Plattys And Guppies

[Eebie]

I recently bought some Plattys, and some Guppies. First time.

I've noticed that some of my Plattys tend to sit on the bottom of the tank a lot, almost motionless. Is this normal?

In two weeks, I've lost two of the Plattys, and in the past three weeks, I've lost four of my eight Guppies (all male)

The water has been set to mid range PH levels and the water has gone from a soft to a hard water over the past couple of weeks.

I also treated the water with aquarium salt as I believe this is good to spark Plattys up a bit. Am I doing anything wrong? Should the water have been hard before putting them in?

I previously had tetras and so the water was soft before.

 

[JenCliBee]

u dont need salt with platy's or guppies !!!!


was the tank cycled?

what are ur water stats? (amonia,nitrite,nitrate)


jen

 

[Eebie]

tank was cycled yes....ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 10.

there was some fin rot with one of the platys which seemed to have spread, and I read on another forum that aquarium salt was good for platys.

I read one thing and then get told another...sigh

 

[JenCliBee]

lol actually the salt is good for wounds etc and i'd imagine finrot as well it sterlizes so u have done no harm i wouldnt have imagined

 

[freddythefish]

It would depend how much and what type...freshwater tonic salt is ok but don't go into the realms of marine salt mix!

 

[Eebie]

yeah, it is not marine salt, just normal aquarium salt. one of my other plattys has died now, but i am a father of one now....one little platty has been born and surviving quite well it seems.
would the platty that died be the parent of the one that was born?

 

[dilbert]

If healthy then the first ones who die are pregnant females giving birth. But Platys live normally two years or longer. So, it's possible if the female was already the size of an adult when you bought her.

The young are normally eaten by the adults. The only way to avoid this is always good fed adults and hiding places for the recently born, the smallest ones. Then, you need to have plants, algae, or food small enough that the young can feed on easily. If not, they have to leave their secure places with the chance to get eaten.

I'm not advocating this but Platys exist in the wild in brackish water, too. Presumably, they don't tolerate high-end brackish water for long as guppies or mollies, the latter ones have been living their whole life in full strength seawater, too.

Only, if you would prepare brackish water for platys then the proper way is to use marine salt. Aquarium salt only as it is described on the box. The point is that the nitrifying bacteria don't adjust themselves that fast. So, a conversion from freshwater to brackish or vice versa has always to be done slowly with water changes over weeks. See the brackish forum for any details or further questions.