Platys are dying

[SusanneK]

Hi!

I'm a complete beginner and have inherited a 55 liters aquarium with some some platys and one poor tetra in it. So I went to the local zoo and bought 10 more tetras to make the single tetra happy, but something is very wrong now because my platys are starting to dye... They are often at the surface and, what it looks like, breathing. One platy that died, was doing loops and another that has not (yet?) died, is racing towards the glass from time to time. Almost all platys are near the surface and all tetras are in the middle of the aquarium.
Except for buying all the new tetras, I removed the CO2 system for a day, resulting in that all my plants now are covered in algiers. After that I tried to position the filter outblow so that the co2 bubbles were closer to the outflow to fill the aquarium better with co2.
So I don't know if it is the water, co2 or some disease...
I'm doing water changes every second day for the moment to see if that helps, but it seems it doesn't...

Can someone please suggest anything I can do to help my platys?
/Susanne

 

[Hufsa]

I suspect there is either water quality issues at play here or too much CO2, possibly both.
I would advise you to do a water change of 50% as soon as possible today, and keep this up every day until we have this figured out.
It can be considered first aid at this point.
Make sure you treat the new water with a water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine before adding to the tank.

Some quick questions, you can answer after water change if possible;
Do you have any ways to check your CO2 levels? A drop checker (glass thing inside the tank) maybe? If yes, what color is this?
Algae is better than dying fish, so if you have to choose I would turn off the CO2 until you have a better grasp on the situation.
I think maybe when you added the extra tetras, the amount of beneficial bacteria and archaea in your tank were overwhelmed. These are microscopic "good guys" that eat toxic chemicals your fish make, and turn them into another chemical which is plant food. We call this the nitrogen cycle, where ammonia turns into nitrite and then nitrate. You may know about it already.

If you have levels of ammonia or nitrite in your water then water changes with clean dechlorinated (conditioned) water will reduce the levels and help your fish survive until the good guys can grow strong again. Water changes will also reduce the amount of CO2 in your water if you have accidentally added too much CO2

Sorry for the shortly worded reply, I just wanted to give you an answer quickly 🙂

 

[Jaseon]

Thats a lot to take on for a newbie.

 

[sparkyweasel]

I suspect there is either water quality issues at play here or too much CO2, possibly both.
I would advise you to do a water change of 50% as soon as possible today, and keep this up every day until we have this figured out.
It can be considered first aid at this point.
Make sure you treat the new water with a water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine before adding to the tank.

Absolutely, and remember to bring the new water up to the same temperature as the tank.

Then post as much information about your tank and fish as possible.

 

[spleenharvester]

How many platies did you start with and how many have died? How long have they lived in there? I have previously had issues with a specific supplier, I bought 4 from them and 3 were dead within a month. I suspect they were just inbred to hell.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

So I don't know if it is the water, co2 or some disease...

It is likely to be the CO2. I'd turn it off (it is always off for me anyway).

How many plants do you have? Can we have a photo of the tank? It is possible that it might be issues with ammonia because of the increase in bioload (ten more fish).

cheers Darrel

 

[SusanneK]

Hi and thank you so much for all your answers! I really appreciate it!

When I do the water change, I add the water conditioners after I have filled it with water that has the same temperatur as the aquarium. Is it wrong to do it that way?
Perhaps I'm using the wrong products? I was recommended by the animal store to use Happy-Life Filtering Medium together with JBL Denitrol after water changes and I have thought that was removing the chlorine and chloramine... But maybe I was wrong and need to buy another product for that?
Ok, I'll change 50% each day now and see if that will help.

I went to an animal store after I had written my question here, and bought some medications (which probably was a stupid thing to do because I have no idea what to treat...)...
So I bought Odimore and Medimore and some PH-plus to raise my ph because it was low. So now I have added Odimore and then some filter media after the water change - which again probably was the wrong thing to do because the filter media seems to remove the medication from the water when I read about it now...

