Help - Dead Fish

[JasonCooper]

Returned from 4 days away yesterday to find that 3 of my red platys and 2 sunset platys have died. Of the remaining platys the red one appears fine as does one of the sunset ones, the final sunset platy appears to have had its fins severely nipped and appears quite lethargic. All other fish are healthy and active as where the Platys when I went away. Whats happened? Do I need to put the lights on a timer too?

Tank did contain 3 Leopard, 3 Mountain Minnow, 3 Three-Lined Corydoras, 4 Sunset Platy and 4 Red Platy. I was badly advised by the LFS about stocking, but was getting the cycle completed with consistant readings (below).

Tank is 180 litre Rio with a Juwel 3.0 bio filter unplanted with gravel substrate, some bogwood and decs. Autofeeder set-up to feed flake once a day and still working on return.

Tank readings before I went away where Ammonia 0.25-0.50ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 20ppm, ph 8.0.

On return the readings where Ammonia 2.0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm, ph 7.8. Presume the elevated Ammonia readings where purely from the deceased fish.

Since done a 35% water change and a 65% water change using tetra aqua safe and got the Ammonia reading down to 0.50ppm. My tap water reads Ammonia 0.50ppm.

 

[librarygirl]

It's hard to say; was anyone taking care of the tank when you were gone? Could anything have gotten into the tank (perfumes, cleaning products, air fresheners etc)? The dead fish likely caused the ammonia to spike and/or it could have been uneated fish food and waste from the tank not being cycled. You did good with the water changes; siphoning the substrate wouldn't be a bad idea either. The only thing to do for now is to monitor levels, do water changes as needed and watch the fish for odd behavior. The nipped fins could have been from the ammonia levels; clean water should help heal them, but you also might want to watch and make sure there isn't any aggression between the fish.

 

[JasonCooper]

It's hard to say; was anyone taking care of the tank when you were gone? Could anything have gotten into the tank (perfumes, cleaning products, air fresheners etc)? The dead fish likely caused the ammonia to spike and/or it could have been uneated fish food and waste from the tank not being cycled. You did good with the water changes; siphoning the substrate wouldn't be a bad idea either. The only thing to do for now is to monitor levels, do water changes as needed and watch the fish for odd behavior. The nipped fins could have been from the ammonia levels; clean water should help heal them, but you also might want to watch and make sure there isn't any aggression between the fish.

Could this be fin rot? Only question as I have just seen a very small (1-2mm) white fluff ball on the side of one of the Platys that wasn't there before and I have read somewhere that this could be associated with fin rot. Would fin rot kill this quickly?

Lost the lethargic one overnight and now the other two appear to be less active. Only other thing I can think of is weak stock as all of the Platys came from a different LFS, but why would they appear to be doing so well and suddenly turn for the worse.

 

[aqua_chem]

Two quick questions. How long has the tank been set up, and what is the gender ratio of your platies?

The white fluff is definitely something to be concerned about. 'Fuzz' is often associated with fungal issues, which are common secondary infection in otherwise weakened fish (likely a result of the ammonia).

IMO, platies are very resilient to ammonia, so hopefully the bounce back. With pH that high, you need to keep on top of your ammonia levels, doing water changes when needed.

 

[JasonCooper]

Two quick questions. How long has the tank been set up, and what is the gender ratio of your platies?

The white fluff is definitely something to be concerned about. 'Fuzz' is often associated with fungal issues, which are common secondary infection in otherwise weakened fish (likely a result of the ammonia).

IMO, platies are very resilient to ammonia, so hopefully the bounce back. With pH that high, you need to keep on top of your ammonia levels, doing water changes when needed.

Tank has been set up for two months now. Platys where all Male.
How do you naturally reduce the PH level so that it is constant, don't really want to be costantly adding chemicals.

 

[aqua_chem]

You shouldn't really monkey with the pH. It's just a factor that's largely out of your control and should be taken into account.

 

[JasonCooper]

You shouldn't really monkey with the pH. It's just a factor that's largely out of your control and should be taken into account.

Ok haven't got a quarantine tank was going to carry out a 50% water change, remove the carbon from my filter and dose the main tank with API Melafix & Pimafix tonight when I get home. Good course of action or should I do something else?