is this some kind of disease?

[fishylove]

I have a red wag platy whose lips turned white (they were red/orange color before). Also noticed that one of his fin was partially broken. I did see him scratching on rock once or twice last week but not after that. Apart from that he looks fine, and is constantly harassing one of the female platy.

I am facing problems with Nitrite and Nitrate levels in the tank. Following are the details-
Size- 10 gallons Set up a month back
Ammonia- 0 PPM
Nitrite- 2 PPM
Nitrate - 0-5 PPM (not sure of the color)

is Nitrite and Nitrate level bad? How should I bring them down?

Please help

Fishy Love

 

[Illyria]

I can help with the water problem. Regular water changes, bacteria(beneficial bacteria, in a mature tank) live plants all help with breaking down and removing Ammonia and Nitrites. Nitrates are much less harmfull to fish than Nitrites. Yours(Nitrates) are very low and that is good. Keeping the Nitrate level lower than 50 PPMs is very good. Your Nitrite level is very high though, a concentration of 0.1 PPMs of Nitrites is harmfull enough to do damage if your fish are exposed for too long. Make sure you do regular 20% water changes, not much more than 20%, to allow all the good bacteria bacteria to build up and so you don't cause your fish to become stressed out. For a ten gallon tank, water changes should be done more frequently. Once every 21/2-3 weeks. It depends how many fish are in your tank also.

 

[homebunnyj]

Do a 50% water change to get your nitrite level down. It's quite dangerous right now. Water changes won't really harm the growth of the bacteria that much, since they grow mostly on your substrate, the ornaments and other surfaces in your tank, and in the filter box. Even if it did reduce your bacteria significantly, you'd still have to do it to get the nitrites down.
Don't change the filter media, just swish it in dechlorinated water if it gets gunked up so as not to kill the bacteria on it, then replace it in your filter. Your tank is near the end of the cycle and hopefully soon you won't be having high nitrite readings anymore.
High levels of ammonia or nitrite can stress the fish and make them prone to sickness. The best thing we can do for our fish is to keep the water in good condition. It's good that you're testing your water. You'll probably want to test nitrites daily until they come down so you'll know when you need to do a water change. If you don't, you'll probably want to change water at least every other day until the nitrite spike is past.

 

[fishylove]

Thanks Illyria and Judy...will do partial water changes and see if the Nitrite levels come down

Fishy Love

 

[fishylove]

my water readings are normal now
ammonia-0
nitrate-0
nitrite-0

and noticed that my male platies lips are returning to its original color, maybe it was because of water problems

fishylove