Tsunami35

I have gotten several fish at Petco because I got a gift card. I got 4 platys, and within 2 days 2 had died. Then I got 5 guppies, and 3 have died within 3 days. My tank is cycled and my parameters are as such:

pH- 8.2
ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0
nitrate- 10
Temp- 78
Natural CO2 with step ladder diffuser- stays on 24/7
65w CFL 10000k fixture
real plants

It seems like every morning there is another fish dead, They always seem fine and healthy then out of nowhere one dies...

Any ideas? I think it just may be unhealthy fish but I want to make sure...

capekate

Sorry to hear about your loss after only a few days. I have the same problem with a lot of chain store fish from places like Petco or Petsmart. Im almost at the point now of just not going to these types of stores anymore and concentrate on the smaller owner business's or places where I can order my fish from. I understand your frustration at seeing a fish fine one moment and dead the next without any apparent symptoms. You most likely brought home sick or very weak fish and the results are what you are finding out now. Your water readings seem fine to me so I doubt its a water or temp* problem.

~ kate

Tazmiche

Well i'm in the Uk and one of our local VERY good fish stores said a while back that the livebearers he had been getting in were always dying. They were from a wholesaler. Guppies not as robust as they should be etc

jsalemi

Yes, unfortunately livebearers are the 'commodity fish' of the trade (why they're so cheap, probably), so the breeders just let them breed and breed and breed, without any concern about genetics, winnowing out the weak ones (done in nature by the parents or other fish), or even taking particularly good care of the tanks. So what ends up in the stores aren't the best of stock.

COBettaCouple

How big is the tank? Is there any symptoms or things you can see different about the ones that die? Did they all come from the same Petco? It's possible that a disease has been introduced to the tank. How did you acclimate them and what are you treating the water with? What are you feeding them?