Sudden death of platy!

[Salty&Onion]

What size is the 58l tank. If it is 60cm long (2') or very close it is fine for the neons or platies, although I would not keep both. Since you have soft water the neons would be the best choice if the tank is long enough.

That I forgot to mention

 

[seangee]

Thanks for all the advice...i feel bad that i have been keeping the tetras in such a small tank...once again misadvised by the fish store...i already have a betta fish in a 23 litre tank so i could move him to the 58 litre one...thanks again!

Just read through this thread, I don't normally jump in on these but...
To your original question its nothing you did wrong. I can't tell what caused the fish to die and neither can anyone else without a necroscopy.
But lets look at a few facts

• You have kept this tank successfully for four years
• You have fish in there that are more than 2 years old
• You have successfully raised more than one batch of fry

Sometimes people find it easier to try to tell you what you are doing wrong than actually answering your question, so please don't rush out and give away your fish because someone on the internet told you to. Sure everything may not be quite by the book, and knowing that may guide your future decisions. But (as an example) 4 neon tetras in your tank where you know you care for them and provide clean water and fresh food are better off than being dumped at a store where you have no idea where they will end up.

The truth is fish (just like people) sometimes die. It may be down to old age, heart attack, tumours or organ failure. Thankfully they don't have to deal with traffic or lunatics with guns. We have no idea if the earlier worm infestation caused long term damage. All in all if you have had fry survive you are probably in credit and have more platies than you started out with. If more fish start showing the same symptoms it needs to be investigated - but one fish dying does not mean you did anything wrong.

 

[Salty&Onion]

so please don't rush out and give away your fish because someone on the internet told you to.

I feel a bit hurt here

Anyway, atleast the OP should not keep hardwater fish in softwater. This has been already mentioned. Therefore they should return or rehome at least the platies and get 2 more neons if they were meant to keep the neons.

 

[Chantal38]

Thank you for this @seangee i would be sad to let the fish go as i have invested so much time & effort in to them over the last few years...especially the fry...and it did cross my mind that whoever i give them to may not look after them as well as me but want to do whats right for the fish...for someone who just bought 2 fish for my sons as their first pet ive done my best, learnt a lot along the way and am still learning now! The 58 litre tank is actually 60cm long 30 cm wide & 33 cm high. My betta fish is in a 23 litre tank on its own.

 

[seangee]

Thank you for this @seangee i would be sad to let the fish go as i have invested so much time & effort in to them over the last few years...especially the fry...and it did cross my mind that whoever i give them to may not look after them as well as me but want to do whats right for the fish...for someone who just bought 2 fish for my sons as their first pet ive done my best, learnt a lot along the way and am still learning now! The 58 litre tank is actually 60cm long 30 cm wide & 33 cm high. My betta fish is in a 23 litre tank on its own.

That size is fine for platies and neons. You probably don't want too many platies because of their size, best males only as then you won't have to worry about fry. How much water do you change a week? I can't guarantee this but I suspect that if you change 75% a week (all in one go) your pH will gradually get closer to 7 without the need for chemicals. Unfortunately it isn't big enough for your 3 girls and all 14 fry .

Your water is slightly soft for platies - but as their life expectancy in the wild is 2-3 years yours are doing well. If you want to do the absolute best for them you could add this at half the recommended dosage https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y5QZBTL/?tag= (i.e. half a scoop per 10 litres of water that you change). That will take you GH up to 10 degrees which is still good for neons even though they are perfectly happy with your water as it is. I use that in my 54 litre tank at full dosage and that size lasts me over a year. My water changes are 30 litres for this tank - which is probably similar to what you will do in your 58 litre tank.

 

[EllRog]

I feel a bit hurt here

Anyway, atleast the OP should not keep hardwater fish in softwater. This has been already mentioned. Therefore they should return or rehome at least the platies and get 2 more neons if they were meant to keep the neons.

You gave good advice if it was a beginner asking the question though. Sean has spotted something you didn't and is assisting with the assumption that Chantal is more intermediate and able to care for the fish she already is. For example, you wouldn't advise a beginner to do a fish in cycle, but someone who knows what they're doing should be fine doing it. Both of you have given brilliant advice and solved her problem so don't put yourself down

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I feel a bit hurt here

Anyway, atleast the OP should not keep hardwater fish in softwater. This has been already mentioned. Therefore they should return or rehome at least the platies and get 2 more neons if they were meant to keep the neons.

Many people do that, you are not the first...

There are several members on here that google the problem the OP is asking about and then just copy and pastes whatever the first thing that pops up is. (I'm not going to name any names though...)

