My Platties Are Dying And I Don't Know Why

[dsiegel13]

Does this sound like illness, normal life/old age, or just the fates playing havoc with my tank.

Over the past week, two of my Red Wag Platties had to be put down, yes I put them down, for their own good, humanitarian reasons.

They were some of my biggest and most mobile of fish, they were always the first to feed, pop up from the grass when the tank light went on, you know good normal acting fish.

All of a sudden the past week, they dropped weight, became scrawny, subdued, passive, and always hiding (even during feeding time). They wouldn't leave the darkness of the coconut caves in the tank and were very sickly looking. Their color went from a bright orange/red to a dull brick red (really dark red), there eyes started to pop out of their heads (they were overly large looking), they became very emaciated and lost all of their personality.

I had to remove them from the tank (and not having a back up tank) put them down, the other fish (especially my tiger barbs) were picking on them ruthlessly and the platties tails and dorsals were all bitten up when they were not clamped to their bodies which seemed like all the time. None of the other platties or barbs are acting differently, so I didn't know what was going on. They were my oldest fish in the tank, but I didn't think they were that old...only got them from PetSmart 3 1/2 months ago... of course they were pretty big when I got them...

Tank level are a solid: PH 7.0, Nitrates/Nitrites 0, Chlorine 0, Ammonia 0

All help/recommendations are appreciated.

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm surprised to see nitrates at 0, you would ordinarily expect to see a certain level of nitrate present, as there is nothing in the tank to process it.

What size tank is it, and what's the stocking level?
How are you testing (strips or liquid kit)?
Did the two platies show any other symptoms - in particular, where their scales standing on end, making the fish look like a pinecone?
Have you added anything else to the tank recently (chemicals, other fish, ornaments, plants)?
How long has the tank been set up, and how did you cycle it?

 

[dsiegel13]

I'm surprised to see nitrates at 0, you would ordinarily expect to see a certain level of nitrate present, as there is nothing in the tank to process it.

What size tank is it, and what's the stocking level?
How are you testing (strips or liquid kit)?
Did the two platies show any other symptoms - in particular, where their scales standing on end, making the fish look like a pinecone?
Have you added anything else to the tank recently (chemicals, other fish, ornaments, plants)?
How long has the tank been set up, and how did you cycle it?

On closer examination the nitrates were 20, read my notes wrong, sorry.

10 gallon tank, been cycled for months, no other symptoms present really except for the extreme weight loss and drop in personality, bug eyes, etc. Haven't added anything to the tank in about a month, redid the tank with new substrate and plants, but they were healthy for weeks after that switch. Added a panda platy about 3 weeks ago, but the panda fit in with the rest and there were no health signs on the new fish, in fact she has put on a lot of weight/size since joining the tank.

 

[the_lock_man]

Popeye is generally a symptom of stress and/or poor water quality.

Are you testing with a liquid kit or strips, and how old is that kit?
What is the full stocking list in the tank?
The tank has been set-up for months, but the oldest fish have only been in for 3½ months - what was happening with the tank in between setting it up and putting those fish in 3½months ago? What process did you use to grow the bacteria colonies in your filter?

If you could answer those questions, it'll give me and anyone else viewing this thread a bit more info to go on, to try and explain your situation, and to help you avoid it happening again.

It's a relatively small tank, and I'm getting the impression that it's a new tank.


It may be that you haven't grown enough bacteria in the filter to cope with the ammonia and nitrite produced by the fish.

It may be that because you've got a small tank, you haven't got enough Tiger Barbs, and they've been nipping the Platies because they themselves are stressed - they need a school of at least 8 to feel at ease.

It may be that because you've got a small tank, and you've got a decent sized school of Tiger Barbs, and a few Platies (+ anything else you haven't mentioned), that the tank is overcrowded, and adding that last panda Platy caused an ammonia spike, that caused the other two Platies' problems.

There could be other explanations as well.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

sounds like it might be overstocked? how many of what kinds of fish do you have in there?

 

[dsiegel13]

sounds like it might be overstocked? how many of what kinds of fish do you have in there?

5 Tiger Barbs and 6 platties (used to be 8 platties), there is plenty of hiding spaces.
But yeah I'm overstocked, don't deny it.

 

[the_lock_man]

That info suggests that the Tiger Barbs were nipping at the Platies, and that caused their problems. Tiger Barbs are notorious nippers, especially when they are kept in small numbers. I would suggest you rehome them, possibly 1 or 2 Platies as well.