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Dizzydea

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Messages
455
Location
Canada
So I'm really trying to do the fish thing the right way but man o man there is just so much info out there and I really don't understand. So I got all the tests ( I think) and I still lost a fish. I would really like to move on to some more advanced fish and get a nice big tank but I'm still losing guppies :(. Not very often but it happens and I'm so sensitive about it. I just lost another I've done the tests they read ( they are strips I know it's not the best option but it's what was available In my town) nitrate is btw 60-80 nitrite is 0-.5 Hardness is 75 alkalinity is 40 and ph is 5.5. I also did an ammonia test and it came out a light green shade I thinks it's .1-.3 closer to .1 and it says for ammonia as nitrogen divide result by 1.22?????? So is this a safe level of ammonia? I'm trying to figure out if it was ammonia poisoning or some sort of disease. He either gasped at the surface or laid at the bottom gasping I'm really trying to fix the issue. There's flat worms so I did a prazipro dose and they actually look Better but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Don't judge me for my lack of knowledge im trying lol!
 
When was the last time you did a water change? Your readings seem high and your pH is low. You want your ammonia to be 0 but at least try to get it to .25 or lower. I do the liquid tests and have ammonia, pH, high pH,Nitrate, and Nitrite. You could take some test water to a lfs and have them test it for you to get better readings.
 
Try amazon for the liquid test kit, they have the API master kit for a pretty good price. Until then, keep doing regular water changes. According to the strips your nitrates are pretty high, and you should never have ammonia or nitrite in the tank. The strips are inaccurate, but to err on the side of caution always assume they are retreading things too low rather than too high. The gasping behavior is a common sign of ammonia poisoning, so keep changing that water. I'm assuming the strips read your ph as too low, 5.5 is very low. Either it is giving you a low reading or the ph has dropped because all the buffers in your water have been depleted because it has been too long between water changes. If it really is that low, it is dangerous for most fish to be below 6, and livebearers like guppies usually prefer water at a ph slightly above 7. As the poster above me said, bring some of your water to your fish store to be tested. Ask that they use a liquid kit and test it in front of you, and make sure they give you actual numbers, not just "bad" or "good".
 
Ya I don't have the option to bring the water to get tested, I live in a really small town and there's no fish even for sale here! I do like a 20-30 % percent water change a week I also got some ph upper, should I use it? I heard that you really don't want to mess around with that to much. I also heard that you can use a cycle product to fix ammonia Issue but just incase I got some ammonia fixer ( I believe that's what it's called). I figured that the ph was low, but I thought there was only ammonia problems when the ph was high? My goodness I really want to buy a tank over 100 gallons but I feel like you need a degree to get the hang of this stuff. So intimidating!
 
Dizzydea said:
Ya I don't have the option to bring the water to get tested, I live in a really small town and there's no fish even for sale here! I do like a 20-30 % percent water change a week I also got some ph upper, should I use it? I heard that you really don't want to mess around with that to much. I also heard that you can use a cycle product to fix ammonia Issue but just incase I got some ammonia fixer ( I believe that's what it's called). I figured that the ph was low, but I thought there was only ammonia problems when the ph was high? My goodness I really want to buy a tank over 100 gallons but I feel like you need a degree to get the hang of this stuff. So intimidating!

Don't use either product. Ammonia lock stuff will just starve the bacteria you are trying to grow which will eliminate ammonia in the long run. You should try to change at least 50% a week, especially if you are seeing nitrates. As an example, with the 80 ppm of nitrate you have now, a 50% change would only bring it down to 40 ppm (50% reduction) and you should get it down to 20 ppm or lower. To do this, you would need to do two back to back 50% changes. Large changes will also help your ph get back to where it should be. Test your tap water for ph after letting it sit out for 24 hours to let it gas out. If it is higher than what you are reading in your tank, something in the tank is making it drop. Do you have any driftwood in the tank? That can lower ph as well. If your water is just naturally low in ph, there are things you can add to buffer it in a safer way than using chemicals, such as adding crushed coral substrate. Before you do this, get that liquid test kit to be sure the problem is really there though. As I said, it is available online. Also, what fish do you have, and how did you cycle it? From the readings you gave, your tank is adjusting to the bioload or it is overstocked. If it was fully cycled to your bioload you wouldn't see any nitrites or ammonia. Once again, this is assuming the test strips are giving you an accurate reading, which is unlikely. However as I said before, until you can get a good test kit always assume the tests are reading too low rather than too high when it comes to ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.
 
