Please help, sick platty

Question
Hi,

Just let me start by saying that I apologize for the length of this message. I tried to keep it short but I wanted to give you the full picture as I am completely clueless as to what I should do for my fish and I am kicking myself for several mistakes that I have made with them. I had a ten gallon tank. We (my husband and myself) made a mistake in overcrowding the tank which was causing what I suspect was the tank to have mini cycles and not go through the entire process. I was keeping up with frequent water changes though and so everyone was healthy and happy. Then my mother became ill with cancer and we were back and forth from her home and ours trying to run two households, etc... So, it ended up that I had two platties die due to illness. One was a very bad case of fin rot and the other just died with no physical symptoms, etc... so I suspect some type of nitrite or ammonia poisoning due to bad water. This was in December. I did several back to back water changes and treated the tank and all of the survivors were fine, no problems. Then my big male platty began acting strange. He is usually all over the tank and quite dominate. He began keeping to the corners of the tank and just hanging out. After about a week I noticed he had dull grayish patches that covered most of one of his sides. It then spread to the other side within a day or so. I put him in an isolation tank and treated him with Jungle Lifeguard (which is what I used the first time) and he appeared to be getting better. The grey patches went away although he still appeared dull and although he was not acting his usual self he began eating as he was before and was lively. I thought he was just weak. We were upset and afraid that overcrowding and not having a big enough tank was the main culprit behind the disease and so the week before my birthday my husband bought me a 29 gallon. We moved our betta into the platties old 10 gallon and moved the platties and cory cats into the 29 gallon. So now I have a 29 gallon tank with five cory cats (two pepper, one spotted, and two albinos)and six platties (two males, four females). I have two filters on the aquarium and I found and used an online aquarium calculator to help with stocking to make sure we are not too overcrowded. The calculator said that I could have twelve platties and five miniature catfish or a combination thereof so crowding shouldn't be an issue. I have done tests (using API's master test kit - liquid testing supplies - not the strips). Yet I find that I have made several huge mistakes. First of all, we added two new fish (two of the female platties) without doing a quarantine (I know, I know, and I've learned my lesson). The two new females appeared very healthy but since we moved our big male platty from his quarantine tank to the main tank I've found fin rot on one of the females. The tail is jagged and looks like it's had a bite taken out of it. It is outlined in what appears to be white fungus. The worst part is now my large male platty is very ill. I'm not sure if he was never successfully treated in the first place and so I have some sort of reoccurring and persistent disease or if he is sick from her or if she has something else altogether. I have no idea. I thought it was fungus - what he had but after treating with the Jungle Lifeguard I am afraid that it is not. Both of his sides are dull and grey again and now his tail appears to be starting to form holes. There are no white spots, no black spots, no reddish streaking, and I can see no excess mucus, no holes in the head, no ulcers or red anything. I spent all weekend trying to research what he could possible have (that's when I noticed that she has tail rot) and the closest thing that I could find is columnaris. I am so confused. First off, I am not even 100 percent certain this is what he has. Secondly, every website you find online suggests something different to use. Where one site will say go with tetracycline or mix Marcacyn one two another says no, not to do this to go with furan 2 (which I cannot find locally and will have to order and wait) and kana - something or the other (sorry I cannot remember the entire name for that particular drug). I decided to start them yesterday on triple sulfa after reading that it was broad spectrum. So I began treatment last night on the entire tank just assuming that the whole aquarium has been compromised. Since treatment I got up this morning only to find that instead of hiding down around the bottom of the aquarium (in a cave or under driftwood) my big male platty has now taken to the near the surface again beside the water flow of the filter (I took the carbon out). He looks worse and now grey appears around the gill area in particular and on the gills. His eyes appear slightly bulged but not popping. One of the my other female platties also appears to have a light dull grey coating along her sides. I am scheduled to do a second treatment tonight of the triple sulfa, then tomorrow a 25 percent water change and another dose and then another for a total of four doses. At this rate I'm not sure he'll even be alive to complete the treatment. What is going on here? please, please, please help me. What should I do?

Answer
Hi Natalie!

Well for your big male Platty, you can try the API Stress Coat since he is probably suffering from some kind of stress. It removes stress up to 40% and also speeds up the recovery and healing process (scientifically proven!). It's available at your local petstore (Petsmart) for around $3-$7.
For the white fungus, you can try the Tetra LifeGuard.  Lifeguard treats the clinical signs of disease at their earliest stages in freshwater fish. Added to aquarium water, the powerful oxidizing action of HaloShield attacks and destroys microorganisms that can cause disease in fish. Use for treating fungus, ick, red streaks, milky or shedding slime, flukes, bacterial gill disease, mouth and fin rot, clamped or torn fins, and ulcers. Lifeguard may also be used as a preventive when adding new fish. And I think there is a 5 day treatment per pack. It costs about $6. Also available @ Petsmart. When you use LifeGuard, remember to turn off the filters to prevent them from sucking away the medication in the water.

Don't believe everything you read, on most sites, it will be easy to find false information by looking at the comment bar. People will post it [sometimes]. I know that it's super confusing that every website tells you to do something different. So don't order and buy everything the internet says; try one thing after another. But that also means you should overdose your tank with a ton of medicine and chemicals hoping for maximum effectiveness. You require the correct amount.

For the items I've listed above, the package will give you the instructions on the of the little bottle/box.

You don't have to buy the LifeGuard if whatever drug you are using now solves the problem, but the API Stress Coat is definitely a must-get. :D Also, what you are doing now is great! Just remember, don't over use the items.

Hope this helps! xD
~Sam