Why are my platies acting like this?

Question

Some of my platies are swimming around the tank really slow. Sometimes they don't even swim and they just sit at the top of the water. Whats wrong?

Answer 1

Two things that come to mind are water quality and temperature.

If the tank is fairly new, there may be ammonia or nitrite building up. These are toxic to fish, and interfere with their ability to use dissolved ogygen in the water, therefore they stay near the surface (which has more oxygen), or are less active. There can also be a loss of appetite.

As far as temperature, if their water is too cool or too warm, this also can lead to lethargy. In the case of too warm, it's again because the water holds less dissolved oxygen. If too cool, it's a slowing down of their entire metabolism. So be sure your heater isn't malfunctioning and the temperature is around 76-80o.

See the links below for info about the water quality:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/nitritepoison.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

If it's a new tank, or you haven't changed their water in a week or more, doing a 25% water change may help. Just keep the temperature about the same as what they're currently in, and remember to add conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine.

Answer 2

If you have just bought your platies, it might be because they are still getting used to their surrounding. Be patient.