Three Casualties in Three Days?!

gmiller1122

AC Members
Jul 6, 2005
44
0
0
About 2 weeks ago, I bought 3 sunburst platys from the lfs. Within a few days, one had died. It was just hanging out at the bottom of the tank, then one morning, he was dead.

I just returned from a three-day outing to find another platy AND 2 of my serpae tetras dead. In the middle of my absence, a friend came by and fed the fish, so they never went more than a day and a half without food. I also kept the room temperature at its normal level. However, I kept the tank light off the whole time, thinking that the limited sunlight would be better than constant tank light (didn't think of using a timer).

I just checked all the levels and everything is okay. So, what happened? I'm thinking that the platy died, and his dead body somehow infected the others...maybe they nibbled on him?

My zebras and black-skirts are looking okay, though the remaining serpae is pale and his eyes are bulging. Help?

:help:
 
Was the tank cycled?

Did you dechlorinate the water?

Look closely at the remaining fish... Do they have any unusual markings on their bodies? Ich or another parasite could be a culprit.

Could have been stress from the LFS and transit... Or the Tetra could have chased it around... How big is the tank?
 
Yes, the tank is cycled and the water is dechlorinated.

there are no markings on the other fish.

The tank is 20 gallons.
 
AquariaCentral.com