I'm fairly new to this hobby, having been at it less than a year. I'm losing fish, three in the past week, and I don't know why.
The tank as of a few weeks ago consisted of 6 zebra danios, 5 platys (3 adults, 2 younger fish), two ghost shrimp, and a snail that must have hitched a ride with some of the plants. This is a 29 gallon tank. Water quality is fairly good with undetectable ammonia and nitrite, and nitrates are 20-40 ppm. pH is about 7.8. It's been like that for about 5-6 months.
About two weeks ago, I got a dozen neon tetras. They didn't do so well, and within a week, the population was down to four, but has been stable since then. A week ago I added an air pump. Around that time, or possibly a little before, my platys have been dying at the rate of about one every two to three days. They seem to get lethargic, hovering near the surface of the water, then resting on the gravel, then they die. There's nothing visibly wrong with them. No spots or discoloration or lumps or anything else.
Because of the fact that this started not long after putting in the neons, I was worried about the dreaded neon tetra disease. But I'm not sure this would be this fast, and from what I've read online, bleaches out the color of the fish first.
This evening I noticed that the clear vinyl (Top Fin) air line wasn't clear where it was touching the water, but had turned white and opaque. I've removed it, but haven't been able to find anything online describing that. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or if there's something to it.
Any suggestions or ideas as to what might be killing my fish?
The tank as of a few weeks ago consisted of 6 zebra danios, 5 platys (3 adults, 2 younger fish), two ghost shrimp, and a snail that must have hitched a ride with some of the plants. This is a 29 gallon tank. Water quality is fairly good with undetectable ammonia and nitrite, and nitrates are 20-40 ppm. pH is about 7.8. It's been like that for about 5-6 months.
About two weeks ago, I got a dozen neon tetras. They didn't do so well, and within a week, the population was down to four, but has been stable since then. A week ago I added an air pump. Around that time, or possibly a little before, my platys have been dying at the rate of about one every two to three days. They seem to get lethargic, hovering near the surface of the water, then resting on the gravel, then they die. There's nothing visibly wrong with them. No spots or discoloration or lumps or anything else.
Because of the fact that this started not long after putting in the neons, I was worried about the dreaded neon tetra disease. But I'm not sure this would be this fast, and from what I've read online, bleaches out the color of the fish first.
This evening I noticed that the clear vinyl (Top Fin) air line wasn't clear where it was touching the water, but had turned white and opaque. I've removed it, but haven't been able to find anything online describing that. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or if there's something to it.
Any suggestions or ideas as to what might be killing my fish?