I hope someone can figure out why my fish are dying off.
Until 2 weeks ago my 40 gallon tank contained 3 platies (2 male, 1 female), 8 guppies (2 male, 3 female, 3 juviniles), 1 betta and two gouramis.
About two weeks ago I came home to find the betta beaten up and one of the male platties sulking on the bottom with his fins slicked back. I moved the betta to a hospital tank and treated him with bettamax. He is doing much better but remains seperated. I also moved the platy to an isolated area of my tank usually used for birthing so I could observe him. After 2 days where he seemed fine other than keeping his fins slicked back, I released him into the main tank. The next day he died. The day after that I found my other male platy dead. I did a 1/3 water change, checked the water stats (fine), added some salt (just in case) and raised the temp (gradually) to 79 degrees (originally at 76, at 78 for 2 days then to 79).
Two days after I did all this I found my female platy dead. The next day I found one of my juv. female guppy with what looked like a red cut on her side. I isolated her and watched carefully. It looked like she was "pooping" from her side instead of from underneath, but other than that she was acting fine. I kept her in insolation for 5 days and although the red thing is still there, it doesn't appear to have changed at all, so I've released her. Meanwhile, while she was in isolation, 4 days after my female platy died one of my male guppies "went missing". I searched thoroughly, moved rocks, etc, couldn't find him. After about 3 days I assumed he had died but still could never find the body, despite extensive searching. I did a tank cleaning and a 1/4 water change just to be safe, even though its a little early. Today (2 days later) I came home to find my other male guppy dead.
I am now left with 2 gourami, 1 betta (recovering in a separate tank) 3 guppy females and 3 guppy juviniles (one still with the mystery red spot on her side). Other than the first platy, none of the fish showed any signs of illness, or any signs of trauma after I recovered the bodies. The last 3 fish I actually examined carefully under a light and gently put pressure on their sides, but as far as I can tell there are no marks or parasites.
My current water stats are as follows:
PH: 8.3
Temp: 79
Nitrite: undetectable
Amonia: between undetectable and 0.02
Nitrate: 50
The plant is heavily planted with java moss (accounting for the higher nitrate levels), and I recently added some extra bubblers, but everything else in the tank (including the fish) have been constant for about 2 months now. The only possible illness that may have been introduced was from a betta who had just completed treatment for popeye being in the tank for about 2 days after treatment was complete, while I located a new tank for him. This was over a month ago though, and none of the fish that died showed any signs of popeye...and the betta remains healthy. Also, I haven't detected any changes in any of the above water parameters in months.
The remaining fish all seem to be behaving normally, although a few seem to be spending a little more time swimming around the bottom part of the tank than usual-although swimming, not resting. I think its just because the more active fish (the male guppies) are now gone, although I am keeping an eye on it.
Any idea what is going on here or what I should do to prevent further losses? I have a bunch of baby guppies growing out right now who I plan to put into the tank when they are a little bigger so I am not so concerned about repopulating the tank as I am about stopping these deaths and making sure that the babies will be released into a healthy environment.
Thanks.
-Susie
Until 2 weeks ago my 40 gallon tank contained 3 platies (2 male, 1 female), 8 guppies (2 male, 3 female, 3 juviniles), 1 betta and two gouramis.
About two weeks ago I came home to find the betta beaten up and one of the male platties sulking on the bottom with his fins slicked back. I moved the betta to a hospital tank and treated him with bettamax. He is doing much better but remains seperated. I also moved the platy to an isolated area of my tank usually used for birthing so I could observe him. After 2 days where he seemed fine other than keeping his fins slicked back, I released him into the main tank. The next day he died. The day after that I found my other male platy dead. I did a 1/3 water change, checked the water stats (fine), added some salt (just in case) and raised the temp (gradually) to 79 degrees (originally at 76, at 78 for 2 days then to 79).
Two days after I did all this I found my female platy dead. The next day I found one of my juv. female guppy with what looked like a red cut on her side. I isolated her and watched carefully. It looked like she was "pooping" from her side instead of from underneath, but other than that she was acting fine. I kept her in insolation for 5 days and although the red thing is still there, it doesn't appear to have changed at all, so I've released her. Meanwhile, while she was in isolation, 4 days after my female platy died one of my male guppies "went missing". I searched thoroughly, moved rocks, etc, couldn't find him. After about 3 days I assumed he had died but still could never find the body, despite extensive searching. I did a tank cleaning and a 1/4 water change just to be safe, even though its a little early. Today (2 days later) I came home to find my other male guppy dead.
I am now left with 2 gourami, 1 betta (recovering in a separate tank) 3 guppy females and 3 guppy juviniles (one still with the mystery red spot on her side). Other than the first platy, none of the fish showed any signs of illness, or any signs of trauma after I recovered the bodies. The last 3 fish I actually examined carefully under a light and gently put pressure on their sides, but as far as I can tell there are no marks or parasites.
My current water stats are as follows:
PH: 8.3
Temp: 79
Nitrite: undetectable
Amonia: between undetectable and 0.02
Nitrate: 50
The plant is heavily planted with java moss (accounting for the higher nitrate levels), and I recently added some extra bubblers, but everything else in the tank (including the fish) have been constant for about 2 months now. The only possible illness that may have been introduced was from a betta who had just completed treatment for popeye being in the tank for about 2 days after treatment was complete, while I located a new tank for him. This was over a month ago though, and none of the fish that died showed any signs of popeye...and the betta remains healthy. Also, I haven't detected any changes in any of the above water parameters in months.
The remaining fish all seem to be behaving normally, although a few seem to be spending a little more time swimming around the bottom part of the tank than usual-although swimming, not resting. I think its just because the more active fish (the male guppies) are now gone, although I am keeping an eye on it.
Any idea what is going on here or what I should do to prevent further losses? I have a bunch of baby guppies growing out right now who I plan to put into the tank when they are a little bigger so I am not so concerned about repopulating the tank as I am about stopping these deaths and making sure that the babies will be released into a healthy environment.
Thanks.
-Susie
