Hello all,
I started a freshwater aquarium about 3 months ago. The first three fish in there were platys - all from a Petco near me that at the time did not seem to have a problem with finrot. Well, the platys were fine for a few weeks. When I first got them, the sunset seemed to have trouble acclimating and stayed at the bottom of the tank, gasping. I put in a bit of salt the next day, he perked up and was fine (all 3 fish were boys).
I also had a male betta from petsmart (I will not buy from petsmart or petco again >_<). He was living in a small gallon tank, and I bought him a separate ten gallon with a filter and heater. All was well here.
I tried putting the betta with the platys, but he tried to attack so I immediately separated them. I got two small corydoras for the betta, and he left them alone. Remember, the betta had his own aquarium, the platys had theirs. Due to a stupid mistake of my own, the male betta started to show signs of dropsy (either water temperature change or poor water quality). I quarantined him, but unfortunately shortly after, he died. One of my panda platys began to do this strange thing where he "backed up" into the other platys. The sunset moved away from him and chased him off everytime. Even with good water quality, the panda's fins began to fray. He stopped eating, and seemed to also display slightly raised scales (it was hard to tell because of his coloration). You can guess what happened to him. My sunset started this strange "backing up" behavior himself after about a week, and also stopped eating. He'd spend most of his time by the heater, very near to the surface, sometimes with his tail down and head up. He seemed "twitchy." This lasted quite a while; regardless, he never recovered and died after about three weeks. Immediately after, my remaining platy started hanging around the bottom of the tank. He flashes. Could this be parasites? Do I need to tear this aquarium down and start over again? My two corydoras, along with a female betta ( a new betta), are just fine in their separate tank. Both tanks are planted, though my betta/cory tank is more heavily planted than the platy one. Because of the plant matter, hornwort needles, etc. I make water changes quite frequent, about 50% a week. I also will vacuum up uneaten food every other day or so (which happens quite often since the fish in the platy tank doesn't eat anymore. Sometimes he'll show interest, take a nibble, but that's it).
Water parameters:
Temp: 80 degrees
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: Possibly 0, suspected under 5 ppm
I use API liquid test kits.
I changed the filter yesterday, but didn't scrub anything. There is are these tiny white bubbles that congregate on the needles of hornwort near the filter - I thought these were just trapped oxygen bubbles however.
I started a freshwater aquarium about 3 months ago. The first three fish in there were platys - all from a Petco near me that at the time did not seem to have a problem with finrot. Well, the platys were fine for a few weeks. When I first got them, the sunset seemed to have trouble acclimating and stayed at the bottom of the tank, gasping. I put in a bit of salt the next day, he perked up and was fine (all 3 fish were boys).
I also had a male betta from petsmart (I will not buy from petsmart or petco again >_<). He was living in a small gallon tank, and I bought him a separate ten gallon with a filter and heater. All was well here.
I tried putting the betta with the platys, but he tried to attack so I immediately separated them. I got two small corydoras for the betta, and he left them alone. Remember, the betta had his own aquarium, the platys had theirs. Due to a stupid mistake of my own, the male betta started to show signs of dropsy (either water temperature change or poor water quality). I quarantined him, but unfortunately shortly after, he died. One of my panda platys began to do this strange thing where he "backed up" into the other platys. The sunset moved away from him and chased him off everytime. Even with good water quality, the panda's fins began to fray. He stopped eating, and seemed to also display slightly raised scales (it was hard to tell because of his coloration). You can guess what happened to him. My sunset started this strange "backing up" behavior himself after about a week, and also stopped eating. He'd spend most of his time by the heater, very near to the surface, sometimes with his tail down and head up. He seemed "twitchy." This lasted quite a while; regardless, he never recovered and died after about three weeks. Immediately after, my remaining platy started hanging around the bottom of the tank. He flashes. Could this be parasites? Do I need to tear this aquarium down and start over again? My two corydoras, along with a female betta ( a new betta), are just fine in their separate tank. Both tanks are planted, though my betta/cory tank is more heavily planted than the platy one. Because of the plant matter, hornwort needles, etc. I make water changes quite frequent, about 50% a week. I also will vacuum up uneaten food every other day or so (which happens quite often since the fish in the platy tank doesn't eat anymore. Sometimes he'll show interest, take a nibble, but that's it).
Water parameters:
Temp: 80 degrees
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: Possibly 0, suspected under 5 ppm
I use API liquid test kits.
I changed the filter yesterday, but didn't scrub anything. There is are these tiny white bubbles that congregate on the needles of hornwort near the filter - I thought these were just trapped oxygen bubbles however.
