Please help!

[CatKittyFish]

okay so I woke up this morning and 5 of my fish where dead. I need to know more about PH lvls. I think that is what killed them. My PH and Akilinity is very high in the water where I live...it comes out of the sink that way. I havn't had any problems with my tank untill I added the platties that I got. I started out with some danios and I have had them for about a month now and they have been doing fine. I've seem them playing in the tank and everything. 2 weeks ago I started seeing brown algea on my substrate...and even though I ran through it with my fingers it kept coming back. Then it started growing on the glass....I bought some Juli cory cats to mix the substrate around and that really seemed to help. The algea didn't go away compltly though so I looked up what causes it and read it was improper lighting or not enough oxygen. I then pruchased some plattys just to add some color to my tank temporarly. Also found a smallish pleco in the addoption tank where I work(petco). I've only had them for about 4 days...I noticed the first day they seemed fine. But then I started seeing them settling at the bottom of the tank in the corners together (like you would think of seeing egg layers in a nest) I have never seen platys do this. I also noticed they didn't seem to interested in food. I have tested my water every day since I have got them and my nitrate lvls are fine. I started getting kinda worried about them. I added a airstone to the tank 2 days ago....all the fish seemed to love the air stone...swimming up to it all the time. Yesterday I noticed I had lost 1 platy and 1 cory cat. This morning I found 3 more plattes and one of the danios. I did try to use some of the proper PH I got from work to lower the ph thinking maybe that was distressing them. Now I am not so sure...Please advise! What I really can't figure out is why the baby guppies I found in the adoption tank at work are not showing any distress...they are in my bio orb cause they are so small but they are just fine. I dont like seeing my fishies die....I want to see them all happy and this is the first time I have ever had trouble like this. Please help

 

[Artemis_Psyche]

Hi there! Can you give us some background information about the tank in question?
How big is the tank in question?
How long has it been running?
What fish were in the tank and what were their numbers before the deaths started happening?
Do you have a liquid test kit? If so what were the readings for the nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia?
If you give us a little more information I'm sure one of the more skilled members can give you some ideas on what is going on with your tank!

 

[aakaakaak]

Your tank is a month old. Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle?

Without knowing more, my guess is that you either had ammonia poisoning or nitrite gill burn going on. Then, to finish them off, you changed the PH balance of the tank. Changing the PH balance of the tank is worse than having a high PH.

Speaking of high PH, what's yours set at?

Lastly, Petco has a free adoption tank system? Totally cool idea. I wish more pet stores had these.

 

[CatKittyFish]

MyTank is over 3 months old I think I've had the danios in there since it was a month old and I have had no trouble with them at all. Yes I am familiar with a nitrate cycle. My tank is a 16 gallon bow front. I did find out that I over stocked it by adding the platies but I was hoping to off set that with more frequent water changes. I've been expecting my nitrates to spike cause I added 6 fish at one time. But they never really did. No I do not have a liquid testin kit. The ph package said to add 1 package for ever 10 gallons... I only added a half a package. I can tell I that my ph is waayyy darker then he darkest color on the test strips. But all my other fish r fine! I have 4 bettas now and 3 baby guppies that r in different tanks. I'm starting to think either there was something horribly wrong with the platties, though they looked bevy health at work, or it was the ph thing I tried. But that still doesn't explain why they were sitting in the substrate 2 days before I did that! I'm very sad... I've lost 3 more fish this evening.

 

[OrangeCones]

Swings in pH can be deadly to fish. I would avoid using any 'pH adjusters' in the future.

What are you readings of AMMONIA and NITRITE? Those are the first two components of the nitrogen cycle, and the most deadly to fish.

 

[CatKittyFish]

Should I move the remaining live fish? All I have is a few small gallon tanks but maybe it would be okay temporarily...the danios that r left could house with the guppies and I think I have 4 Corey cats that I could put in my 2 gallon thing I have for one of my bettas. They both have air bubbleers but no filtration to speek of....just wondering

 

[OrangeCones]

What dechlorinator do you use? Some can be used to bind ammonia and nitrite.

