Dead Platy After 10 Day Holiday - Is There Anything I Could Have Done Differently?

HI everyone,

I just came home from a 10 day holiday to find 1 of my 2 platy dead! A barely recognizable skeleton with a white mouldy looking blob to be precise.

I did a water change on the day I left and left them a dissolving food block to last 14 days. They survived a previous 7 day holiday at the end of June so I thought I had this in the bag.

I have a few questions and would appreciate advice on any of them:

1. What steps can I take to prevent death on future holidays? e.g. automatic feeder, more expensive / high tech filter? I will buy a water testing kit ASAP
2. How long should I wait before introducing new fish? I had planned on adding 2 guppies/endlers 2 weeks from when I returned. Should I add another platy first? Is the surviving "platy" lonely?
3. The body was so decomposed it seems she died a few days ago and I was only gone 10 days! Was there something else wrong?

Background info

• Only ever had these 2 female platy
• Bought them on 6th April
• 19L / 4 gallon tank
• The platy that died was a slow eater (spat out / choked on pellets)
• The surviving platy is actually suspected to be a female swordtail, a fast eater, slightly bigger and more aggressive - she looks normal now despite the death of her companion

Many thanks!

 

I've been gone on 1-1.5 week vacations and my fish do well, but it's b/c they were in a bigger tank (then a 30 gallon and now a 40 gallon). 4 gallons for a week plus for two platies (who have a big bioload) may have just been too unforgiving water quality wise. Those dissolving food blocks also tend to pollute the water over time. I have our friendly neighbor feed our fish every 3 days (I put the food in those Monday-Sunday pill divider things).

 

HI everyone,

I just came home from a 10 day holiday to find 1 of my 2 platy dead! A barely recognizable skeleton with a white mouldy looking blob to be precise.

I did a water change on the day I left and left them a dissolving food block to last 14 days. They survived a previous 7 day holiday at the end of June so I thought I had this in the bag.

I have a few questions and would appreciate advice on any of them:

1. What steps can I take to prevent death on future holidays? e.g. automatic feeder, more expensive / high tech filter? I will buy a water testing kit ASAP
2. How long should I wait before introducing new fish? I had planned on adding 2 guppies/endlers 2 weeks from when I returned. Should I add another platy first? Is the surviving "platy" lonely?
3. The body was so decomposed it seems she died a few days ago and I was only gone 10 days! Was there something else wrong?

Background info

• Only ever had these 2 female platy
• Bought them on 6th April
• 19L / 4 gallon tank
• The platy that died was a slow eater (spat out / choked on pellets)
• The surviving platy is actually suspected to be a female swordtail, a fast eater, slightly bigger and more aggressive - she looks normal now despite the death of her companion

Many thanks!

If ur fish was decomposed I would have done a 50%water change asap as rotting fish can cause spikes in the ammonia etc. I heard the automatic feeder are quite good tho never used one myself. Did u ever have any other fish bother this fish?

 

You need to get a larger tank. At least 20 gallons/75 liters. Then you need to let the filter cycle completely before adding more fish.
Platies do best in groups of at least 3. you can add endlers if you got a 20 gallon, but you really should get fish that are all of the same sex. A 20 gallon is easilly over run by live bearers.

Vacation feeders leave a lot of waste food to decay, allow your fish to gorge themselves on junk food, and it is not good. just because you got away with it once, doesn't mean you will everytime. An automatic feeder used very carefully is a better option.

 

I use Eheim auto feeders when we are out of town for 4 or more days. They have always worked well.

Does your 4 gallon tank have a filter?

Small tanks are harder to cycle than larger ones.

 

If ur fish was decomposed I would have done a 50%water change asap as rotting fish can cause spikes in the ammonia etc. I heard the automatic feeder are quite good tho never used one myself. Did u ever have any other fish bother this fish?

Hiya. Yes the other fish bothered her, she used to chase her away

I use Eheim auto feeders when we are out of town for 4 or more days. They have always worked well.

Does your 4 gallon tank have a filter?

Small tanks are harder to cycle than larger ones.

Yes I have a filter. Some people said small tanks like mine never actually finish cycling.

 

Our little 5.5g Top Fin tank is cycled. It came with the Silentstream 10 filter that I use in it, but had to add a small 50w heater.

I discarded the little filter's cartridge and blue plastic "bio-grid" or whatever it was called. In its place went a bit of loose Polyfil, a block of sponge foam block I cut to fit, and a small bag of bio-media. Luckily the foam block and little bag of media was appropriated from a cycled tank.

You should be able to cycle your tank properly, but patience is key. You may have augment the media in your filter, to provide extra surface area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize on.

You may also consider the addition of a small air pump powering a sponge filter. Those make excellent biological filters and come in sizes small enough for 5 gallon tanks.

I would concentrate on temperature matched water changes for your 4 gallon tank, with thorough cleaning of the substrate with a gravel vac siphon. That would remove any remnants of the dissolving food block and previous build up of fish waste.

Doing so will help prevent/reduce any spikes in ammonia or nitrates.