Lost Another Platy

[scampi]

Yet another platy has died this morning, she was a gorgeous yellow hi-fin & pregnant too. Last night she was a bit lethargic & breathing quite fast. I've lost a male & 2 females now over the past 3 weeks or so - the other platties & the phantom tetras are doing well so I don't know what it could be. There were no markings on her body so I just don't know what it was. Are Platties quite sensitive / delicate?

Water paras Ammonia 0 / Nitrite 0 / Nitrate 20 / ph 7.3 - 7.6.

 

[FishFanatic13]

very strange all your Water paras are fine and platys are actually fairly hardy

 

[scampi]

Yup - it's infuriating too & so sad. I get fond of my fish & now I've got another yellow hi-fin female now breathing very fast at the surface hiding in the plants, not eating, no marks on her at all. The other Platys / Tetras etc are fine, no bullying whatsoever - I simply cannot work out whats going wrong. As soon as one dies another starts on a downward slope. Bizarre. This is 2 days after the other one died. I'm keeping a log now to 'time' them.

Here's a couple of pics of her

 

[FishFanatic13]

if i was you i would a 30% water change
and see what happens
sorry about not info

 

[nereksnad]

greetings scamp;

from own experience, i can inform you that platies might sometimes die suddenly, only once have i had a fish dieing, where i could determine the cause of death, although age of the platies was a possibility, i don't think it was.

sincerely;
nrk.

 

[scampi]

Well - as I thought I would - found her dead yesterday morning. Not a mark on her. I regularly do a pwc of 10-15% every week but this morning I have done a bigger one as advised - will see what happens now.

The remaining platys are all playing around, eating, chasing each other around the plants. When I pour the new water into the tank they love to bounce around in the bubbles with almost a smile on their faces (if fish can smile that is. I don't pour it too fast by the way, the bubbles only go down halfway into the tank.

I really hope I don't lose anymore - they are my favourite fish .

 

[guppi]

Just a thought but has there been any aerosols sprays or anything near the tank.?

 

[scampi]

Just a thought but has there been any aerosols sprays or anything near the tank.?

Nope - there's only me who sleeps in that room & all my aerosols are in the bathroom. Even when I clean the windows (which is rare) I spray the stuff on the cloth before I enter the room.

As all the females that died looked very fat (but no gravid spot) could it be anything to do with pregnancies maybe?? Could they have been hanging on to the babies for some reason & then developed difficulties perhaps ?

 

[Ritingyou]

I've had that happen to a few fish of mine. I doubt it has to do with difficulties from being pregnant. Especally since you mentioned that you lost one male as well. Try thinking very hard about anything that might be different now. Have you tried something new for water treatments? New foods? Maybe someone walked in and accidently put something in the water without realizeing it.

I only say that because my fish died from having small plaster particles fall into the water, and I never knew since I was not home leaveing them in the hands of a family member. They changed the water completely from panicking and in the end lost all my fish. So it could be something small that your not realizeing.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Just a thought but has there been any aerosols sprays or anything near the tank.?

Nope - there's only me who sleeps in that room & all my aerosols are in the bathroom. Even when I clean the windows (which is rare) I spray the stuff on the cloth before I enter the room.

As all the females that died looked very fat (but no gravid spot) could it be anything to do with pregnancies maybe?? Could they have been hanging on to the babies for some reason & then developed difficulties perhaps ?

That sounds like swim bladder disorder or dropsy. Probably dropsy if the other fish were the same but im no expert. If it is then you will need meds asap,
A concentration of fluid in the body tissues and cavities causes the fish's abdomen to become swollen and appear bloated. Swollen areas sometimes show a 'pine-cone' appearance caused by the fish's scales sticking out. Fish may also stop feeding, appear off-color, become listless and/or lethargic, have sunken eyes, and hang at the top or stay at the bottom of the aquarium. The condition affects the fish's internal organs, ceasing proper function.
I understand the main cause is bacterial infection.

I have a topic in the tropical emergencies section with a photo of the fish.
The can also be poor water quality but yours is good like mine.

 

[Sammydub6]

Sorry to hear u keep losing ur platys

 

[OldMan47]

I must admit that I have sometimes seen unexpected deaths among my fish. Whenever I see that, I simply do a huge water change and try a new diet for my fish. I never really seem to learn what the problem was with my fish but I see them bounce back as if I had cleared some kind of problem for them. I can only speculate that something that we cannot or do not measure is responsible for those original deaths and that a water change has removed whatever factor was causing the problem. I do not say that I know anything about what is involved except that I know from experience what has worked for me.

 

[scampi]

It's truly weird. The fish looked perfect, no marks lumps scrapes etc., & why don't all the Platys do it at the same time - they seem to wait 'til one dies then another single one will start doing the same. One clue though could be that they're all the hi-fin variety (so far).

I do partial water changes each week using Seachem Prime conditioner instead of my Aqua-Safe as I was told by another forum that it was better. Interesting, I'll look into when I started & if it coincides with the deaths & let you know.

Thank goodness I keep a log

Thanks again

 

[guppi]

mmmm strange. are you dosing the correct amount of prime?

 

[scampi]

mmmm strange. are you dosing the correct amount of prime?

Positive - but I'm going back to AquaSafe I think. Nothing seems to coincide with the Platys passing so I just don't know. Waters are 0 for Amm & Nitrite with 20 Nitrate.