1 Death 2 Death 3 Death 4...

[kylealastairlove]

dont know what on earth it is but over the past month i seem to have started losing my fishy population first i lost a platy, then i lost a bristlenose plec then i lost a harlequin and today i've lost another, i have no idea what has caused any of the deaths, the platy seemed perfectly happy and healthy to me then i just woke up one morning and found it dead in a bunch of plants, same with my bristlenose went missing for a couple of days then founs it dead in plants, woke up one morning and found a harlequin at the bottom of my tank dead and tonight i looked in my tank and seen another dead at the bottom, i now have 4 harlequins left the 3 of which i first brought (and i brought them together) seem really healthy are showing bright colours and schooling together and i've even seen eggs being layed yet the 4th one seems to just hide all day and only come out for food, this is the only tell tale sign i can spot that tells me something is wrong but i just cant work it out

 

[Cazgar]

I've lost a couple of fish too for no apparent reason.
My water tests came up fine, & they had no apparent sign of disease
It's a mystery, sometimes I wonder how old the fish are when we get them, as the fish I lost were guppies & could've been old, as my babies are doing just fine

 

[kylealastairlove]

ahh right, i hate these mystery deaths, i dont like not knowing whats going on the only thing i can think is it could be down to some kind of stress as i have been in the tank more often than usual this past week, with adding new plants re arranging things a little and cleaning up the inside of the tank! but then again my other fish seem perfectly happy. confusing sometimes this whole fishy business lol.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

What were your water parameters?

 

[Cazgar]

It is frustrating as we all try to do the best we can for our fish.
The ones I lost were some of my original ones, but I have some of their babies

 

[Dieses Madchen]

It is frustrating as we all try to do the best we can for our fish.
The ones I lost were some of my original ones, but I have some of their babies

I lost the last of my tank originals a couple of months ago, but I have a baby of hers still.....doesnt replace her as she was a great little platy, but at least I still have a piece of her

 

[kylealastairlove]

i got two red wag platys to start me off, lost one, but i've grown quite attatched to the other and actually think they're quite cute looking haha, im not sure about my water parameters as i need to stock up on my test kits at the moment but my ph is at 7.6 and has been since i first set up the temp is at 75f with the fluctation of a degree or 2 not sure about the nitrite levels and things liek that

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Well, you could be losing fish to ammonia or nitrite poisoning. I suggest your get a test kit ASAP or find an LFS that will test your water. This is key to ruling out enviromental factors as a reason for the loss of your fish.

 

[kylealastairlove]

thats the possibility i was thinking, but i had no way of finding out because i dont have a test kit im really short on money so un less i find a cheap test kit then i guess i will have to take a water sample to my nearest pet shop and ask them if they will be able to test it for me

 

[This Old Spouse]

Your LFS should be able to test it for you, but be sure you write down or have them write down what the numbers actually are. "All right" doesn't tell us anything.

How big is your tank, what fish are in it, how long has it been running, did you cycle the tank first, what kind of plants and substrate do you have?

 

[Man of fish]

Check amazon.com I got mine on there for $23.95 and the 1st showed up with one of the nitrate bottles leaking so after a 15 minute conversation on the phone they replaced it for me free of charge.

 

[kylealastairlove]

i shall take them a sample in then as soon as i can, but the problem is i dont know what numbers are a good reading and what numbers are a bad reading, like for the nitrite or ammonia or others.
64L not quite sure of the actual measurements it didnt say in my instruction manual and i haven't bothered to measure it myself, at the minute i have 1 red wagtail platy, 4 harlequin trigonostigma espei and 1 arulius barb, all seem quite healthy and happy except for one of the harlequin which tends to be hiding a lot, i cycled my tank for about 3 weeks before i added my first fish. at the moment the plants i have are elocharis vivipara, cryptocoryne beckettii & ciliata, hornwort, tonina fluviatilas, carolinnia bacopa or how ever it is spelt, and a few others im not sure of the names though

 

[Man of fish]

Ammonia should be 0. NitrIte should be 0. Ph depends on fish but usually most fish will tolerate 7.0. NitrAte should be 5-20 ish.

 

[Rummynose]

How often do you change the water and how much? Also, anytime your fish seem off, or sick, do at least a 50% water change. Fresh, dechlorinated water is always good for them!!!

How did you cycle the tank?

 

[kylealastairlove]

okay thanks a lot for that info !

and 'rummynose' i try to do water changes weekly with about 25% water change, thanks also for the info