 

[Chantal38]

This is great info @seangee thank you! The 3 platys and 4 neon tetras are still currently in the 23 litre tank...my plan was to move them across to the 58 litre tank within the next few days...so in the 23 litre tank i normally do a 20% water change weekly. So for this tank and the new tank i should do 75% water changes until the ph comes down then would i go back to less water changes or continue at 75%? Also with the mineral shrimp should i dose the tank first according to the litres in the tank or just add it to however many litres i add to the tank with a water change? Do i need to do this gradually or is it safe to put it all in at once? So i appear at the moment to have more female fry than males but i know the males can develop slightly later...my plan was to keep the female fry and add them to the 58 litre tank with the 3 adult females and set up a separate tank for the males...my friend is also having a couple of the male fry from me too....so what would be the maximum number of platy i could keep in the 58 litre tank...from internet searches it says 2-3 per litre but want to make sure the info i have is accurate...

 

[seangee]

This is great info @seangee thank you! The 3 platys and 4 neon tetras are still currently in the 23 litre tank...my plan was to move them across to the 58 litre tank within the next few days...so in the 23 litre tank i normally do a 20% water change weekly. So for this tank and the new tank i should do 75% water changes until the ph comes down then would i go back to less water changes or continue at 75%? Also with the mineral shrimp should i dose the tank first according to the litres in the tank or just add it to however many litres i add to the tank with a water change? Do i need to do this gradually or is it safe to put it all in at once? So i appear at the moment to have more female fry than males but i know the males can develop slightly later...my plan was to keep the female fry and add them to the 58 litre tank with the 3 adult females and set up a separate tank for the males...my friend is also having a couple of the male fry from me too....so what would be the maximum number of platy i could keep in the 58 litre tank...from internet searches it says 2-3 per litre but want to make sure the info i have is accurate...

I change 75% in all my tanks (I have 4!) every week and recommend this. If you change 20% it means you are leaving 80% of the bad stuff behind. Just make sure the water is de-chlorinated and a similar temp to the tank. You add the minerals every time you add water for the volume of water you add. So initially you would dose for the whole tank. My 54 litre tank only holds about 40 liters so I would put in 2 scoops. Then when I do my 30 litre change I add1 1/2 scoops to the new water before I put it in. (I have adjusted that for how much you would need to put in). You can do it all at once as it is not a very big change.

Just females is fine. You would need to separate the males and females early though. In case you are not aware the females can store sperm for later use, so your existing female could keep producing fry every month for 6 months without ever being near a male again. And if your fry are already impregnated before you separate them... That is the main reason people recommend males rather than females. I can't comment on numbers because when I last kept platies they were in a 450litre tank. But 2-3 per litre sounds like way too many. I would have thought no more than 6-8 in total. This would allow you to add another 4 neons, they are much happier in a larger group.

 

[EllRog]

Many people do that, you are not the first...

There are several members on here that google the problem the OP is asking about and then just copy and pastes whatever the first thing that pops up is. (I'm not going to name any names though...)

I think you should

 

[Chantal38]

Yes i was aware that females can hold sperm for a long time, I found out the hard way when one of my females in the all female tank that i got from the fish store had 3 batches of fry!
I will definitely add 2 more neons to my group when i move them to the bigger tank.
Also my plan for moving the fish to the new tank was to move all the gravel, plants and filter over to the new tank and as much of the water from the old tank before...and then top up with new water which i will make sure is dechlorinated and the correct temperature first...i have moved fish from different tanks successfully before but this is the biggest tank ive had...so should i add the new water gradually? I will obviously need to put new water in the tank initially with water from the old tank to make the water deep enough...i will also run the new filter along with the old filter for at least 6 weeks...thanks again for all your info!

 

[EllRog]

Yes i was aware that females can hold sperm for a long time, I found out the hard way when one of my females in the all female tank that i got from the fish store had 3 batches of fry!
I will definitely add 2 more neons to my group when i move them to the bigger tank.
Also my plan for moving the fish to the new tank was to move all the gravel, plants and filter over to the new tank and as much of the water from the old tank before...and then top up with new water which i will make sure is dechlorinated and the correct temperature first...i have moved fish from different tanks successfully before but this is the biggest tank ive had...so should i add the new water gradually? I will obviously need to put new water in the tank initially with water from the old tank to make the water deep enough...thanks again for all your info!

The water itself doesn't hold the beneficial bacteria. It's the ornaments, gravel, filter, plants etc. You dont need to use the old water, just the cycled media inside the filter that you're using

 

[Chantal38]

Ok great, that makes it a little easier, thank you!

 

[EllRog]

Ok great, that makes it a little easier, thank you!

Just fill the new tank with the ornaments, plants, gravel etc you want to use in it, fill it with fresh, dechlorinated water, put the filter in and make sure the temperature is correct and stable, then move the fish over

 

[Chantal38]

Ok great i will do this....thank you!