Hi everybody, does anybody have any pics of pregnant platties? im not sure if mine is, it looks all bloated, staying at the surface, and having fits of twitchy swimming, like its itchy, please help, could it be pregnant or constipated? Karen, PS this is the female

Oh dear, the bloating doesn't sound good I have no pics I'm afraid but it could be a number of things. Are her scales sticking out all all?

Would be helpful if you could post recent water readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH just so the most obvious can be ruled out first

Hi Violet, thanks for replying, just checked fishies and all seems well, bloating has gone, and scales were never out of the norm, when i posted this question, she did have some pooh hanging out, like the fancy goldfish always have, but now thats gone. Maybe she was a bit of a piggie at feeding time I did the multi test strip and all was fine with that

That's good news then

Unfortunately, test strips are not very reliable at all and given the overstocking in that tank (profile up to date?), it may be a wise move to test properly with an API Freshwater Master Test Kit to be sure it's not adverse water problems causing any problems. Half price on Ebay as opposed to the shops

The current stocking, not just size wise may be an issue longer term. There are soft water fish and harder water fish in the same tank. Whats the pH moody as some may not fair well medium term?