New Girls Died =o(

[blue_betta]

the two new females i bought at the weekend have both died, as did the two befor them, all with the same symptoms which come on within a mater of hours. for the first few days they eat well and are alert and active, but they never seem to loose the stress stripes, even though they dont seem stressed, they move about in the open, fins relaxed. there is plenty plants and crevices for them to hide and i fed them on a good diet of bloodworms, brine shrimp and flakes. then VERY suddenly they become lethargic and sit at the surface in a corner, within a few hours they dovelop a thin white skin around the mouth which seems to cause them difficulty in breathing air. then they loose boyancy and apear to drown. they were in a well planted 63 litre tank, well filtered with various rocks and gravel. they had some platys and peper corys that i bought at the same time for company and they have shown no signs of illnes whatsoever. the water is soft and very slightly acidic-neutral, temprature is 26oC

 

[stang1]

No idea what it could be I'm afraid but sorry for your loss.

 

[DarkEntity]

what are the water stats, that should be the first thing you check. nitriate, nitrite, ammonia, PH etc

 

[liz2]

it could be the shop you are getting them from, my nearest one..fish are a bit dodgy!

 

[blue_betta]

sorry for delay in replying stats are as follows. ph- 6.7, nitite almost zero (virtualy undetectable), nitrate 80 mg/l, dh- >6 <10

or at leat thats the stats im getting from the 5 in one test strips im using, they dont have a scale on them for ammonia

 

[davidnso]

those stats look okay...

did you do a complete water change before you added the new fish? seems like some kind of bacterial infection lurking around in your tank, or like liz said, it can be by the LFS ur buying it from..any bacterial meds?

 

[K.J.]

sorry for delay in replying stats are as follows. ph- 6.7, nitite almost zero (virtualy undetectable), nitrate 80 mg/l, dh- >6 <10

or at leat thats the stats im getting from the 5 in one test strips im using, they dont have a scale on them for ammonia

Chances are you had an ammonia or nitrite spike. Don't trust the test strips. I'd suggest in investing in a liquid test kit, because the strips are way off. Plus no ammonia , you need an ammonia test strip.

 

[Jaded12]

I've never heard of an ammonia spike causing those types of symptoms though. But I agree get a good test kit and check your stats and I would also start treating them with salt and some sort of broad spectrum anti-biotic such as tetracycline.

 

[blue_betta]

thanks for the advice, id done a 50% water cange just before getting the fish. all the other fish in the tank seem fine. they come down with the symptoms VERY quickly, and the white skin is only around the mouth, seems to cause them trouble breathing.