My Sailfin Momma Died

[BobK]

My poor Saifin Mollie died last night. I noticed she had been spending some time at the top of the tank for the last week. She gave birth to 50+ fry 3 weeks ago. Ammonia/Nitrites were 0 and Nitrate was around 10. Temperature was about 78-80 degrees. Tanks been up and running 8 months now and is very stable. She was acting fine yesterday morning and when I came home last night the poor thing was floating. Anybody have any ideas???

 

[paulthegreat]

Have you made any changes recently? Are you using water conditioners? Do you know how old the fish was? Are the rest of the fish acting normal? She could just have been getting old, I hope it was nothing more then that.

 

[BobK]

Hey Paul. The only change I made was adding a second Emperor 400 about 2 weeks ago. I always use Tetra AquaSafe water conditioner and I add it to the water BEFORE the water goes into the tank. I've only had her for about 5 or 6 weeks so I don't know how old she was. She gave birth three weeks ago and was looking like she was pregnant again. Could it have been a complication from pregnancy? By the way, all her fry were born healthy and without any deformities (I don't know if it is relevant or not). I've noticed some of the fry hanging around at the top when I turn the lights on in the morning but the rest of the tank seems fine. Here's the specs:

75 gallon tank
2 emperor 400's
1 300W heater set at 78-80 degrees (is this too high?)
2 Zebra Danio's (I know I should have more but these are the remnants of a larger school from a long time ago. These fish are quite old actually, at least 4-41/2 years.)
5 Mickey Mouse Platy fry (4 months old)
5 cory cats (2 albino, 2 palateus and 1 panda)
1 11" common pleco
Lots of 3 week old sailfin molly fry

25% water changes every 1-2 weeks with complete gravel vacuum. The water I add back is within 1-2 degrees of the tank water and I never noticed a temperature fluctuation after a water change. It's a really well maintained tank and has been very stable since August. I'm just worried this could be the start of problems rather than an isolated incident. Sorry for rambling but I'm really attached to my fish and want to provide a good home for them.

Forgot to mention above that my PH is 7.6.

 

[paulthegreat]

Everything sounds fine to me, I did loose one Swordtail just before she was ready to birth, but I had only had her for about a week so it could have been the stress. If there was no outward signs of disease it makes it really hard to say anything. I would just keep a close eye on them and maybe get the water tested at your lfs to see if it could be some other factor. Good Luck.

 

[Mollybreeder]

Sorry to hear about your sailfin, i had one that died recently too. He lived for about a month but i think my water chemistry was bad, and that was the cause of his death...

 

[fishguy18]

I am very sorry for your loss

All sounds well in your tank and you seem to take very good care of your fish and the tank ......I would not blame yourself...It could have been a complication at birth...one of my guppies died right before she would have given birth.

You have the fry to remember her by....so feel happy that they are still with you

 

[BobK]

Thanks everybody!

 

[WILDER]

R.I.P. sorry for your loss.