Dead Rainbow Platy

[RJOfford]

Good afternoon everyone,

I am new to the forum and wish to canvass some opinion about a Platy that died suddenly overnight. I have a thirty litre BiOrb tank, which after a break has been re-set up and cycled since February. A month or so after setting the tank up, and having ensured all the ammonium/nitrate levels etc were fine, I added three Rainbow Platys to the tank. All of them have been apparently healthy since then. After a month or so, and after ensuring that the water quality had remained stable, I also added 7 neon tetras, and all was well.

However, one of the neon tetras developed a cotton like white growth on the side of his mouth. It seemed to be otherwise fine, and was swimming, socialising and eating normally. However, over the course of several weeks the growth got gradually bigger and I tried treating it, but to no avail, and after a few weeks the tetra died. One of the other tetras has also developed a similar white growth, which is also starting to grow, so I fear I may lose this fish also.

I know tetras can be quite fragile, however the whole time my Platys, which I've had for over three months, have all been apparently fine. Indeed, they are procreating, and I have approximately a dozen tiny little Platy babies. I am conscious that this will lead my tank to being over-populated when they grow a little, so I need to find a new home for these babies.

One of the Platys was very fat, and I assumed that it was pregnant again and was expecting yet more Platy babies, but this morning I came downstairs and found it upside down, dead, at the bottom of the tank. The Platy was no longer fat, so I was wondering whether perhaps it either died during birthing, or perhaps the cause of it being so fat to begin with was nothing to do with it being pregnant, and it perhaps had an illness or disease?

I was wondering whether the issue with the tetras could be the cause of the death of my Platy, or whether there is anything else that might be obvious as to why it might have died? I am of course keen to ensure I don't lose any more fish and want to keep all my fish happy and healthy, so if anyone has any suggestions or advice I would be very happy to receive it.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The neons sound like they have a fungal infection.

The platy probably died during labour.

However, if you can post pictures of the sick fish we will have more info to help with a correct diagnosis.

 

[RJOfford]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The neons sound like they have a fungal infection.

The platy probably died during labour.

However, if you can post pictures of the sick fish we will have more info to help with a correct diagnosis.

Hi Colin, thanks for your message. I'm posting a couple of pictures of what the growth looks like. NB - I didn't take the photos, as I have been struggling to get a decent photo as they move too quickly, but these are photos I found on line of a fish with an almost identical growth in the same location. The other tetra which had a growth had a similar one, only it gradually became much larger, probably three times bigger by the time it finally died.

I've done quite a bit of research, and it seems that it is a fungal infection, but there seem to be mixed views on how to treat it, or indeed whether it is even treatable. I am preparing myself for this fish sadly dying too, but am very keen that if this is some kind of fungal infection then he doesn't pass it to any of the other fish in the tank.

 

[Colin_T]

Fungal infections are pretty easy to treat. Methylene Blue is the medication of choice. Put the fish into a separate (30-40litre) container that has been filled up with water from the main tank. Add an airstone, heater and Methylene Blue. Keep the fish in the Methylene Blue for a week after the infection has gone, then move them back into the main tank.

While in the medication you should only feed the fish once every second day and change all the water about 4 hours after you feed them. Then retreat the container with more Methylene Blue.

You can treat the main tank if you like but Methylene Blue kills filter bacteria so if you do treat the tank, you will have to cut back on feeding and do big daily water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down.

Methylene Blue also stains silicon (the glue holding the glass together) so it is preferable to use it in a separate tank.

-----------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

when you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you treat the tank, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean before treating. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank. Clean the filter too and increase aeration.

remove any carbon from filter before treating.

 

[RJOfford]

Thanks for the advice Colin, but unfortunately I don't have another tank or container, nor do I have another heater or air stone. I have previously tried treating the whole tank, which had no effect and I was also worried this might cause other issues for the remaining fish, all of whom are seemingly fine. Is it safe to treat the main tank again do you think, or am I better off separating the poorly fish and trying to treat him separately?

 

[Colin_T]

If there is only 1 or 2 sick fish you are better off moving them into another container for treatment. However, if that is not possible then treat the main tank.

Depending on what you used previously will determine what you should try now. Triple Sulpha or Tri Sulfa is quite safe for filters and fish and can be used to treat some fungal and bacterial infections. However, a lot of pathogens have developed a resistance to sulpha based medications and they don't work as well as they use to.