There isn't wood in the tank and theres an awful snail problem in all my tanks, that could explain why I'm having issues. I have 3 guppies 5 danio a Chinese algae eater and a kohli loach in a 6 gallon tank. I will go online and buy a test kit as well. I knew that water changes would help but I was worried because I just put some prazipro for flat worms and I thought that maybe there was a fluke issue due to the gasping and I didn't want to wash the medicine away for 3 days. I tested my tap waters ph and it was in the ideal range on the strip and my other tanks are in that range on the strip as well. I don't know what happen to my main tank.
 
It sounds like your tank is overstocked. General rule of thumb is 1" of fish per 1 gal of water. It sounds like you have about 12 inches of fish in a 6 gallon tank.
 
Don't get upset please, I'm going to toss some things out to you here.

You are massively overstocked.
The CAE needs to go. It can get up to ten inches and will soon get aggressive towards your other fish.
The Loach needs to go. It can get over four inches and prefers to be in groups of at least three (and that is a low ball number).
The danios are much happier when given room to swim as they are a super active fish. A twenty galling long tank is better for them and they prefer schools of five or more.
Guppies actually have a relatively large bio load for their size.
All told, a six gallon tank is not really appropriate for much for than one Betta or some shrimp or snails.

That out of the way... You need to get the nitrate down and the pH up. Don't use chemicals to do this please as it will only add to your problem. Test your source water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Nitrification basically stops at a pH lower than six. I would do two back to back 50% PWCs as soon as possible and test the tank again in about an hour. Do more PWCs after that if the tests show you need to.
 
Don't get upset please, I'm going to toss some things out to you here.

You are massively overstocked.
The CAE needs to go. It can get up to ten inches and will soon get aggressive towards your other fish.
The Loach needs to go. It can get over four inches and prefers to be in groups of at least three (and that is a low ball number).
The danios are much happier when given room to swim as they are a super active fish. A twenty galling long tank is better for them and they prefer schools of five or more.
Guppies actually have a relatively large bio load for their size.
All told, a six gallon tank is not really appropriate for much for than one Betta or some shrimp or snails.

That out of the way... You need to get the nitrate down and the pH up. Don't use chemicals to do this please as it will only add to your problem. Test your source water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Nitrification basically stops at a pH lower than six. I would do two back to back 50% PWCs as soon as possible and test the tank again in about an hour. Do more PWCs after that if the tests show you need to.

+1 Blert said it beautifully. If you want to help your fish you're going to have to either return/rehome them or upgrade your tank very soon.

Your nitrate being so high is an indication of overstocking and not doing enough water changes. The PH is probably dropping due to this too; don't add any more chemicals, water changes will fix it. Do a 50% water change ASAP with dechlorinator (Prime is best but whatever you have on hand is fine) and try to match the temp of the water. I'd suggest doing a 50% water change every day or two until you can either return the fish or get a larger tank.

Also you might want to test your tap water for nitrate, ammonia and nitrite to see if any are coming from your tap water.

Try to get a liquid kit, the strips aren't very accurate.

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium-186089.html
 
It felt over stocked, I have 3 tanks my other 2 are full of babies. I will transfer all babies to one tank and I will set up another tank and distribute accordingly. Thanks for the info and help from everyone I will do water changes till my tests aren't pink any more.
 
