, would either of those work?

noticed some clear droppings this morning from 2 fish, will my coppersafe help this if it is indeed an internal parasite?

You could give it a go. It is designed for external parasites though so it might not be the best choice. I'd be looking for something designed for internal parasites myself.

With the gravel, just take a handful out every few days until it is gone. You can put the new stuff inside the toe of some pantyhose (so it doesn't mix with the blue) and just pop that in so it can gather some good bacteria before you actually need it Avoid black and white gravel as a general rule, they will often muck up your pH.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi there,
I totally agree. Stop using the PH down chemicals.
Using peat moss or indian almond leaves, or even
reverse osmosis filtered or distilled water is a much
better and safer way of lowering PH.
I use Peat myself, in my canister filters. Works like
a charm.

If you have any scaleless fish in your tank,
or plan to keep any in the future (including rainbow sharks, cory cats, loaches, plecos, catfish etc),
then do not use the copper safe.
Copper molecularly bonds to inert surfaces permanently.
Once in the tank, it never comes out, and can render a tank a death trap for any scaleless fish, or shrimp, or snails, that you plan to put in it after that.

I would personally not recommend using copper on any fish of any kind. Copper poisoning can occur easily and is usually lethal. (this is why most houses are no longer being built with copper pipes, as it is dangerous to humans as well).

For internal parasites you really need a medicated food of some kind.
I use Fenbendazole (panacur brand name) granules
mixed at a rate of 3cc of granules to 100 ml water,
bloodworms soaked in this for 1 hour then fed 2x daily
to all fish while in quarantine.
Levamisole HCL if you can find it is a great choice as well.
Others such as metronidazole and prazinquental will work,
but not on all forms of parasites, where the levamisole and fenbendazole will work on all parasites, even the toughest ones. Jungle brand makes an Antiparasitic food that contains metronidazole and prazinquental, so you could always give that a try. I have found fish dont like it much at all, so try soaking in water with frozen bloodworms to improve the flavour, and fast all fish for a minimum of 48 hours prior to feeding antiparasite meds.

Good luck.


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