You could try adding salt to the tank in conjunction with a sulpha based medication. Add 1 heaped tablespoon of rock salt, seas salt, aquarium salt or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of water. Keep the salt in the water for a couple of weeks and treat with a sulpha based medication for a week and see how it goes.

*NB* do not use table salt because it has an anti caking agent to keep the salt granules separate and this can cause problems to fish.

------------------
The other option is a broad spectrum medication but it depends on what is available to you and what the specific medications treat.

 

[NickAu]

I have a thirty litre BiOrb tank,

7 Tetras and 3 Platies in a 30 liter tank? Hate to say it but your tank is overstocked.

 

[RJOfford]

I thought so too, but I checked with my local aquarium and they said it would be fine. I had seen various reports and suggestions as to what you could have in a 30 litre tank, and those mostly said that it's too small for a shoal of tetras. However, at my local aquarium I told them what tank I had and what set up I had, and asked for suggestions as to what fish I could keep given the limitations of the tank. It was their suggestion to have 7 tetras and 3 Platys and assured me that it would not be overstocked.

 

[RJOfford]

My potential overstocking problem has now resolved itself because sadly I have lost all three of my Platys in the last few weeks, so now I just have the six remaining neon tetras, plus about 5-6 tiny Platy fry that were born before the Platys died out. I will be rehoming these tiny babies soon before they get too big and overstock the tank.

I have no idea why the Platys all died though. One apparently died in child birth. One got an eye infection and was dead the next day, and the last one died on Saturday. It had shown no signs of ill health and was eating and swimming normally, but was found dead at the bottom of the tank in the evening.

I have checked all the water parameters again, and have zero readings for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, and I always use the right amount of water conditioner when I do my weekly 30% water changes. Any ideas as to what might be the problem? I do live in a very hard water area, but none of my other fish seem to be affected by this.

 

[Essjay]

Never believe anything a shop worker says until you have researched it for yourself. Most of them haven't a clue, and will say anything to make a sale. A 30 litre tank is too small for platies and neon tetras. There are very few fish suitable for a tank this size.

The website Seriously Fish is the best one for research.
Platies http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/xiphophorus-maculatus/
Neon tetras http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/paracheirodon-innesi/

As you can see from those links, a 30 litre tank is too small for both those fish. They both need a tank at least 60 cm long x 30 cm wide, and this is usually a 60 litre tank.
If you do have hard water, half a dozen endlers livebearers should be OK - males only so there would be no fry to over populate the tank.

 

[RJOfford]

Thanks for your comments essjay, very helpful. I feel like an idiot, because I did do some research before and had ruled out getting neon tetras because I didn't think the tank was big enough, but then allowed myself to be persuaded by the aquarium shop that it would be fine. I know the main issue with overpopulating tanks is keeping on top of the ammonia/nitrite levels, and that's the main reason I do a partial water change every week (despite never having had any high readings after initial 4-6 week cycling period). However, is it possible that the lack of space in the tank is what led to the deaths of the Platys? It seems odd that they were all fine for about three months, and then all died within a short period, particularly given that the water parameters have always been good and stable.

 

[Essjay]

It's something else shops never mention - the space each species needs.

Were the platies in the tank during your cycling period? If they were, any ammonia and/or nitrite during that time would have weakened the fish.

With overstocked tanks it is not really keeping on top of ammonia and nitrite that is important because even an overpopulated tank should have enough bacteria to remove those. Rather it is because the bacteria turn the ammonia and nitrite into nitrate and with lots of fish in a small tank that can build up quickly. Ideally nitrate should never be allowed to get over 20 ppm, though that is tricky where there is more nitrate than that in tap water. And fish excrete and secrete many things we can't test for, and those things build up in the water as well. With a sensibly stocked tank, 50% water changes once a week are enough; with overstocked tanks water changes should be larger or more often.

 

[RJOfford]

No, I cycled the tank for around 4-6 weeks before introducing the Platys. During the cycling period, I was testing the water every 2/3 days, and only once I'd had zero readings for over a week did I add the fish. After adding the fish, I carried on testing the water every 2/3 days, and the readings remained good. After about 3/4 weeks, once I was certain that there were no spikes after adding the Platys, I added the tetras and continued to monitor the water. As I said, at all stages the water has been good, so I'm struggling to find a reason why they all died suddenly in such a short space of time.