As one of you said - it is a lot for a newbe and I seem to do everything wrong for the moment - and I have not started my dream of aquascaping yet...

Another bad thing I did today was to buy some Amano shrimps beacause I thought they could help me with my algaes. But what I didn't know was that they don't always survive the medication I bought - and I have only one aquarium so I had to let them be there now and hope they will not die too... Sorry, I'm just a little sad and want to share all my mistakes...

Anyway, I have a drop checker and it is dark green. I have tested my water several times the last days and PH has been low (6,4) but no nitrate or nitrate - then there should be no problem with ammonia?
Now I have removed the inner filter media, because of the medication, but I will use it again tomorrow.

There were 5 platys from the beginning, and they have had 6 spawns (?) and yesterday one platy died, and today another died. I think there were bought like a year ago...
So now there are 3 full grown platys, some small spawns, 11 cardinaltetras and 3 amano shrimps.

I have a very bad inner filter with a sponge in it. I have bought an Eheim External Filter eXperience 150 but I have not yet received it...

 

[Jaseon]

Obviously its best to start with a bare tank, and work your way up gaining knowledge each step of the way, but you have been thrown in the deep end, and its easy to panic, and start doing things that can make a problem worse. Im guessing you have plenty of plants seeing the tank was set up with CO2. If so i wouldn't worry to much about the filtration as you plants will take up the slack. Your readings are good, and although you have been dosing with meds you got that JBL Dentitrol which is a bacteria starter which will help to replace any bacteria lost. Again having plants will help you.

I think you're going to be fine. Your readings sounds ok so id just keep up with regular water changes, and hope whatever the problem was settles down.

 

[jaypeecee]

I have tested my water several times the last days and PH has been low (6,4) but no nitrate or nitrate - then there should be no problem with ammonia?

Hi @SusanneK

I don't think we should assume that there isn't a problem with ammonia. I suggest that you test the aquarium water for ammonia. But it is necessary to find out more about Happy-Life Filtering Medium and JBL Denitrol as I have never used either of these products. As the latter is a JBL product, I'd be inclined to use the JBL Ammonia Test Kit.

JPC

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi @SusanneK

It appears that you may not have tested for nitrite. Personally, I would also test for this and, again, JBL have a nitrite test kit. It may sound like I'm a salesperson for JBL but I can assure you that I have no connection with this company whatsoever. I use some of their products and I find them to be reliable.

JPC

 

[PARAGUAY]

Happy life filter medium seems to claim a lot removing things as tapsafe does but seems to set off as product for crystal clear water? Might be cautious and use a tapsafe product like prime. Too much CO2 might be aissue l agree to switch it off .

 

[X3NiTH]

When I do the water change, I add the water conditioners after I have filled it with water that has the same temperatur as the aquarium. Is it wrong to do it that way?

Yes this is the wrong way round, you need to add dechlorinator to the tank before introducing the water from the tap, if there is free Ammonia (very likely in this case with the sudden increase in bio load) in the tank and you introduce Chlorine from tapwater (usually ever present) you will form Chloramine directly in the aquarium, the longer the Chloramine is in the water before the addition of conditioner then the greater the damage to the fish, Chloramine interrupts the ability of fish to be able to uptake oxygen efficiently, fish gasping for breath at the surface with oxygen replete tap water after a waterchange is a dead giveaway for Chloramine poisoning.

🙁

 

[SusanneK]

Thanks again for all your answers! I'm so grateful for them all!

I use JBL Pro Aquatest to measure my water values and this morning it was:
No3: 0
No2: 0 (these two are the ones I have understood is the most important to look at and keep at zero)
GH: >7
hardness: >125
KH: between 3 and 6
alkalinity: between 53 and 107
pH: 6,4
Cl2: 0,8

So I'm going to buy some water conditioner today and add that before I do the 50% water change as you said. And I add some more pH+?
I will also take away the Co2 for a while.
No fishes has died tonight so perhaps the medication helped also...