Also I don't understand how to read the ammonia test, the color is green and it's in btw .1 and .3 what does this mean? Then there's all that talk of dividing.
 
Dizzydea said:
Also I don't understand how to read the ammonia test, the color is green and it's in btw .1 and .3 what does this mean? Then there's all that talk of dividing.

When in between always assume it to be the highest reading. Ideally ammonia should be zero.
 
so here is a thought. why not go ahead and buy yourself that larger aquarium that you are wanting. set it up and then you can move some (or all) of these guys over there. they would be much happier in the larger tank. we can help you with a fish in cycle on that tank. you will need to be doing daily water changes if you do the fish in cycle. you probably need to be doing daily water changes on this tank as well.
buy yourself the liquid test kit and things will start to make alot more sense than those strips (no dividing) - you just get the water, drop the drops, shake and wait for the directed time, read the test. very simple. the answer to most of your problems is the daily water changes. this will help everyone and you most likely will find your fish surviving this whole ordeal.

the larger tank is easier too (except the water changes are more) - probably want to get a python type thing for the larger tank.

or you can do a fishless cylce on the larger tank - either way. but I say take the plunge! the bigger tank will be eaiser to work with and your fish will be happy
 
Larger tanks are much easier to keep stable because the larger water volume means it takes a lot more waste to get a dangerous concentration of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. I agree, go ahead and get the larger tank and the liquid test kits and give your fish a more suitable home. Lots of people start off with small tanks because they seem easier to take care of, but larger tanks are much easier and much more forgiving of mistakes.
 
Ya I have been wanting a large tank for a couple years but they are so flipping expensive plus all the things you need and the stand for it is always crazy high in price. I've been keeping my eye out for the right used one. Also we have been talking about moving as well so I can't see transporting a large tank being an easy process. I literally dream of having one though. You go to the pet stores and see all the exotic fish and they are so big and colorful! Then there's that big choice of salt or fresh water, by the way which is easiest??
 
Please don't take this the wrong way but if ur guppies are dying everything else is suffering move the other fish, stop having babies, or you will contribute to your over stocking problem, I love guppies but I have 3 tanks to accommodate them and stop them breeding randomly.
 
You can dose salt just regular ordinary table salt Just no iodized salt big no no. This helps them to breathe easier i dont know the ratio so youd have to look it up this is only a temporary solution while you sort out the main problem.
Salt water is harder to start out as a beginner probably costs a little more too freshwater can become complicated the more you progress like a planted aqaurium or types of fish which require alot more time and effort all you need with a basic freshwater tropical is a heater a decent filter some lights and a test kit. Have you tried looking for a second hand tank it would shed loads off the prices an sometimes people just want to get rid of them so they sell them for nothing.

Use seachem stability or a live bacteria additive it
Will help with establishing more bacteria to eat nitrate ammonia and nitrites worked for me
 
Monkey Magic said:
You can dose salt just regular ordinary table salt Just no iodized salt big no no. This helps them to breathe easier i dont know the ratio so youd have to look it up this is only a temporary solution while you sort out the main problem.
Salt water is harder to start out as a beginner probably costs a little more too freshwater can become complicated the more you progress like a planted aqaurium or types of fish which require alot more time and effort all you need with a basic freshwater tropical is a heater a decent filter some lights and a test kit. Have you tried looking for a second hand tank it would shed loads off the prices an sometimes people just want to get rid of them so they sell them for nothing.

Use seachem stability or a live bacteria additive it
Will help with establishing more bacteria to eat nitrate ammonia and nitrites worked for me

Thanks for the salt thing! I will try it, I have been looking for a used one but in my area the "used" ones are nearly brand new, someones impulse purchase that they no longer want but they are charging just a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the pet store. The live bacteria, would that be my cycle product?
 
Joyaust I have moved the fish to my other tanks and it's no longer overstocked and my levels are more normal now ph is still a little low but I will keep doing water changes.
 
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