My Platies Are Dying

[MarkC]

Hi,

I have a 150 gallon tank with about 20 odd fish in it. Some guppies, some red eye tetra's, some silver tip tetra's and a couple of bottom feeder catfish.

last week I added some female fighting fish (as I was informed that these were very placid) and about 5 platies. Since then 4 of the platies have died and I was wondering why. When i went to the shop I informed them of the species that I currently had and the guy there, who was a fish enthusiast himself, said that these new fish would be fine.

Is there any reason why these for may have died? I didn't see any of them struggling at any point which is making me think that maybe they have been killed somehow by the other fish.

Does anybody here have any suggestions or have i just been unlucky?

 

[Akasha72]

what is your water parameters? how long has the tank been running. Are there any signs of distress/illness/different behaviour than normal from the fish.

There could be any number of reasons why the fish have died.

The people on here are really good at helping out but without more information it will be very difficult to help

 

[MarkC]

in terms of the paramaters I'm going to get a kit tomorrow to see what the levels are.

The tank has been running since last summer but everything was transfered over from a 300 gallon tank that unfortunatly developed a crack that had been running for about 20 years (it was my dad's but he moved away and I bought the family house which included it).

No other fish have showed any signs of distress or odd behaviour and with the exception of one of the tetra's that died about 3 weeks ago there has been nothing else that has really happened of note.

I'll get a water test tommorow and post the results, it's just that I've never had an issue with the water before in the 20 odd years which is why I was confused as to what it could be

 

[Akasha72]

it could just be bad luck as you suggested. It would seem odd that it was the new fish that died and not any of the existing ones.

You will know more once your able the test the water. The liquid drop tests are the best. The strips are very inacurate and a waste of cash IMO

 

[MarkC]

thanks for the advice, I'll make sure I pick up the drops tomorrow and see what results they produce

Actually, the only slightly odd thing that has happened (only just about 5 mins ago) is that my big sucker fish (sorry, I'm not sure of the proper name) who is usually the most reclusive fish I've ever had has actually come out of his sunken ship and is, for the first time since he was a juvenille 2 years ago, sucking on the glass on the front of the tank.

 

[Iiriva]

Platies need different type of water than those other species. They belong to hard water pH 7 or over, when the others prefer middle hard or soft water (pH 5-7). When kept in wrong kind (wrong pH, dH, gH or temperature) fishes tend to get ill and die.

 

[Akasha72]

he's just hungry lol


It does honestly sound like there was something already wrong with the fish you bought - either that or the stress of re-homing killed them. It's unlikely as platies are so hardy but it's all I can think of.

Do you do partial water changes regular?

Platies need different type of water than those other species. They belong to hard water pH 7 or over, when the others prefer middle hard or soft water (pH 5-7). When kept in wrong kind (wrong pH, dH, gH or temperature) fishes tend to get ill and die.

Never heard that before and if that were the case I should have a tank full of dead platies. Mine are in soft water (PH of 6.6 - 6.8) and have been for months. They've mated and given birth several times and are happy, healthy fish

 

[Iiriva]

Yes, platies CAN do in soft water - but they will not live as long as they could.

Mollies, platies etc. are hard water fishes. Yes, they can live in soft water, but it's not doing good. They will also breed, but that doesn't mean they are ok.

I've had mollies and platies for 15 years, and like every single proper article you can find says that they need harder water. Mollies would actually love water that has little salt in it, too.

So, yes, you can keep your platies in soft water, but it's not nice for the fish, and they won't live as long and as healthy as they could.

edit:

Platies:

pH 7,0–8,5
Temp: 22-25'C
dH: 10-30

MarC, how is your water?

Sometimes fish may look well when brought home, but it's still a fact that they can get ill after moving to a new aquarium. That's new kind of water, different from what it used to be, different bacteria, a lot of stress... And they may have been carrying some kind of disease which came up because of the stress. So, there really are many options for that.

 

[MarkC]

I do partial water changes on a regular basis and to be honest I rarely lose fish to anything other than old age. Once I get teh water results tomorrow I'll be in a better place to diagnose further. I'll also check with the shop to see if they have had any problems with the platies from their tank when I go in as that maybe a possible cause

 

[Akasha72]

Yes, platies CAN do in soft water - but they will not live as long as they could.

Mollies, platies etc. are hard water fishes. Yes, they can live in soft water, but it's not doing good. They will also breed, but that doesn't mean they are ok.

So, yes, you can keep your platies in soft water, but it's not nice for the fish, and they won't live as long and as healthy as they could.

Sorry but that is a load of rubbish. I've got one platy that's at least a year and a half old, has never got any illness's despite 2 bouts of whitespot over the last 12 months. My other female is about a year old and again hasn't had anything at all. She had about 6 or 7 successful pregnancies and is the hardiest fish in my tank.
It is more important to keep PH stable than anything else. I'm fully aware that mollies need brackish water but I don't keep mollies I keep platies.
I'm sorry but I'm not going to be told my fish won't be healthy because my water isn't hard ... utter rubbish

I'm sorry I've hijacked your thread Mark. I hope you find out why your fish died but for this conversation I'm bowing out.

Good luck

Akasha

 

[Iiriva]

Akasha, I'm not attackin you, I'm just telling how the water would be perfect for platies - I already told that they will do, byt probably won't live for 4 years, as they normally do in water that is good for them. Yes, they can be healty and breed fine, but probably just won't live that long. Just saying. Is the same thing if the water is too warm or cold for somekind of fish - will do, but won't live as long.

It's quite hard for me to understand how someone could say that tested, scientific facts could be rubbish, especially whith fishes that are still quite young.

And, this topic is about MarC:s problems; I said that platies live in a different enviroment that the other fishes he has, and it COULD be one reason, or then it can't. Troubleshooting is about to find out every possible reason until the right one is found and it can be fixxed, right?

We all want the best for our fishes, and want them to be well.

It's always important to know enough about animals (no matter if it is a fish, a dog or whatever) before getting them, so you can provide the enviroment they actually need.

Sheesh...

 

[Prime Ordeal]

MarkC how did you introduce (i.e. acclimatise) the mollies to the tank?

 

[MarkC]

MarkC how did you introduce (i.e. acclimatise) the mollies to the tank?

as I always have done.

Popped the bag (still sealed) into the water for about 30 minutes so they could adapt to the temperature, then add some water from the tank to the bag and leave it another 30 mins. After that I would release them.
I'd leave the light off for a couple of hours once they were added.

That's the way I have always done it (even with platies in the past) and I've never had a problem with any species

 

[soybean]

It's true that livebearers such as platys and guppies should prefer a higher ph (please note 'hard water' means the gh/kh, not the ph) but I'm reality they are so easily bred in such a wide range of water to supply the hobby that it really isn't much of an issue for the average keeper. But it is true that their natural habitat would have a higher ph.

 

[snake007]

It's true that livebearers such as platys and guppies should prefer a higher ph (please note 'hard water' means the gh/kh, not the ph) but I'm reality they are so easily bred in such a wide range of water to supply the hobby that it really isn't much of an issue for the average keeper. But it is true that their natural habitat would have a higher ph.

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