What I am doing wrong??? :(

invisible1130

invisible1130

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Feb 18, 2006
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I just lost another platy within 4 days. I lost the other on Saturday. No signs of sickness in either fish. Its like one minute they are fine...the next I find them floating in the tank. I feel awful! I feel like such a horrible fish mommy!! My tank is cycled. I have been checking the water and I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates were at 10 this morning (on the test tube kit). I have a 10 gallon tank and I use Aquasafe to treat the tap water. I do 25% water changes once a week. The PH is 7.8 and the temp. is about 79 degrees. Could I have just gotten a few bad platys or does anyone see that I am doing something wrong? I have only been doing this for about 4 weeks now and I'm getting frustrated. I get so upset when a fish dies. I have another 10 gallon tank with zebra danios and corys and they have been great!! :help:
 
You say you've been doing this for 4 weeks now, so I'm assuming the tank is only 4 weeks old. Are you positive your tank is completely cycled? Did you see the ammonia and nitrites rise and then fall during the cycle? Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? And did you cycle with these platys?
 
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Yes, I've been testing the water like crazy and yes, I did have the ammonia and the nitrites spike and then finally fell to zero. I think my tank cycled quickly becuase I did use Bio spira. Everything that I have read should happen, did happen and I still test the water all of the time to make sure that nothing changes. I did not cycle the tank with the platys. I have 5 neon tetras that I cycled with and they are all fine. During the cycling I changed the water every day to keep the ammonia and nitrites down. Is there something that I might be missing??? I'm just at a loss....
 
what test kit are you using?

did you do a fish cycle or fishless cycle..

I know zebra danios are tough fish..hardy enough to withstand being used in a fish cycle.

It sounds as if you have some sort of spike.. but your test indicate your okay.

I know ammonia and nitrite spikes can change the conditions fast and fish wil just start dropping depending on species and how well they tolerate spikes.
ammonia is dangerous ..period
nitrite oxidises hemoglobins to metheglobin and basically asphixiates the fish since metheglobin cannot transport oxygen. I believe that salt will inhibit the aborption of nitrites
I would retest the tanks and do daily 10-15 % water changes in them.
 
I'm not even CLOSE to being an expert but I don't think its my water because I literally check it every single day. I mean, I know it can probably change fast but by checking so often I would see the ammonia or nitrites during my testing. Would there be anything else??? It seems like I am just having bad luck with the platys. All of my other fish are fine. (rest in peace, little platys) :(
 
Doesn't sound like ammonia or nitrite are the issues. My parents bought some platies. they lived fine through quarentine (2 weeks) and then died on transfer to the established tank. No reason for it. Perhaps platies just aren't as hardy anymore.

Assumign you have a cycled tank and are doing decent water changes each week (with a dechlorinator of course) then I am going to assume that you did somehow get some platies that just weren't very hardy.
 
Thanks Tkos...that makes me feel a little bit better (at least it doesn't make me feel like I actually killed the poor little things). Thanks to all that replied...I'll keep up the water testing and maybe I'll try a few more platys later. They are such cool little guys!!
 
try a different LFS when you get your next fish..could be a problem at the source.
:idea2:
 
Actually the process of "cycleing" happens each time you add new fish. The bacteria isn't there to deal with the new level of waste production. To a small degree it also happens when you change the ammount you feed a tank even if the fish stay the same. What size were these platys? I have found that platys that are close to 2 inches tend to be over the hill.
 
Can you give us a "play by play" of how you introduce the fish to your tank? How are you acclimating them?

Also, they must be displaying *some* symptoms. How do they behave the minute you put them in your tank? Do they gasp, are their gills working hard, etc., etc.,.

This will help us find out what's going on.

Roan
 
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