# Angelfish Red Base At Fin, Also Dead Platy This Morning Please Help??



## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

Hi I woke up this morning to find one of my little Mickey Mouse Platies dead. :sad: there was no visible signs of the cause of death. 

I then noticed one of my Angels has got one red fin at the base and is not using it, probably because its sore. 

A couple of weeks ago my little male Betta died with no obvious marks or illness. Apart from he did have anchor worm on him for a while which i removed once i found out what it was. But he was fine after that and survived a good 3-4 weeks after.

I have a 3 foot 120 litre tank with a good filter and air pump. Well planted with live plants. My stock now is 3 Bala sharks, 4 Mickey Mouse platies, 5 Zebra danios, 2 Angels and 1 Common plec. 
I did change the media in the filters 2 weeks ago. My tank has been set up now since Aug and all fish were babies when I set it up. Last water change was on Tues but will be doing one today since the death of my Platy. All levels are normal, the same as its always been.

Just wondering if anyone could tell me whats wrong with my Angels fin? And if anyone has got any idea why my Platy died, could it be down to the media change??

P.S I am getting a 6 foot tank end of this month.

Any help will much appreciated....

Thanks


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)




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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> image


 

did you change the media all at once? and when you did, did you rinse it in the old water or put it straight in?

normally at this point i'd say Ash is the best person to ask :lol2:


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## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

Yeah I changed the media all at once and didnt put it in the old water first, ooops!  
Has this caused the red base fin on the Angel?


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

cptashko said:


> Yeah I changed the media all at once and didnt put it in the old water first, ooops!
> Has this caused the red base fin on the Angel?


Sounds like ammonia/stress causing some sort of septicaemia or generally other infection. 


Improve water conditions, possibly dose with meds from fish shop suitable for that, and good luck 

Also... lol @ Emma :no1:

EDIT: if any other's die, might be worth looking at their gills, if it's nitrite poisoning they'll be brown/tan colour


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

cptashko said:


> Yeah I changed the media all at once and didnt put it in the old water first, ooops!


In that case, your tank is back to square one and is cycling again as by changing all the filter media, you've effectively removed all your filter bacteria. You'll need a test kit (e.g. API Master Test Kit) to check the water daily plus water changes of at least 50% until both ammonia and nitrite are zero. This could take several weeks so be prepared.

A harsh lesson learned so for future reference, the filter media doesn't need changing unless it's completely falling apart. Just rinse it once a month in old tank water to get rid of the solid gunk. To put it in perspective, my tanks are set up over two years and I think I've only changed about 10% of the media in all that time. : victory:


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## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

Thanks everyone, I wont be doing that again. 
Only reason I done it was because the media looked completely knackered it had lost its shape and was squished flat! I did try to clean it first but just stayed squished. 
Oh well lesson learned at the expense of my poor little fishies. :-( I feel so guilty!

Ill keep partially changing the water every 3-4 days like I did in the beginning for a month and see what happens, but Ive got a new tank coming on the 16th Nov a 6 footer for them with a new external filter, great! So will have to keep changing that water every other day too. Oh I hope no more die, especially in their new tank, I only got a bigger one cause their all growing nice and quickly. 

How long do you think Ill need to cycle the water in my new tank for before introducing my fish? Ill have 3 tanks running then, boyfriend wont like that, lol


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Partial water changes every 3 to 4 days won't help that much. Trust me, you'll need to do daily 50% water changes to dilute the toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite otherwise you're going to lose more fish. :hmm:


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Trillian said:


> In that case, your tank is back to square one


Agreed! I was trying to allude to that fact but was typing quickly...



Trillian said:


> Partial water changes every 3 to 4 days won't help that much. Trust me, you'll need to do daily 50% water changes to dilute the toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite otherwise you're going to lose more fish. :hmm:


Also agreed


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## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

Just been to the fish shop to get some food and asked the staff their about my dead fishes and the red fin on the Angel, and he said it could be my Balas attacking the other fishes because they get terratorial as they get bigger. I thought my fish were compatible with each other? I was told they were by the shop owner (I got them from another aquatic centre). And I did research before, I know the Betta probably wasnt compatible but he did live about 2 months in there happily. Also I havent seen them attacking any fish but they do dart around quite abit.
I hope this is not the case because Im quite attached to all my fish and would hate to get rid of them, I havent got a separate tank for my Balas either. Do you think that they will calm down once in my big tank?

The males are 2 Balas, 2 Angels, were 2 Platies (one died today) so 1, 1 Danio and the Betta that died. Ive noticed its just the males that died and had been 'attacked' So could it be down to territorial behavior?


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

just out of curiosity you say you had 2 platys do you no the sex of the dead one? If it was a female and the other is male it could have just been pestered by the mail to much and these are seperate incidences. You should keep any live bearer to 3 females to 1 male at least but id put maybe four or five


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> Agreed! I was trying to allude to that fact but was typing quickly...also agreed


:2thumb:



cptashko said:


> Just been to the fish shop to get some food and asked the staff their about my dead fishes and the red fin on the Angel, and he said it could be my Balas attacking the other fishes because they get terratorial as they get bigger.


That is a possibility but I can guarantee you that toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite will kill them off a lot quicker than any territorial issues. :whistling2:


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## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

SteveCourty said:


> just out of curiosity you say you had 2 platys do you no the sex of the dead one? If it was a female and the other is male it could have just been pestered by the mail to much and these are seperate incidences. You should keep any live bearer to 3 females to 1 male at least but id put maybe four or five



It was a male Platy that died so i have 1 left with 3 females.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

ok just a thought.

Do you have ammonia, nitrates, nitrites and PH kits?

Keep a close eye on all of these and do water changes to suit. Make sure you use distilled water or dechlorinator


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## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

Trillian said:


> :2thumb:
> 
> 
> 
> That is a possibility but I can guarantee you that toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite will kill them off a lot quicker than any territorial issues. :whistling2:



I checked the levels this morning after I saw the fish dead and ammonia was 0. NO3 was 50, so due for a water change which I have done today.
To be honest I have never had any ammonia present so far.


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

cptashko said:


> To be honest I have never had any ammonia present so far.


It'll take a few days for the levels to build up but keep testing and doing the water changes as necessary and hopefully, they'll be ok. : victory:


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## Stan193 (May 27, 2009)

Sorry I havent read all the posts but the only desease I know of that gives inflamation at the base of the fin is fish tuberculosis.


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## cptashko (Sep 7, 2009)

The Angel is looking much better, infact the redness has completely gone and hes now using it again. But its made me wonder if it was caused by another fish? 
Just have to keep an eye on them see how they behave but seems to be happening through the night, cause its the next day when I wake somethings happened. Naughty fish, should be asleep! lol Hopefully a bigger tank will calm them down.

Well thanks for your help everyone, I wont be changing the media again or if i do remember to change part and soak in old water before! 

And Happy Halloween! ;-P


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