Fish died

[fish :)]

Today, when I cleaned my tank for the first time ever, one of my fish, who was stuck to the heater for almost a day, detached from it and went upside down. I had thought the fish was sleeping. I have 4 fish and this one was being scared off by two fish. Im pretty sure this is why the fish died. He was harassed to death. Im also wondering if I am doing everything correct. There are many ways he could have died and I am really not sure. If I can find the problem, I can prevent this from happening next time.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

What fish are you keeping?

Aquarium is a confined place and fish can get killed or bullied easily.
Big fish will even eat the smaller fish if they can fit into their mouth.

Any aggressive fish that can cause physical injury to other fish should be promptly removed.

 

[fish :)]

We have 4 female platyfish. I only have 1 fish tank. How do you suppose I remove them?

 

[JxsPxxle]

How big is your tank?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

We have 4 female platyfish. I only have 1 fish tank. How do you suppose I remove them?

Platies are peaceful fish but once in a while they can become aggressive.

Firstly, put more tall plants and hiding places for them to hide and to get away from each other.

Secondly, re-position your heater in such that they won't be able to get stuck/trapped in it.
Probably put it at a corner where it'll be difficult for them to get to the heater.

Thirdly, if possible get a bigger tank probably 20gallons long(30 inches long) or bigger. The bigger the better.

 

[Essjay]

We know from your other thread that:
this is a brand new 38 litre/10 gallon tank, set up about 9 days ago and the fish added a day later.
it was not cycled before fish were put in the tank, so this is fish-in cycle
we don't have readings for ammonia and nitrite

The main problem is that the tank was not cycled before getting fish so you are now doing a fish-in cycle. Unless you've been doing water changes of at least 50% every day, ammonia will have been building up in the tank and will poison the fish. The one which has died was probably the weakest and succumbed to the ammonia faster than the others.

In order to save the rest of the fish you need to start doing daily water changes. Buy a test kit and once you have it test for ammonia and nitrite every day. Do a water change every time you see ammonia or nitrite higher than zero. Add some live plants, floating ones are best - plants take up ammonia as fertiliser and will help to reduce the ammonia level in the tank. Get some tetra Safe Start - this is one of the better bottled bacteria products and will speed up the cycle.
Finally, if at all possible get a bigger tank. Platies need a tank at least 24 inches/60 cm long. If you do this, move the filter over to the new tank at the same time as the fish, or put all the current filter media into the new filter.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree with @essjay

 

[fish :)]

How big is your tank?

38L

 

[fish :)]

We know from your other thread that:
this is a brand new 38 litre/10 gallon tank, set up about 9 days ago and the fish added a day later.
it was not cycled before fish were put in the tank, so this is fish-in cycle
we don't have readings for ammonia and nitrite

The main problem is that the tank was not cycled before getting fish so you are now doing a fish-in cycle. Unless you've been doing water changes of at least 50% every day, ammonia will have been building up in the tank and will poison the fish. The one which has died was probably the weakest and succumbed to the ammonia faster than the others.

In order to save the rest of the fish you need to start doing daily water changes. Buy a test kit and once you have it test for ammonia and nitrite every day. Do a water change every time you see ammonia or nitrite higher than zero. Add some live plants, floating ones are best - plants take up ammonia as fertiliser and will help to reduce the ammonia level in the tank. Get some tetra Safe Start - this is one of the better bottled bacteria products and will speed up the cycle.
Finally, if at all possible get a bigger tank. Platies need a tank at least 24 inches/60 cm long. If you do this, move the filter over to the new tank at the same time as the fish, or put all the current filter media into the new filter.

not sure if this counts, but every day for the first 5 days that we had them we put 2 cleaning types of water to clean the tank

 

[JuiceBox52]

not sure if this counts, but every day for the first 5 days that we had them we put 2 cleaning types of water to clean the tank

What are cleaning types of water?

 

[fish :)]

quick start, stress coat

 

[Retired Viking]

Do not use stress coat, to jump start your cycle use Tetra SafeStart Plus it has the right bacteria in it. I agree with @essjay,