Dying Platies For No Reason

[CiChLiDsPoNgEgUrL]

please can someone help, have had fish for some years now with no - bare minimal problems, have currently got cichlid tanks ad platy/catfish tanks. Nver have any problem with any tanks except platys. I have one-two die on me per week, water ph fine, tank has driftwood and plant life, catfish all fine, have around 20 diff platy and 30 odd catfish, tank water change regulary and feed evey second day, ammo range fine, 100 litre tank,..... ALWAYS quarentine allfish before goig into big tanks (quarentine for around 2 weeks usually) and fish are fine . Usually the most expensive platys die first

 

[glolite]

Think you are well overstocked. Am I right thinking you have 50 fish in a 20g tank?

 

[CiChLiDsPoNgEgUrL]

Think you are well overstocked. Am I right thinking you have 50 fish in a 20g tank?

Well tank is between 100-150 litres (i think that would be around 30 - 40g)

And with regular water changes and minimal feeding i doubt this would be a problem

ammonia/nitrate/nitrite and ph all fine for types of fish in there - presuming they wouldnt be good if was overstocked

some of the platies have been in there for nearly two years and never had any problems untill about 6 months ago

currently have about 10 platies (3 guppies) and 25 catfish left and stilll continue to die daily

O and by the way all fish are still breeding and have around 10 babies of various guppy/platy so im told that they wouldnt breed if it were the water

Havent added any new fish for around 3 months

use aqua plus and cycle every water change and tonic salt

have api water test kit

plants all growing fine and no major algae problemsv(small amount where sun meets glass for a very short period of time but this is keep minimals as the catfish/plecs eat it all the time

............

Think you are well overstocked. Am I right thinking you have 50 fish in a 20g tank?

Well tank is between 100-150 litres (i think that would be around 30 - 40g)

And with regular water changes and minimal feeding i doubt this would be a problem

ammonia/nitrate/nitrite and ph all fine for types of fish in there - presuming they wouldnt be good if was overstocked

some of the platies have been in there for nearly two years and never had any problems untill about 6 months ago

currently have about 10 platies (3 guppies) and 25 catfish left and stilll continue to die daily

O and by the way all fish are still breeding and have around 10 babies of various guppy/platy so im told that they wouldnt breed if it were the water

Havent added any new fish for around 3 months

use aqua plus and cycle every water change and tonic salt

have api water test kit

plants all growing fine and no major algae problemsv(small amount where sun meets glass for a very short period of time but this is keep minimals as the catfish/plecs eat it all the time

o and the way the fish dies as they start to look a lttle funny in shape then they start to swim funny and sit in the plants and java moss then a day or two later they stop eating get skinny and die (when i put them in quartine tank when the first look funny they die overnight)

have also worked fish as petstore told me this could be a problem but i doubt it would continue for this long

............

 

[glolite]

Do the platies look normal? Any signs of disease? I'm sure you would have said if so but just clarifying things.
Is it perhaps natural die off, or do the younger ones die first?

 

[indigoj]

what catfish?

 

[pippoodle]

what are the test results for

ammonia
nitrites
nitrates
ph

please post the results as you say ammo range fine - can you say what they all are as there could be something in the results thats causing the problems


How often are you doing the water changes and how much water do you change ?
Have you replaced the filter media recently ?
What substrate do you have?
are you using a gravel vac every water change ?
Some cat fish dont do well with salt , Why are you using cycle - if the tank is cycled

 

[CiChLiDsPoNgEgUrL]

Do the platies look normal? Any signs of disease? I'm sure you would have said if so but just clarifying things.
Is it perhaps natural die off, or do the younger ones die first?

They look normal fit and healthy untill around a week or two of getting them - lets say i buy 6 platies within 2 weeks 2-4 have died and other two will be fine....if you know what i mean - then like my previous comment the start slowing down go into plants/moss , get skinny and die within days

age doenst matter to my dying platties - the ones that have been born in the tank are fine - havent seen any of them die.... yet (touch wood)

what catfish?

