I Don't Know Why She Died

[FishLover4+1]

I think one of my female variatus platys is dead. When I found her was just lying on the ground in front of an ornament. Now she's in a breeding net. She has a swollen belly but she could be pregnant as there is a male in the tank with her.

I don't have a test kit - can't afford it and pets at home (where I got her from) never said I needed one.
No thermometer (they are temperate platys)
On Friday I added some more fish but didn't quarantine them (my quarantine tank has fry in it).

I have some aquarium tonic salt - should I Put some in for the other fish?
Request Help

Tank size: 90litres (20 gal)

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior)Inking on side, pale, dark eyes mouth open

Volume and Frequency of water changes:25-33% weekly

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:none

Tank inhabitants: Just the platys and their fry, + the loaches

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 2 loaches (the guy at the shop said Vietnamese but they look like tiger hillstreams

Exposure to chemicals: Just the tap water conditioner

 

[techen]

Am sorry but things are very hard to tell without a testing kit. You're water could be anything and we wouldn't know. I suggest buying a API masters kit as soon as possible.

It could be swim bladder if I spelt that right, Worth a google search. Apart from that am not good with medical questions but I try my best.

 

[FishLover4+1]

thanks anyway. at least you answered.

 

[techen]

Not a problem, did you google swim bladder it's worth seeing if they relate to them.

 

[the_lock_man]

Take a sample of water to a fish shop, ask them to test it for ammonia and nitrite, and to tell you what the actual numbers are, not just "that's fine" or "that's looking bad", we need an actual number like 1ppm, or 0.25ppm.

How long has the tank been set up, and how did you cycle it, ie how did you grow the bacteria in the filter?

 

[FishLover4+1]

Ok will do the water sample thing.
Have dosed with aquarium salt, and no-one else has died / is acting weird.

Tanks been running since april and wasn't really cycled (had almost no experience then, just added the fish one each week till all 3 were in)

 

[the_lock_man]

THat long, the cycle will have established itself. However, the chances are that the fish were exposed to high levels of ammonia and nitrite in teh first few months of you having your tank, and it could be that this particular fish suffered more, and has died early as a result. As you rightly say, the chances are that the swollen belly on the fish is due to being pregnant, so that isn't necessarily a pointer to an illness.

Make sure that you keep your water changes up to schedule.

As recommended by Techy, it's best to have your own test kit - they seem to be a lot cheaper online (Ebay) than they are in the shops, the API master kit is about £20-25 on Ebay.

 

[FishLover4+1]

When you get £13 pocket money a month that seems quite a lot... I'll take a water sample to the pet shop tomorrow and see what they get.

I'm slowly adding salt to the full dose, whenever I put a bit in the fish all hang around it - maybe they know it's good for them!!!

 

[the_lock_man]

When you get £13 pocket money a month that seems quite a lot... I'll take a water sample to the pet shop tomorrow and see what they get.

I'm slowly adding salt to the full dose, whenever I put a bit in the fish all hang around it - maybe they know it's good for them!!!

Fair dues - I assumed your were an adult. OK. Show this to Mum & Dad or whoever you live with.

Dear Parents/Guardians of FishLover4+1

I and a few other members of www.fishforums.net have been attempting to help your daughter with a problem she has experienced with her aquarium. Part of the problem we have is that she is unable to advise us of the ammonia and nitrite levels in the water in her aquarium, because she does not have, and cannot afford, a liquid based test kit.

It is also unfortunate that the staff at Pets At Home did not advise her to obtain one, as I, along with the majority of the experienced fishkeeping members of this forum, consider a liquid-based test kit to be an essential item in the fishkeeper's cupboard. Without it, it is impossible to diagnose which of the common causes of fish ailments is being suffered, with any degree of confidence.

I appreciate that we have only just had Christmas, and that household budgets may be under pressure. However, purchasing a test kit may well save a number of deaths of fish in the future, and therefore save the cost of replacing said fish. In the long-term, it will pay for itself.

Many of the members of this forum recommend the API freshwater master test kit, which is available from various sellers on Ebay and Amazon for around £20, as well as Pets At Home in store for £33. I myself use the Salifert tests, which cost around £7.50 each from any good branch of Maidenhead Aquatics (www.fishkeeper.co.uk). If you were to consider that option, then I would suggest buying the ammonia and nitrite tests initially, followed by the nitrate and pH tests when budgets allow.

Quite clearly, your daughter has the best interests of her fish at heart, unlike so many people who buy a tank and just throw any old fish in there, and I am sure she will, in the fullness of time, become an excellent and knowledgeable fishkeeper. I hope you will see your way clear to purchasing her these essential items.

Yours faithfully

The Lock Man

PS Can I take this opportunity to advise you that the paper strip tests are notoriously unreliable, and whilst they are cheaper, they do turn out to be a false economy.

 

[mark4785]

Dear Parents/Guardians of FishLover4+1
It is also unfortunate that the staff at Pets At Home did not advise her to obtain one, as I, along with the majority of the experienced fishkeeping members of this forum, consider a liquid-based test kit to be an essential item in the fishkeeper's cupboard. Without it, it is impossible to diagnose which of the common causes of fish ailments is being suffered, with any degree of confidence.

Sorry but since when did having a test kit actually allow a person to diagnose an illness in a fish? It allows a person to determine their aquarium water parameters, but it doesn't make it anymore possible to diagnose a specific illness as all the spectrum of fish diseases are all usually brought about my water quality issues.