1st Casualty

[ric1984]

Just lost my first ever fish it was a female rainbow plattie. She has been getting bothered for over a week by the male on she then went very quiet sitty behind stones etc. I thought she may be pregnant come in today and she is dead I am gutted first fish I have ever lost only had tank 2 months did a 4 week fishless cycle and then put the fish in a few at a time!

 

[ric1984]

My other plattie isnt swimming to well now neither is there anything i can do to help him

 

[Dan81192]

My other plattie isnt swimming to well now neither is there anything i can do to help him

hmm,are you feeding them to much? or not enougth, you checked the nitrate/nitrie levels?

 

[ric1984]

I feed them once a day at night and give a small pinch which seems to last two - three mins. I dont have a testing kit I am going to take my sample to the LFS tomorrow they test free

 

[Dan81192]

I feed them once a day at night and give a small pinch which seems to last two - three mins. I dont have a testing kit I am going to take my sample to the LFS tomorrow they test free

could be lack of food maybe, or just the wrong water,

 

[shelaghfishface]

awww thats sad,did she have any physical signs of illness? def get the water checked tho, and invest in your own testing kit soon they are crucial

hope you get it sorted
shelagh xxxx

 

[mark.w.jones]

Did you fully stock your tank within a minimum of 3 days once your cycle was complete. Otherwise a lot of beneficial bacteria will die off leaving not enough to deal with the waste of any new fish. You may find levels of ammonia and nitrite if you do a test. The amount of these present will decide the size of the water change you should then do. 25% is a good ball park.

 

[ric1984]

MY nitrate was 1.9 ggrrhh he told me to dod a big water change have done its now down to 0.4

 

[mark.w.jones]

Nitrate is really not a concern as it has far less of an impact on fish health. What you should be getting readings for is ammonia and nitrite. I would recommend you invest in your own liquid master test kit with tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Then you can do your own tests. There is a possibility that something is wrong in your tank. It could also just be a dud fish. Getting all the test results will help greatly.

How did you do your fishless cycle? Was it with liquid ammonia or another method.
How are your other fish behaving? Anything out of the ordinary like gulping at surface, hiding in corners, flicking up against objects, heavy "breathing" from gills etc?