# dead fish



## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

well today i went to my 55 gallon and saw 2 more dead fish!i dont know what happened!yesterday they were acting fine.when i got them out,they're gill covers looked a little white.does anybody have an idea about what it is that got them?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Lots of deaths in a short amount of time are usually either bad water or an aggressive disease (or both). For livebearers, I look for ich, velvet and columnaris. But since dead fish fungus easily, you need to see symptoms on live fish to diagnose. Also check ammonia, nitrite and pH. Low pH can be a sign of really high nitrate and live-bearers are more susceptible to disease at low pH/hardness. In a small tank, one dead fish can set off a chain reaction of ammonia spikes and additional deaths. Start over, list all the fish you've lost, the timetable and observed symptoms, tank size, other inhabitants, and water parameters. Get the best pics you can.


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

well,there where a LOT of deaths in the tank.the first 6 were gigantic bala sharks that died on there way to my house because we got it off of craigslist.the next 2 where pictus catfish who died of an unknown reason.then i lost 4 platies due to ich and 2 baby balas that got attacked many times


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

timeline? One dead fish is just 'one of those things', two is a disturbing trend, 3 is an epidemic. Fish that drop dead 1 a month often have internal parasites. All at once is usually toxic water. 

Look at pics of velvet. People often describe it a a dusting of powdered sugar, unlike ich which is like grains of salt.

What else is in with them? Anything that could kill them?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Sounds a bit like Saprolegnia fungus to me. Swift killer that turns gill areas white? That sounds about right.


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