Bumblebee Platy Deaths

I've been posting a decent amount here because I'm new to the hobby as a responsible person. If you've seen my previous posts, I had a platy give birth, then die which left me with a single platy. The remaining platy became sick so I treated the whole tank because I don't have a quarantine set up just yet. She seemed to get better. I bought another platy because I thout it would help with stress and lonliness, but he jumped out of the tank 2 days later and died.

At this point I almost gave up on the Platy's but decided to grab one more Bumblebee to see what would happen. She has been doing great! Unfortunately I started noticing more white stringy feces again, sooo....

I did another dose of General Cure and medicated food. The original platy seemed OK, unclamped and swimmed around more, but still did not eat or very little. I just found her dead in between an Amazon Sword. I think she got stuck and drowned, but it could be that she was just that sick or old.

I am at a loss. My Molly's, shrimp, snails, guppy, Tetras, and plants are doing great, but these Platy's are just not working out.

Any insight?

Ammonia 0.
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10
Ph 7.6

 

I would try getting them from a different source. The ones I get from chain pet stores have never lived more than 3 months in my tank. The only healthy ones I have came from a highly regarded fish store in my area that purchases fish from local and online breeders, then quarentines them and treats for parasites and infection.

I don't think you did anything wrong with your fish keeping per say, and I think it's unlikely the platy drowned or otherwise died from being stuck. If you decide to get more platies, I would get females if your end game is for the fish to be less stressed. I have had many fish jump out of the tank as well. Sometimes they don't have enough oxygen in the water or otherwise don't like the parameters, but usually they jump because they are trying to escape a tank mate that is chasing them. Sometimes they do it for seemingly no reason at all, and I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. If possible, get a lid if you want to prevent this problem in the future.

Also always be sure to properly dose medications and remember to only use it as a last resort in most cases. Make sure you identity the illness before just throwing any old thing into the tank. Meds can be stressful for the fish and if used improperly can often cause more harm than good. Again, don't beat yourself up over it. I doubt you could have done anything for any of them as it is most likely a combination of bad genes, parasites, secondary infections, and all the things big fish stores ultemantly don't care about passing onto your fish or your tank.

I hope you have better luck with the rest of your tank and I hope everyone stays healthy and happy. This hobby is 99% learning and I give you props for making an account here and doing everything you can to help your fish friends.

 

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately the nearest locally owned store is an hour away. I was planning on going to check it out but Covid had other plans.

I used General Cure because I started seeing more and more stringy white feces. The more I read up on it the more I believed it was caused by internal parasites. I got a bit worried! I followed the instructions as well. Last thing that I want to do is harm these guys. I will most definitely reach out next time to help diagnose though!

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately the nearest locally owned store is an hour away. I was planning on going to check it out but Covid had other plans.

I used General Cure because I started seeing more and more stringy white feces. The more I read up on it the more I believed it was caused by internal parasites. I got a bit worried! I followed the instructions as well. Last thing that I want to do is harm these guys. I will most definitely reach out next time to help diagnose though!

Thanks again!

The stringy poop from the platies is probably a sign of internal parasites. Also, how did your platy jump out of the tank? What size is the tank and how often do you perform water changes? Since your parameters are fine I doubt its you, but do the tank mates have any symptoms as well?

 

The cover that I have on the tank is stock. I actually got the tank and cover for free. Unfortunately there is an opening on the cover for feeding. At least that's what makes sense. A terrible design but it isn't that large of an opening so I am not sure how that Platy managed to aI'm perfectly for it. The only other gap is where the HOB is but with the water current strongest there I can't imagine him getting out that way.

The tank is a 20 high and I do weekly 25% changes using Prime because there is a slight Ammonia reading in my tap. The Ammonia from the tap is gone when I test the next day.

It started with that original sick Platy, but then as the weeks went by I noticed that my Molly's and guppy had the white stringy poo. However they were and are still eating and acting normal. I am hoping that the last dose of GC eradicated the parasites but I saw somewhere that it is good to do another treatment 2 weeks after the first treatment to make sure all the eggs are destroyed. Something about the timing of eggs laid and hatched.

 

If you did water changes and dosed GC for an extra 2 weeks, I am not sure why there are any parasites, hopefully someone else will respond. I would advise you to set up a quarantine tank just in case of any diseases that can cause outbreaks (I was skeptical at first, but it is worth it!) Is your fish getting enough oxygen? That could be the reason it was jumping out of the water.

 

Yeah. I am absolutely going to get one going. I was going to a few weeks ago but I was laid off due to Covid. I believe the fish are getting enough oxygen. None of the inhabitants are at the surface or gasping for air or acting out of the ordinary.

 

Alright...I'm at a loss. I have done two regiments of general Cure over a few weeks, and also medicated the food with general Cure and I just saw my guppy poop white stringy poo again. I don't know what to do. Is there another medication that I could try? I have snails, shrimp, and plants so I really can't go the aquarium salt route.

Any help is appreciated!

 

Pretty much talking to myself on this lol, but! The only Platy that I have left is showing similar symptoms to the other Platy's. Clamped find, hiding, and becoming skinny. Still eating and her feces today was regular. I think it's wasting disease killing the Platy's. Oddly....it's only the Platy's. Everything else is thriving.

No more Platy's for me.