 

[CatKittyFish]

No+3 is less then 20 but not 0 no-2 is 0 hardeness is 0 chlorine is 0 alkalinity is 300 and ph is 8.4 (so the ph thing didn't work very well...I used a 7.5 package but only used a little so I wouldn't shock everything which aparentl didn't work either!)

 

[CatKittyFish]

I apparently dont have anything to test the ammonia...I did use easy balance when I added the platties cause j was worried about a nitrate spike. I have nutrafin betta safe and some stress zyme on hand as well.

 

[OrangeCones]

Without knowing the ammonia level, you cannot rule out ammonia poisoning. Until you can measure it, I would suggest 50% water changes daily, dechlorinate the water first, and make sure the new water is the same temperature so you don't shock the weakened fish.

You never said what dechlorinator you use.

 

[OrangeCones]

I've kept fish for 30+ years. In my opinion, the only chemical you should be using is a decent dechlorinator. No pH adjusters, no 'Easy Balance,' or Nutrafin Betta Safe, or Stress Zyme.

Mixing all of these chemicals can be harmful.

worried about a nitrate spike

Overstocking a tank will not cause a nitrate spike for months. Ammonia spike will happen almost immediately.

 

[CatKittyFish]

Apparently none...the water just shows no chlorine in it...I think it's softened water...it my parents house so I am not sure. I've never tried a fishtank here. So u hink moving them would be conger productive? I do have a different option for water...we have well water in our house too.

 

[CatKittyFish]

Okay so 50 percent water hange first thin in the morning...I'll have to get some dechloriater from work tommorrow. No ph stuff anymore...apparently that's what killed them. And I need to test the ammonia lvls. Anything else?

 

[OrangeCones]

If you can buy Prime as your dechloriniator (made by Seachem), it can be used to bind ammonia for a few days until your bio filter can catch up. Other brands can to, just read the label.

If your Petco sells them, pick up an "Ammonia Alert" disk. I've used them to help many set up tanks and you can know at a glance if your ammonia is at a harmful level or not. The disks usually cost about $6 and last a year or more.

 

[CatKittyFish]

I tested my ammonia lvls with a liquid test kit. It's 0. Also I discovered the platies I bought had ick...the spots showed up on the last one today.

 

[aakaakaak]

Ich - Turn your tank temerature up to about 86 F and add "some" aquarium salt until the ich goes away. After the ich is gone do a super good gravel vac to suck up all the dead white spots.

 

[OrangeCones]

Also increase aeration in the tank if you use meds, salt included, increase temps, etc.

 

[bassbonediva]

I agree with aakaakaak about raising the temp. I would forgo the aquarium salt, though, as I have never had any luck with it and if you have catfish (cories, plecos, etc) in your tank or snails, it will harm them. Also, I would be doing gravel vacs every other day at the least to remove the ich spores that have fallen off the fish. Just because they've fallen off, doesn't mean they're dead. They are waiting on the substrate to infect another host. The one time I didn't bother doing every other (or every) day gravel vacs when I was treating ich, it wouldn't go away because the fish kept getting reinfected.

 

[OrangeCones]

Also, I would be doing gravel vacs every other day at the least to remove the ich spores that have fallen off the fish. Just because they've fallen off, doesn't mean they're dead. They are waiting on the substrate to infect another host.

If you keep the temperature up in the range mentioned and for at lease a month, the spores that fall off will not be able to survive to reinfect.

But, I'd do gravel vacs anyway, because it can never hurt!

 

[CatKittyFish]

Okay question on that I just got a basic heater and I'm not aware of how to turn the temp up. Also, because I am eventually going to get shell dwelling chiclids, my substrate is sand. When I vacuumes out the tank yesterday the sand came up with it...how's the heck to u clean a sand substrate!? Of my 4 survivng fish (3 danios and an albino Cory cat) I know at least 2 of the danios have contacted the ick. A guy at work suggested because of the cory cat I use rid ick... It's a chemical that is safe for both freash and salt as well as reefs and invertabrets. Should that be okay to use as well as raising the temp?(if I can figure out how)