Problems with Platys and Swordtails

[moboe]

Greetings,
I established my 20G tank on 2/15/04. I fishy cycled with 2 zebra danios and 2 long finned leopard danios, and weekly 20-25% water changes.

I added 3 otos in mid March, after my ammonia and nitrite levels were zero. My nitrate has never been more than 10.

I have 7 live plants in the tank, 3 of which grow nicely and 2 of those reach the top of the water level. The other 4 are low plants that haven't grown much.

Wanting to add swordtails, platys and a dwarf gourami or 2, I last week purchased 2 swordtails from my LFS. Saturday, one died.

I purchased 1 swordtail and 2 mickey mouse platys yesterday. Today, that swordtail, and the one remaining from last week died. One of the platys looks like it isn't feeling well (sitting on the bottom of the tank in a corner all day.) The other platy seems very happy, as do the danios and otos.

The water still tests ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 10. Ph is about 7.5.

Am I doing something wrong, or did I just happen into a bad batch of fish? All the swordtails and platys came from the same LFS. I saw no physical signs of illness, save for some bloating and scales sticking out on the swordtail from yesterday that died today, just around his anus (do you call it that on fish?)

I'd like to get another mickey mouse platy (assuming the sick one dies) and would still like 2 swordtails. I like the color that the red and orange adds to the tank. I thought a dwarf gourami would be a nice centerpiece fish, and would only get 2 if it was recommended to keep them in pairs. That would total 13 fish, which seemed reasonable, if added slowly as I've been doing, to the tank.

However, I'm afraid to buy more swordtails or platys, and am worried about the other fish in my tank getting some illness from these fish. I had read that swordtails are very inbred, and wonder if I experienced this first hand.

Any ideas or suggestions or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Margaret

 

[AquaDewd]

The swollen scales pointing out around the anus suggest a disease, dropsy. But it would normally progress over more of the fish's body before it killed it.
Sometimes, the conditions in the LFS aren't optimal, and although your tank parameters may be good, the shock from changing water conditions quickly can take many a fish down.
Sometimes you just get fish that aren't overtly sick looking, but die shortly after purchase for whatever reason. There is nothing you mentioned that points a finger definitively at a cause of death. "In my humble opinion of course."

 

[schiejr]

I agree, the stress of the move very well may have aggravated something the fish were already fighting off, especially if the LFS themselves recently got them in or had a sick tank.

Things to look for when buying- avoid any fish from a tank with poor fish even if the one you want looks good. It is best to let newly arrived fish stay in the store for a few weeks to make sure they have overcome shipping stress, the clerk should be able to tell you.

This highlights the reason to have a quarantine tank, even 2 or 5 gallons. You risk bringing a pathogen into your tank and wiping out other fish you worked so hard to establish correctly.

Acclimation should be a float for 15-30 minutes and then the best thing to do is add water from the tank to the bag to make sure there is no chemical shock over another 30 minutes at least. This minimizes stress on the new fish. Also make sure no bag water from the store is added to your tank either. Pour the fish and water through a net into a bucket and then place the fish from the net into the tank.

 

[happychem]

If you've got a quaranteen tank, this can help as well. Instead of the bucket, add the fish to your q-tank and leave them in this tank for 2-4 weeks once they've shown that they're not carrying anything to infect your main tank, move them over. You can even keep the parameters in the two tanks very similar, this will minimize the shock of the second move.

In my experience swordtails are extremely hardy, even the one I rescued from Wal-Mart (yes, I know, but she had a chewed up dorsal fin and I felt bad for her) survived.

Speaking of stores with crappy fish keeping conditions, personally, I try to avoid chain stores because I've found that their fish and tanks tend to be less healthy and their tanks poorly maintained. Around here there's a local store that sells only fish (so, not just a standard pet store), it's not a chain and they take extremely good care of their tanks. The fish are sometimes more expensive than at the 'big' stores, but the way I see it, if you only have to buy the fish once, you save money.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is if you have a shop around you that is well reputed or a smaller scale operation, you may have better luck getting healthy fish the first time around.

Also, boy do I ramble, with livebearers like swordtails if you've got any friends with some ask them about some of their fry.

 

[moboe]

Thanks to all for your help and support. And, for making me feel better about my own aquarium skills. I'll try some more swordtails and platys from another LFS, and see how that goes. I'll try to set up a quarantine tank, space permitting, as I understand that would be a very good idea.

It's funny, because I went to this chain LFS specifically to get these platys and swordtails because the 4 danios I cycled with came from there, and I hadn't lost anyone. One of 3 panda cories I purchased from a specialized aquarium store died after a day, and the betta that came from there is currently recovering from a very bad bout with fin rot. There is a third LFS, not aquarium specialized, but not a chain, that has a very impressive fish department from which the otos came, and as they've done well, I'll try that place for my next purchases.

Thanks again for all the help!

Margaret

 

[schiejr]

It all depends on the clerks and the policies at the stores. The independents are often run by dedicated hobbyists so you get folks that know what they are talking about and how to take care of fish as well as a wider selection of the less common types. Even then they can get a so so batch of fish in. They may still sell them since nothing is obviously wrong but the additional stress can cause problems at your place. I guess my point is even at the same good store all fish may not be at the same level of health but if you stick with them over the long run you should come out ahead of those stores that are muddling through where the health of the fish declines while there.

Good luck on your next purchases.

 

[moboe]

Swordtail problems continue...

Well, something new has happened in my swordtail saga. Of the 3 swordtails and 2 platys I purchased last week, one platy has survived, and is very happy.

I purchased 2 swordtails yesterday from another LFS, and slowly acclimated them to the tank. I mentioned to the guy at the store about the trouble I'd had, and when I said my ph was about 7.5, he thought that was a bit high for swordtails.

Anyway, this morning, one of the swordtails is happily swimming around. The other I found dried up on the floor beside the tank. He must have jumped out of the tank in the small section that isn't covered where the water from the HOB flows in. I've now covered as much of that area as possible, save for the water flow.

My question is, was this just some freak accident, or could something about the water (like the ph) have made him so uncomfortable that he was trying to get away from it? The odd thing is, one of the swordtails that died last week actually jumped out of the tank when I had my hand in it, and I quickly put him back in.

Thanks for any ideas offered!

 

[cattlegrid_79]

Fish are great jumpers. If there's a gap somewhere, it's highly likely that one of them will find it!! This incident won't be related to your pH or water parameters, nor is it related to the previous deaths.

The problem with these common livebearers is that they are mass bred through many generation blood lines and every now and then, you get a bad batch of fish. If all the deaths you had were with fish from the same LFS, bought at the same time, this is highly probable.

The fact that you have a couple of otocinclus in the tank and they are doing fine (you didn't mention that they weren't!!), means that your water parameters and general maintenance must be fairly good. Otos are quite fussy regarding water conditions and usually require a healthy, mature planted tank.

Don't shoot your own aquatic skills down just yet. Sounds to me like this was out of your control.