Platy keep dying

[Bl414]

I've had my tank up and running for awhile now (about a year) and my fish keep dying. One by one they die, they start acting weird and go to the bottom of the tank and lay on the substrate and then a few days later they die. This has been happening for a few months now and I've lost 4 fish.

Tank is cycled
I do regular maintenance
Water parameters are all normal

Please help!

 

[LyndaB]

What size tank?

What is in it?

What are readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

Temp and pH?

Any changes made within this timeframe to the tank? Any fish added?

 

[Bl414]

Its a 10g tank with a red wag Platy and a Mickey mouse Platy. There's also about 6 mickey mouse fry about a half an inch long.
Tank parameters are all normal, temp is at 78
Haven't made any new changes in about 6 months

 

[Talvari]

In my experience, mollys and platys dont do well in tanks smaller than 20 gallons. They get too big and they just dont have enough space. Usually they get stressed enough they end up dying within a few months. Again, thats just my experience.

 

[LyndaB]

Tank parameters are all normal, temp is at 78
Haven't made any new changes in about 6 months

"Normal" indicates you are using strips? If so, they are highly inaccurate. Have you ever had your water tested using a liquid kit? That would be helpful. Some lsf use liquid, the not-so-good lfs use the strips.

Is it possible that your fish are just getting older?

 

[Bl414]

They were doing really well for the past 6 months and then everything just changed. I thought the tank was big enough.
Nah I use the liquid tests

I'm not sure how long they live, but it's only been a year.

It's weird though because they don't show signs of being sick, like it's not wide spread it's only one fish at a time. No fungus or spots.

 

[LyndaB]

What is your water change schedule?

 

[Bl414]

About 50% once a week

 

[Xand3r]

There's your answer, you should not change more than 25% of your water weekly, doing such thing stresses the fish, which in the long run kills them.

 

[BHead707]

There's your answer, you should not change more than 25% of your water weekly, doing such thing stresses the fish, which in the long run kills them.

ive heard very different than this, especially in a smaller tank buildup can occur rather quickly

 

[Xand3r]

I used to have a 10 Gallon tank (one of those starter kits from walmart) with 1 otocinclus, 3 platties, 1 half moon Beta, and 3 ghost shrimp. I never changed more than 2-3 gallons per week, and once a month changed about 50% and my water parameters were always fine. as long as you vacuum your gravel/substrate every time you perform a water change you don't have to worry about buildups. You don't have to vacuum the whole tank every week, you can vacuum one part this week and the other part the next week and so on. I had the tank for about a year and non of my fish died during that time.

So that's why I said that the 50% water changes might be stressing your fish.

If there are not signs/ symptoms of disease, you should give this a try, unless someone else comes up with a better solution.

 

[Bl414]

i didnt think that 50 was that much but ill try doing it 25 from now on. had another fish loss yesterday and also found a few small fry swimming around.

 

[LyndaB]

There's your answer, you should not change more than 25% of your water weekly, doing such thing stresses the fish, which in the long run kills them.

I respectfully disagree with your statement. Even with my 16 gallon, I change out 50% of my water weekly. Many aquarists do. Fish need the nutrients found in the fresh water to do well.

 

[FastFly67]

Are you buying new fish and they're dying or is your current stock dying?

 

[Bl414]

theyre my current stock. ive had them for a little more then 6 months and the others are a year old

 

[FastFly67]

Do they have any physical signs of disease or injury?

 

[Bl414]

no signs of disease to knowledge and they look how they always look. im gonna do a water change today and add a bit of salt just in case

 

[FastFly67]

And the salt for what reason?

 

[LyndaB]

Salt is supposed to aid with the slime coat.

Is it possible that your fish are just getting older? Were they adults when you purchased them?

 

[Bl414]

I'm really not sure. I got 2 mickey mouse ones from petsmart and they were clearly full grown, both of them died. I also got 3 red wags from a lfs almost a year ago and now only 1 is left, hes about full grown now but was pretty small when i first got him