poefox

I'm not sure what happened...the new platy I got died today. She was kind of hanging around near the top a lot and I'd begun to notice that she seemed almost afraid of the other fish, yet they weren't bothering her. I was about to log on when I noticed her floating oddly and she'd died. Could this have been stress or what?

I'm further worried because the male spends a LOT of time near the bubbles that are immediately near the airstone flow I have. Almost obsessive. I mean, could he be having trouble breathing? None of the other fish (the remaining female platy and the corydoras cats) do this.

vin

I think your tank has cycled, correct? Water are your readings? If fish are hanging at the surface or near air bubbles, chances are they are not getting enough oxygen out of the water. Maybe they were in trouble when you got them from the store.....

poefox

It was cycled. So I'm confused...I mean, they were fine before. What's confusing is that before I added the other fish this never happened. And why would it just affect one fish at a time?

poefox

I'm not sure entirely why...but things seem to be settling down again. I changed about 15% of the water and that seemed to help. The male still spends a lot of his time near the top of the tank but is not poking his head at the bubbles all the time. I have no idea what this means. Unfortunately now that the other female is dead he's begun pestering the current one again.

One thing that occured to me: he's ALWAYS the first to feed, and it is possible that he's just greedy.

Pike35

I would like to see what your water tests results are, could it even be high ammonia?, do a water test PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and post results here, will give the pro's on this forum the info they need.

poefox

Ammonia was too high. I posted in another thread that I was wondering about the diff between strips and liquid. I guess strips are not always accurate. I had thought since I use them at work that they were, but I guess they have to be more precise for fish. Anyway, I also got a new brand of tank conditioner and it settled everything down a fair bit. The platys are now swimming down among the plants again as before. It's a pity about the other one. I'm going to wait now till I get my new tank before I get any new fish.

Butterfly

As you noted the liquid tests are more accurate than the strips. anytime you notice your fish acting odd a water change is a good idea. Water changes will never hurt. you stated he did better after the water change, this is frequently the case. Our fishies love fresh water
Carol