Catfish are all fine (one has died since owning them 1 year rufly)

have cories few bristlenose and couple whiptails

 

[CiChLiDsPoNgEgUrL]

what are the test results for

ammonia
nitrites
nitrates
ph

please post the results as you say ammo range fine - can you say what they all are as there could be something in the results thats causing the problems


How often are you doing the water changes and how much water do you change ?
Have you replaced the filter media recently ?
What substrate do you have?
are you using a gravel vac every water change ?
Some cat fish dont do well with salt , Why are you using cycle - if the tank is cycled

Will have to get you next test results (just done water change 2 days ago) (( i test water right before doing water change btw))

Do weekly 1/4 water change
have ehiem internal filter with white sponge - replaced every 8-16 weeks ( i do rinse this mayby once a month)
only gravel vac once a fortnight (just taking water out of top of tank every other week)
only use a small amount of salt wen do water change as platyies usually have babies afterwards (fun to watch)
as mprevious comment - the catfish are all fine

and only use cycle mayby once a month just to ensure im not taking too much out (only use half stated dose)

 

[CiChLiDsPoNgEgUrL]

what are the test results for

ammonia
nitrites
nitrates
ph

please post the results as you say ammo range fine - can you say what they all are as there could be something in the results thats causing the problems


How often are you doing the water changes and how much water do you change ?
Have you replaced the filter media recently ?
What substrate do you have?
are you using a gravel vac every water change ?
Some cat fish dont do well with salt , Why are you using cycle - if the tank is cycled

Will have to get you next test results (just done water change 2 days ago) (( i test water right before doing water change btw))

Do weekly 1/4 water change
have ehiem internal filter with white sponge - replaced every 8-16 weeks ( i do rinse this mayby once a month)
only gravel vac once a fortnight (just taking water out of top of tank every other week)
only use a small amount of salt wen do water change as platyies usually have babies afterwards (fun to watch)
as mprevious comment - the catfish are all fine

and only use cycle mayby once a month just to ensure im not taking too much out (only use half stated dose)

 

[glolite]

Still need to know your water stats, especially ammonia and nitrite.

Could be your lfs stock? Have you tried quarantining new fish for 2 weeks before adding to the main tank. Might be worth getting hold of a cheapy 10g 2nd hand if you can for this purpose.

I still suspect you are overstocked on the catfish side. 2 Whiptail catfish fulgrown will take up 10 inches ie 10 gallons. Even if your waterchanging is 100% and waterstats 100% overcrowding will cause stress to fish which leads to disease.

Personally I'd rehome 50% of the catfish, giving you some cash towards a small quarantine/hospital tank?

This is just my opinion but obviously it's your tank.
Good luck

 

[CiChLiDsPoNgEgUrL]

Still need to know your water stats, especially ammonia and nitrite.

Could be your lfs stock? Have you tried quarantining new fish for 2 weeks before adding to the main tank. Might be worth getting hold of a cheapy 10g 2nd hand if you can for this purpose.

I still suspect you are overstocked on the catfish side. 2 Whiptail catfish fulgrown will take up 10 inches ie 10 gallons. Even if your waterchanging is 100% and waterstats 100% overcrowding will cause stress to fish which leads to disease.

Personally I'd rehome 50% of the catfish, giving you some cash towards a small quarantine/hospital tank?

This is just my opinion but obviously it's your tank.
Good luck

as previous statement - this is only in the last 6 months this has been happening

this tank has been set up for nearly three years all up now - have breed and sold many diff types of fish never exceed limit that i have now
alot about fish but this has stumped me)

catfish all breeding pairs and make me too much money to be selling them off
all up i have 11 tanks - dont think my power bill needs another one lol,

and as previous statment my fish all get quarentined before going into my big tanks for a minimal of two weeks (i have previoulsy imported fish so i do know a bit about fish)

As i have also stated the fish wouldnt be breeding if there was somethign wrong with water.....would they?

Thanks for the advice