Bad luck with Platys only......?

[jason longboard]

Hi guys, been a loooooooooooong time, couldn’t get my password reset then finally realized it’s been going to spam lol, anyways.....

so I’ve had a 30 gallon going for 4 years or so, basic planted tank, 8 or so Espei Rasboras about 4 years old, a tiny Candy Stripe Pleco about 3 years, 5 or so Amono Shrimp few years old, couple Nerite Snails, tons of hides and java moss.

Bought three Platys a couple years ago, just the little orange ones, they had babies, then as the babies grew, an adult would die, then another, then the last.........so I ended up with about 8 babies growing up to full size, good filtration and weekly water changes.

One dies, then a month later another, then 2 months later another, and so on, now I got one left...................I figured the pleco ate the little babies, but what’s the deal with all the rest, the pleco is like an inch long, all the other fish are old and healthy and I figured shrimp would die befor a Platy..........

I never planned on baby Platys crowding up my tank but anyways, crap happens, but now I got this one little guy alone and feel bad lol.

they were non stop healthy acting and vibrant, attentive......idk

sry been out of it for awhile, if you guys need scientific names and water parameters I can get that later, just been trippin me out for awhile.

any thoughts?

I’m 45 and kept hundreds of species since a child, never had as much trouble as I have with these Platys.

Actually Bolivian Rams I sucked with too. I could be getting bad stock I guess too.....

 

[NilusFishFamily]

That sounds like a very overloaded tank? There may have also been behavior you weren’t aware of- if you check aquadvisor.com and put in your tank size (if you don’t know the measurements just choose the 30g) and underneath you’ll see species and qty - enter and add each one and check your stock & compatibility.

Filtration and water changes don’t make up for too small of a space - Harry Potter could have lived a long life in the closet under the stairs but would he have been happy? Even peaceful species can be aggressive if competing for food or tank space.

I could be wrong and am always learning and asking for advice here myself but for example- I have just 2 fish, in an overloaded 37 gallon tank and waiting for their 120 gallon tank to cycle. Just the 2 of them, (4 inch and the other is a pleco nose to tail @14”) and it’s @50% so there’s very limited space (probably can only add 1 or 2 more total). I have two very ‘messy’ fish but even if they barely ate/pooped it’s still like locking them in a closet- they need room to stretch their..fins.

 

[tlindsey]

Possibly genetics was the issue with the Platy's.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Possibly genetics was the issue with the Platy's.

I'd agree there. Many are heavily inbred now a days for certain colors, patterns and fin types which makes them very weak fish. Personally when ever I get endlers, guppies, platies or mollies I get multiple from multiple locations instead of all at the same place. Atleast doing this, it helps bring in new Gene's and helps strengthen them genetically speaking.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Check water parameters. If a tank has been up and running a number of years there is a good chance it will be ph less than 7 and soft water. Neither of which the platties will love.
if so you might want to try something different. Platties and harlequins like completely opposite tank water. One really soft and really acid and the other quite hard and quite alkaline.
more chance your rasbora eating the babies than the plec although again harlequins are not really big enough to eat platty fry.
often find poor genes as mentioned above in platties but you did right choosing the straight red or orange type which should be the basic stronger gene pool providing again they are not in bred.
might need to look at a separate tank with water more suited to them if you want success with platties.