Loosing Platys

[platybabie]

bum I lost the first post
Hi as you know were newbys here and have a smallish tank of 3 platys 2 corys and 2 phantoms...were loosing our Platys the first to die was our "babyplatys" mum, two days ago,baby is fine tho. The second has just died...way, way back, |I used to keep African Cichlids and am not used to sudden deaths like this. We had the water tested about a week ago and I did a water change yesterday. whats wrong are they sensitive,do they just "dropdead" ...please help x Valerie x

 

[hughessomefish]

Ok first I ask what is the gallon size of the tank or if your from over seas what is the number of liters the tank holds,If this is a small tank it sounds like your overstocked. Also if your having this many deaths I recommend you get your water tested because your ammonia levels are proably way to high, thats probably what is killing your platys, I do not advise you get anyother fish for that tank till you have the problems resolved.

And do you have the results to the water tests from aweek ago?

Also welcome to the fourms!

 

[the biffster]

hi how long as the tank
been up and running and
do you know the stats
of your tank like

temp

ph

ammonia

nitrite

nitrate

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum Platybabie.
In general platies are tough as nails fish so we need to look for something else. The biffster has started by asking questions that might point to a new tank or one with water not appropriate for a platy. If you still live where you did when you kept Africans, chances are the water is not too soft for a platy. Temperature can be implicated if your water is too warm since it will not hold enough oxygen for an active fish like a platy. The other contaminants listed are typically only found at excessive levels in fairly new tanks.

BTW: I found your other post. It was hidden where the general membership could not see it and largely duplicated this one so I moved it to our disposal area. If you wish I can merge it back into this thread instead.

 

[platybabie]

no,no its fine I couldnt find the other post, so thought it was gone, thanks x
the water was,apparently, fine the other week when it was tested, tho I didnt write down the details and the tank is now about 6 weeks old... we are about 6 miles from where we used to live,when I kept the Cichlids, the lady checked the water and said the ph was ok for platys,thats why we got them, though we did start with just phantoms and the corys the tank is 40 litres.
Its quite sad, the others are fine.. so far, we had really heavy snow today but might whizz to the "fish" place tomorrow to get the water tested again, I always thought platys like "brackish" water, so Ive never kept them before.
thanks for the replies x Valerie x

 

[OldMan47]

You have had the first bit of bad advice, maybe it would be better to call it incomplete, from the LFS. One of the things you care least about is the pH of the water. A platy will do fine in any reasonably mineralized water from about 6.8 to 8.5 pH. On the other hand, a newly established tank at only 6 weeks old may well still be in the middle of a cycle. That means that you may be seeing high levels of ammonia or nitrites in your water. Either one at a level over about 0.25 ppm can be very hard on your fish. Please do not add any more fish to the tank, even as replacements, until you can measure both ammonia and nitrites and find them both under that 0.25 ppm value. In the meanwhile, if you do not have a decent liquid based test kit, do at least a 30% water change every other day until you can get that test done. It may well save the fish that you still have.

 

[hughessomefish]

I agree with Oldman47, sometimes lfs give bad advice to people because the people working there usally haven't had any expirence in the hobby, and are just working there as a side job. Its not your fault your new to the hobby and were given bad info this happened to me when I was new to the hobby, don't hesitate to ask any questions, trust me this fourm will help you tremendously.

good luck

 

[platybabie]

Ive done a water change today and all is well so far,the "little Fella" is champion and our plants are growing really well. thanks guys x

 

[OldMan47]

If you have good growth on plants, you may have the plants saving your fish to some extent. The ammonia and nitrates that we worry about most are plant fertilizers. If the plants are using those ferts, you may have decent water when everything else we normally would look for would point to poor water quality.