 

[Hufsa]

Ammonium (NH4) and Nitrite (NO2) are the ones you want at zero, nitrate (NO3) is ok to have.

Can you post a picture of your tank? We are interested to know how many plants you have, because plants also filter the water together with your filter.

What filter media is it that you have bought?
When you say you have removed some of your filter media, can you explain a bit more? Some medications will ask you to remove "active" filter media, which means filter media that contains activated charcoal or media that has chemical properties that do things to your water. This is so the "active" type media dont remove the medication. I dont think your tank needs any medication, it is unlikely your fish have been dying from an illness, but rather from the bad water quality (more than zero ammonia, nitrite, chlorine or chloramine, or too much CO2)

When you handle your filter media, be careful with the sponge in your old filter. This sponge is just plastic, but on all the surfaces of the sponge the "good guys" I talked about earlier are living, and we dont want to wash them away.

The petshops are very good at selling things, they will try to sell you as many things as possible and most of them have poor knowledge of fishkeeping, even if they say they know. Unless you are very lucky and have a specialty fish shop near you, I would not trust them much, and even the specialty shops will still try to sell you too much.

If your petshop has floating plants for sale, I suggest you buy a good amount of them. Amazon frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) is a really good one to have, but Salvinia or Pistia will also do. Do not get duckweed (andmat), because it is very hard to get rid of later. Floating plants are much better at filtering the water than underwater plants, so they will help out a lot if youre having problems.

 

[arcturus]

Thanks again for all your answers! I'm so grateful for them all!

I use JBL Pro Aquatest to measure my water values and this morning it was:
No3: 0
No2: 0 (these two are the ones I have understood is the most important to look at and keep at zero)
GH: >7
hardness: >125
KH: between 3 and 6
alkalinity: between 53 and 107
pH: 6,4
Cl2: 0,8

So I'm going to buy some water conditioner today and add that before I do the 50% water change as you said. And I add some more pH+?

No. Your water parameters, including pH are all good. If you follow the fish store's advice, you will soon end up with a soup of chemicals in the tank and a cabinet full of unnecessary (and expensive) products.

I will also take away the Co2 for a while.
No fishes has died tonight so perhaps the medication helped also...

I would stop all the medication altogether, because these should be targeting bacterial infections or parasites, which I doubt is the problem you have. What you experienced was likely due to an ammonia/nitrite spike because of the new fish. It can be also CO2 poisoning. Note that you have a very significant amount of fish for such a small (55 l) tank. Adding new fish to a small tank can easily lead to excess toxic ammonia or nitrite that can kill livestock. This depends on the amount of plants you have.

Also follow the advice regarding the water conditioner: always apply it to the water outside the tank, not to the tank water. If you have the space, you can get a ~30l water tank to help you with the 50% (25-30 litre) weekly water changes. Fill it one day before the water change and add the conditioner. The next day the water should be near room temperature and you can add it to the tank. Just ask if you need some tips on how to set this up.

 

[sparkyweasel]

The petshops are very good at selling things, they will try to sell you as many things as possible and most of them have poor knowledge of fishkeeping, even if they say they know.

If you follow the fish store's advice, you will soon end up with a soup of chemicals in the tank and a cabinet full of unnecessary (and expensive) products.

Sadly this is very true.
But people on this forum just want to help, and have nothing to sell you.
If you follow the advice above I am sure you will soon have a beautiful and healthy tank.
As @dw1305 says, a photo(s) of the tank could be very useful.

 

[SusanneK]

Hi and thanks for all your advices!
I just wanted to tell you that no more fish has died the last couple of days since I started doing big water changes and adding new water conditioner, removing the CO2 and not adding any more medication. I'm so happy it helped and want to say thank you again!
I have so many other questions now when I want to set up my first aquascape, but I guess I have to writes them in the other forums/discussions because it is not about fishes. 🙂
Hope to see you there!