Random Adult Fish Deaths? - But I have live fry?

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Saltypuppy

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
383
Hello!

Okay so the weirdest things have been happening in my tank. Which is now like EMPTY! UGH.

Tank Stats / Specs
Ten Gallon
Two HOB filters - Fully Cycled
Live Planted Aquarium

Inhabitants
Four Platies
One Cory
One Betta

Parameters
Nitrite - 0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 20ppm

I had four platies and a betta in a tank along with one cory, everything was going fine until one of my platies got aggressive - She bit ones eye out (Died), , She bit ones tail fin (Healing), She bit scales off one (Healing). Also one had babies - so I have like 25 fry ^^. They fry are all doing great!

Well this morning I woke up to - the one with its eye bitten out dead, the betta died (had been having some unexplained problems - his fins were kinda iffy... but no fungus / no rot. I HAVE NO CLUE what happened. Also woke up to a dead cory. The aggressive platy and the injured ones had been separated a few days before - so she is not the problem.

Only the Cory, Betta and Babies were in the tank. ALL the babies are fine. Not a single one died. So does anyone have ANY idea what in the world is going on? Because I am at a loss for words / a solution!

Any advice it appreciated.
 
I am by no means an expert, but I would guess your Nitrate level is to blame. Ideally you should have a very low Nitrate level, as close to zero as you can get it, despite some of the test kits telling you to stay below 40 ppm.

Perhaps the fish got aggressive due to the high Nitrate level? I would suggest you do at least a 50% water change and be sure to condition the water with a quality water condition such as Seachem Prime. I previously used other brands and I don't believe they were nearly as good as Prime. Petsmart sells Seachem products, although I'm not sure Petco does.

Good luck & let us know how things progress.

P.S. I'm surprised the fry are alive.....you should probably place them in a breeder box to protect them from the larger fish. Keep them there until they are too big for the others to fit into their mouths.
 
I am by no means an expert, but I would guess your Nitrate level is to blame. Ideally you should have a very low Nitrate level, as close to zero as you can get it, despite some of the test kits telling you to stay below 40 ppm.

Perhaps the fish got aggressive due to the high Nitrate level? I would suggest you do at least a 50% water change and be sure to condition the water with a quality water condition such as Seachem Prime. I previously used other brands and I don't believe they were nearly as good as Prime. Petsmart sells Seachem products, although I'm not sure Petco does.

Good luck & let us know how things progress.

P.S. I'm surprised the fry are alive.....you should probably place them in a breeder box to protect them from the larger fish. Keep them there until they are too big for the others to fit into their mouths.

I kinda of figured it was a nitrate thing, Its been cleaned etc since then and appears to be okay. No more dead fishes since this board was made. Fry have been in a net since the day I saw the first one! I have thirty two little platy fry!
 
Can happen I think. I've had female Molly's that don't put up with anything, will peck at the catfish to shift them and run through the rosy barbs. But never so seriously mean as that though.
 
Is it really? I am just confused why SUDDEN fish death happened. :c All the fry are going strong still tough! They grow so fast!

Yes it is. I had my tanks running at 80 PPM for a while, it was a problem with the tap water. Even my ram pair made it through. 10-20 PPM is ideal, but anything at 40 and under should be ok for most fish. With more sensitive fish, 10-15 is ideal.
 
20-40ppm is usually not a problem in highly planted tanks, but with a normal tank with fake plants, minimal decor or bare try to keep it as close to 0 as possible and water change 35% at least if you get a spike over 15ppm on 'trates and you shouldn't have problems, at least that's been my experience.
A lot of times before nitrate death you might notice sluggish, bloated fish with dropsy like symptoms. If you catch these symptoms and change a couple gallons every other day and add some java moss and water sprite you shouldn't need any real harsh chemicals- mind you these are just observations from personal experience

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Soooo, I think we're chasing our tails here a bit with nitrates. Either way we should see some symptoms to explain the dead Cory and betta but not fry I think it was ? Nitrates I always thought was a shock if going from low to high or can effect birth rates (plus some other stuff I've no doubt forgotten :). ).

Can I ask the OP what tank ph is and if there were any tank changes made before the deaths ? Even a water change or filter clean or moving stuff to catch fish.

To go that quick I can only think of a bacterial infection or a big change in water chemistry? Infections I've found can go just through certain fish types.
 
20-40ppm is usually not a problem in highly planted tanks, but with a normal tank with fake plants, minimal decor or bare try to keep it as close to 0 as possible and water change 35% at least if you get a spike over 15ppm on 'trates and you shouldn't have problems, at least that's been my experience.
A lot of times before nitrate death you might notice sluggish, bloated fish with dropsy like symptoms. If you catch these symptoms and change a couple gallons every other day and add some java moss and water sprite you shouldn't need any real harsh chemicals- mind you these are just observations from personal experience

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Can I ask what sort of fish you see that with? I know some types are more sensitive so just curious.
 
Can I ask what sort of fish you see that with? I know some types are more sensitive so just curious.

Normally it's live bearers and 'scaleless' fish like cats, loaches and botia, I've also noticed tiger barbs and anabatoids (sp?) usually get puffy but will survive.

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