Mysterious deaths of fry

[Tom]

I just found two more platys of mine dead. The water is fine(0 ammonia,nitrite,and >20 nitrate), I am so confused. I have been losing platys almost every day now for the last few days. I would like some advice before any more die. Please help.
Tom

 

[Stradius011]

Have you "aged" your replacement water before putting it into the tank?

 

[Tom]

What do you mean exactly?
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

I just found two more platys of mine dead. The water is fine(0 ammonia,nitrite,and >20 nitrate), I am so confused. I have been losing platys almost every day now for the last few days. I would like some advice before any more die. Please help.
Tom

Are these fry in the tanks with other fish or in their own tank? If it's their own tank, how big it is? What do you feed them & how often? What water temp are they being kept at? Have you noticed if the ones that die are unable to get off the bottom before they die?

 

[Tom]

At first they were in their own tank but I had a sudden ammonia spike and the pH went way down, but then I moved all the fish out of there and into a couple of breeder nets in the larger tanks. I am just starting to move them back into their tank after a few weeks of trying to get the chemistry right. The tank they were in originally is a 10 Gallon. I feed them crushed up flakes that I have been feeding them about 2-3 times a day for the past few months. For the temp of the water, it is at about 84F. I haven't noticed what they are doing before they die since I usually find them when I turn on the lights or when I come home from school.
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

The ammonia & pH jump might have got to them, but it sounds like you got them out fast so if it was some water chemistry issue it would have to have been them adjusting to the big tanks. It just doesn't sound like that though, not with the way they've died.

I think it could be swim bladder disorder. I read a lot of platy fry go down to that & we've lost a number or ours to it. The ones we lost showed symptoms for hours to days before dying. A few did respond to crushed, ground pea though and pulled through.

 

[Tom]

I was told by different people to do the drip method when either the pH is a big difference or you add senstitive fish to your tank. I did that with my fish before moving them. I think it was just the quick drop in pH and the ammonia spike that killed them, or at least that is what I want to believe.
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

I hope so too.. with your remaining fry, just keep an eye out for ones that seem stuck on the bottom & do the pea thing if they do. Is your platy done having fry? It sounds like you've got some that are getting to an inch or more?

 

[Tom]

I hope so too.. with your remaining fry, just keep an eye out for ones that seem stuck on the bottom & do the pea thing if they do. Is your platy done having fry? It sounds like you've got some that are getting to an inch or more?

My only female platy is now still too young to breed and I just lost my first male platy. He had been battling something strange(fins all torn and not healing, losing color in the head) for the past little while and it finally beat him. :'(
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

So the female platy that dropped these fry was lost too?

 

[Tom]

Ya. And I looked in the 10 gallon last night and saw a cory dead and another fry dead. I am going to test the water soon to see if there is anything wrong with it.
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

it does sound like something's going on in there. have there been any common symptoms in the fish that have died?

 

[Tom]

it does sound like something's going on in there. have there been any common symptoms in the fish that have died?

Not that I have noticed.
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

it does sound like something's going on in there. have there been any common symptoms in the fish that have died?

Not that I have noticed.
Tom

Very mysterious for sure.. I'll look forward to the results of the water testing.

 

[Tom]

I am just testing the water as I type. After just check it under my link to my tanks.
Tom

 

[COBettaCouple]

Looking at the water test results, i'm not sure what killed them.. the nitrates are up a little, but not enough for fish to die like that i'd think .. the nitrates are pretty high, but even that doesn't seem to be the answer - a mystery to me, but maybe starting a thread on this in the misc or disease forum could get some answers from the more experienced fish keepers.