..I got up this morning to find one of my platys and one of my cardinals dead in the tank, both with no signs of illness whatsoever...
All the other platys and cardinals (4 of each now) are fine, and my Betta seems OK too... what could have killed them??
I was concerned over this weekend because my tank was getting very warm due to the warm weather we had (in the UK) - the temperature got up to about 84 F/30 C - could this be what killed the fish?
I tested my water today and all is fine - Nitrate is 12, Nitrite is 0 and Ammonia is 0.
The only thing I had noticed with the platy was that she was not growing as large as the other platys and she always had her fins clamped to her body. but the cardinal - I have no idea why he died...!
I'm doing a partial water change tomorrow - is there anything else I should do to ensure the rest of my fish don't suddenly die??
Thanks
Answers:
I've been keeping tropical fish for over 40 years now and I'm afraid this sort of thing happens occasionally and you just have to accept it. I once had a shoal of about 30 Cardinal Tetras die in a few hours but had no problem whatsoever with any of the other tetras in the tank-including Neon's.
Unless the water became too oxygen deficient lifting the temperature to 84掳C shouldn't do any harm.
Water test kits are useful but they are not particularly accurate and without full laboratory facilities it's impossible to test for everything.
If you've got a filter try cleaning it out-use tank water if it's a biological one and by all means change some of the water but try and get the fresh water to something like the temperature in the tank before you add it. Put a drop of water conditioner in to neutralise the chlorine if you've got any..
Keep an eye on the other fish for a week or so, look out particularly for any tiny white spots that appear on them. If you see any put some white spot cure in the tank.
I don't know anything about keeping fish, but I just want to say how sorry I am for you about your fish as I had 2 canaries die on the same night %26 I had no idea what killed them.
Hope you don't have any more trouble.
Could be water
Could be food
Good be one fish making the rest of them sick
So your on the right track
thats about all you can do
Sorry to hear about your loss. I don't think it was the heat that killed your fish, my tanks got up to 88-90 degrees during the last heat spell and I didn't lose any fish. I'm not sure what you have in the UK but in the U.S. we have this stuff called "Melafix" and I stand by it 100%, it usually helps with most illnesses. Try running fresh carbon through you filter to take care of anything bad in your water.
You seem to know about water condition and so I will not comment on that. The sudden change of weather such as a warm spell can cause the temp to rise and 84f is far too high and you must lower it to 75f. Turn the screw on the thermostat ant-clockwise a little. If you cannot do this.increase the aeration bubbles. If your other fish are all right but the cardinal tetra died it could be that it was killed by a younger male for territory or it has outlived it's life span. The platy is obviously sick and it could be any ailment. A daily observation of your fish will tell you it's lifestyle.
That's a hard one. Could be the weight of the chips! Or too much vinegar!
