My fish arent happy - Aquarium Advice

lado078 · 10-22-2009, 06:58 AM

My partner decided to get an aquarium,left him to it.Now 6 weeks down the line am hooked. Problem some fish not well,the noen teras have all got fungus at different stages,one platty died unexpectedly with no signs then one ram cichlid died after 24hrs of looking ill(damaged).The ones that seem ok are the plattys that are left,the guppies and the black phantom tetras. I decided to test the water of tank (with little experience i may add)and the nitrite,nitrate and ammonia have little or no trace but the ph shows the highest on the chart 9.0-9.5. We have a 125l tank with many living plants,gravel and one rock of some kind. We also used(under the advice of the people at the store we bought them from) tonic salt and protozin. As advised when setting up/water changes/introducing new fish we use nutrafin aqua plus and nutarfin cycle and lastly we feed them once/twice a day with nutrafin max complete flaked tropical food. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ADVISE XXX

dkpate · 10-22-2009, 07:22 AM

I can only add one thing lol. You might want to check the rock, as some rocks raise the pH in water. You can google rocks for aquariums and maybe find some answers. More people will probably chime in with answers too. Good luck!

Blueiz · 10-22-2009, 09:39 AM

That is some PH you have there... What is the reading on your PH out of the tap after sitting out for 24 hours? If it is high as well, then you will need to find a way to work around that for your stocking, whether that be to naturally lower it a bit or to find stock that will work with your PH. Now, if the pet store has a high PH reading too, then the fish they stock should do OK in your tank. If the PH reading is not high out of your tap water that has been sitting out for 24 hours, then as DK said, it's most likely a rock, or something else in your tank raising your PH.

The only thing that you need to add to your tank when doing a water change is water conditioner to remove the chlorine and chloramine. The tonic salt, and nutrafin cycle are pretty much not needed or necessary.

Did you follow the directions on the protozin, from a quick internet search it appears to be a medication, is this correct?

lado078 · 10-22-2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blueiz

That is some PH you have there... What is the reading on your PH out of the tap after sitting out for 24 hours? If it is high as well, then you will need to find a way to work around that for your stocking, whether that be to naturally lower it a bit or to find stock that will work with your PH. Now, if the pet store has a high PH reading too, then the fish they stock should do OK in your tank. If the PH reading is not high out of your tap water that has been sitting out for 24 hours, then as DK said, it's most likely a rock, or something else in your tank raising your PH.

The only thing that you need to add to your tank when doing a water change is water conditioner to remove the chlorine and chloramine. The tonic salt, and nutrafin cycle are pretty much not needed or necessary.

Did you follow the directions on the protozin, from a quick internet search it appears to be a medication, is this correct?

Cheers for all that info.yes it is a medication,although following instructions i havent seen any results day five but i need to do it again tom day 6. I havent lost any more yet i mite add. Will do the other checks and will let you know.

I only added salt and cycle because of ill fish and not on water changes so i am doing something right.(I hope)

BigJim · 10-22-2009, 11:08 AM

Any more information on your tank? Filter, test kit, other equipment, etc?

I'm not sure what tonic salt is, but I've had luck with using aquarium salt to get rid of fungus. I added one teaspoon per gallon and the fungus on my rainbows cleared up in a couple of hours.

The Nutrafin Cycle isn't necessary, but may help in your case. You'd be better off asking your LFS for a cup of gravel from an established tank. This will provide some bacteria to jump start your cycle.

An easy way to test your rocks is to take some out of the tank and pour some white vinegar on them. If they fizz, they're leeching stuff into your tank that will raise the ph.

Do 50% PWC every day, keep testing, and ride out the cycle. There will probably be other casualties, but it's the best you can do for now.

lado078 · 10-22-2009, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJim

Any more information on your tank? Filter, test kit, other equipment, etc?

I'm not sure what tonic salt is, but I've had luck with using aquarium salt to get rid of fungus. I added one teaspoon per gallon and the fungus on my rainbows cleared up in a couple of hours.

The Nutrafin Cycle isn't necessary, but may help in your case. You'd be better off asking your LFS for a cup of gravel from an established tank. This will provide some bacteria to jump start your cycle.

An easy way to test your rocks is to take some out of the tank and pour some white vinegar on them. If they fizz, they're leeching stuff into your tank that will raise the ph.

Do 50% PWC every day, keep testing, and ride out the cycle. There will probably be other casualties, but it's the best you can do for now.

My test kit is nutrafin mini master(although i am unsure with it sometimes,especially the ph as me and my partner dont always agree)
my filter is an fluval u3 and my heater is fluval tronic and of course the tank is a fluval roma with lights both 20w one aqua glo the other power glo.
Whilst trying to list everything to you i realised we also leave the floaty algae magnet in the water which we didnt have from the start could this be my problem all along????
I have removed it anyway x

**jsoong** · 10-22-2009, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lado078

My test kit is nutrafin mini master(although i am unsure with it sometimes,especially the ph as me and my partner dont always agree)

The way to tell if the pH is "off" on the tank is to get a tap water sample & test that side by side with your tank water. Comparing the 2 samples, you should have almost identical color. It doesn't matter what you call the pH number, as long as it is identical to tap, you are OK. <The nutrifin charts are terrible for color reproduction ... It change with the light & the angle you look at the card ... I can never be too sure.>

lado078 · 10-23-2009, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsoong

The way to tell if the pH is "off" on the tank is to get a tap water sample & test that side by side with your tank water. Comparing the 2 samples, you should have almost identical color. It doesn't matter what you call the pH number, as long as it is identical to tap, you are OK. <The nutrifin charts are terrible for color reproduction ... It change with the light & the angle you look at the card ... I can never be too sure.>

Thank you,i will test it.....tested it and they quite different???
What shall i do???

**jsoong** · 10-23-2009, 09:39 PM

In what way are they different? Ie- pH going up or down , how much?

Also, some tap water has unstable pH "fresh". Before jumping into doctoring the water, let a sample sit out overnight & see if it is different from the fresh tap water.

Floyd R Turbo · 10-23-2009, 10:14 PM

Give us some numbers, and if you can, take a couple pics of the sample tubes for each, side by side, and have the color key in the background, try flash/no flash/side lighting, try to get a decent pic and maybe that would help us help you.

My tap pH is off the API chart - 9.0+ and sitting in a 5g bucket w/a power head running in it, it drops very slowly to about 8.2 in 24 hrs and eventually stabilizes in my tanks at 7.4-7.6.

With the fungus it sounds like something else going on though, possibly at the fish store. Sometimes you have to watch where you get them. Also, did you cycle the tank before putting the fish in?