Guppies, Platties, Mollies

[Becky]

So far, I have lost 5 or so fish (just the livebearers) in the last two months. Their spines get humpbacked, and fins start looking clamped and they eventually die. They eat normally until the end. I don't have a water test kit so don't ask what the #s are (but please reccomend a brand to buy), I do 50% water changes weekly, we have well water. The betta and pleco are happy and healthy. Tank has been up and running for 5 months. They have been on NLS for the past month and I was hoping that better nutrition would do the trick. Perhaps I just have some bad stock? The fish were purchased at the Lacombe LFS.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Beck

[arixonbarnes]

It sounds like you have a low ph (that's what bettas like best). Does your well water foam up with very little soap? If so that can give indication of PH ie: less soap needed the lower the ph the more soap the higher the ph. Hardness could be a factor as well as most livebearers like a harder water. As for test kits - if you are going to really get inot the fish hobby I would suggest a very complete kit. Otherwise - does your lnearest LFS do water testing (most do it for free)? If so take a sample of well water in. Most well water that I tested in the Edmonton area was a high ph and very hard - excellent for african cichlids.

[Becky]

I will get a test kit and report back.

Thanks for the reply

Becky

[wandj]

Do you have a fast current in the tank? What about your temp? I know my Endlers do not do well in a higher current and/or if the temp is too high.

[Becky]

Ok, I fianlly got to Red Deer today and picked up a 5 in 1 test kit. Here is what it says: (Last water change was 10 days ago, I did 70%, 29 Gal tank, 1 betta, 3 young guppies, 1 5" pleco)

pH 8.4

alkalinity >300 (what are the units? ppm?)

hardness 200-250

nitrate 0

nitrite 20

temp. 77 F

current? I do have an airstone in the corner.

Any suggestions? are these acceptable levels?

Just FYI, I also tested the tap water and it read as follows:

pH 7.6

alkalinity >300

hardness 200-250

nitrate 0

nitrite 0

What kind of fish would thrive in my water? Do I need a softener?

Thanks for your help...

Becky

[arixonbarnes]

8.4 is a bit too high for livebearers but great for most african cichlids. Also I think nitrites are too high. Peat moss (ie a small peat pellet) in your filter will take down your ph somewhat. Water changes will probably take it down too.

[Krystle]

I think you got your nitrite and nitrAte readings confused right? It's normal for nitrAtes to be around 20, but if your nitrItes were 20, well, your test kit wouldn't even read that What are your ammonia readings? Should be nil if you're seeing nitrAte, but always good to check, just in case.

Alsdo, did you buy test strips, or a dropper style test kit? The strips are notoriously inaccurate, so you may want to return them and get the dropper test kit if you can. I'd get the drop style kit anyways. The Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master test kit or Nutrafin mini master test kit are both good choices, and should be around 20 dollars. Here's a link:

Nutrafin test kit

Aquarium Pharm's test kit

I would try removing the pleco to a quarantine tank and salting the tank to 0.3%. Salt will take care of a lot of illnesses as you probably already know, and it's a good treatment to try as a first step.

0.3% equals 1 tbsp per gallon, added in 3 separate intervals so as not to shock the fish or the filter. So for a 30 gallon tank you would add 30 tbsp, divide into 3 10 tbsp doses, added 12 hours apart. Keep the salt in the water for 2 weeks, replacing what you remove with water changes. So if you do a 10% water change you've removed 3 gallons of water, which is 3 tbsp's of salt you'll need to add back in.

Plecos are salt sensitive, so you don't want to add the salt with him in there.

If they don't respond to the salt treatment you can consider other options, but what is wrong with them isn't obvious so salt is a good first step to take.

[wandj]

Becky... I have the exact same water you do:

Ph 8.5

Gh 220 ppm

Kh 310 ppm

And yes, sometimes I lose a few due to the same humpbacked back, swim slow from side to side, clamped fins, etc. I do a water change almost daily for them, so it is NOT water quality. (My fishroom is semi-automatic) It may possibly be water parameters that are not perfect for them. You and I share the same problem. And I really don't know what it is either. And forget about peat. "Our" kh and Gh is too high for the peat to have effect. Believe me, I've tried peat many times in many different applications. (I had a plastic garbage can bubbling away with 4 bags of peatmoss in it for over a month and the pH was STILL 8.6 when I tested it). Peat only seems to have an affect if your kH is about 120, then it might matter. Livebearers should not be having a problem with these parameters as it's not that bad. Anyone else have any theories? My best guess is that they are suffering from bacterial infections. I must confess I didn't have any problems until I added a few Ottos. Maybe I didn't quaranteen them long enough as I lost most of those too....and my problems started after I got the Ottos.

I'm sure it's my faulst somehow. But my guess is bacterial.

Good luck, we both need it as I have a few sick ones right now.