One of my platys is in a bad way ....

[Maz]

Unfortunately it looks close to dying. Struggling to move off the floor of the tank. 70L tank,I cycle the water weekly about 15L treated water. Do I need a bigger filter? The one in the picture was supplied with a small 12L tank.
Any suggestions please?

[Gingerlove05]

What are your water parameters? And how long have you had the platys?
If the filter is only designed for a 12l tank then i would upgrade it to a more suitable filter for the tank size, under filtering can cause issues because of the bacteria not being able to cope with the bioload (the waste produced by your fish/livestock)

[Maz]

What are your water parameters? And how long have you had the platys?
If the filter is only designed for a 12l tank then i would upgrade it to a more suitable filter for the tank size, under filtering can cause issues because of the bacteria not being able to cope with the bioload (the waste produced by your fish/livestock)

Thanks. I've never checked the water parameters, how should I do this? So far, I've relied on the filter and weekly water cycling.
The platys was bought 4 months ago.

[Maz]

Edit ...I also gently squeeze clean out the sponge in the filter on a weekly basis so as to retain the good bacteria.

[Gingerlove05]

I would get a liquid test kit (if you can with the current situation), the api master kit is one a lot here use, there’s a few others available. Dont get the test strips as they are notoriously unreliable.
You also dont need to clean the filter weekly, only really when the flow slows (but as mentioned your filter is undersized for your tank), the weekly water changes are spot on as long as your using conditioned/dechlorinated water.

[Maz]

I would get a liquid test kit (if you can with the current situation), the api master kit is one a lot here use, there’s a few others available. Dont get the test strips as they are notoriously unreliable.
You also dont need to clean the filter weekly, only really when the flow slows (but as mentioned your filter is undersized for your tank), the weekly water changes are spot on as long as your using conditioned/dechlorinated water.

Many thanks for your help. Appreciated.
I condition the water using bioactive tapsafe, which is left to stand for 1 week before putting into the tank.

[plankton]

The "platy" in the top pic looks more like a guppy, so I'm wondering whether the platies are picking on it?
If you check on your water company's website you should be able to find out the hardness of the water which is important with livebearers as they NEED had water because of their osmotic system.

[Maz]

The "platy" in the top pic looks more like a guppy, so I'm wondering whether the platies are picking on it?
If you check on your water company's website you should be able to find out the hardness of the water which is important with livebearers as they NEED had water because of their osmotic system.

it's definitely a platy, I think it's just the angle of the fish in the gravel that makes it look like a guppy (it was the father of the platy fry in my hatchery, and there's only one female platy and no other males in the tank).
The water in our area is hard, I know that from the calcium build-up in the kettle, but it's not extremely hard water.

[plankton]

Is the spine bent?
If so, it's probably old age.
How warm is the water? Much above 24C will cause the metabolism to speed up.

[Maz]

Is the spine bent?
If so, it's probably old age.
How warm is the water? Much above 24C will cause the metabolism to speed up.

Spine shape looked normal to me. Water temp is about 22c. Unfortunately, the platy has since died.