Fish acting strange, HELP!!

[AbbieM]

Sorry for all the info in advance.

I have an 80L/20gal tank with 4 mollies, 2 Platys, 1 swordtail, 1 mollie fry and 11 platy fry.
I've noticed that in the last few days they've all been acting really stressed. They either hang around in the bottom corner(as pictured) or at the top. They all have their fins tucked in and are extremely faded. My water levels have been stable for 6 months now(as pictured)the nitrate in the picture looks a lot redder in the photo than it actually is, it's about 30ppm. I haven't added any new fish since I set up the tank. With the exception of the one mollie fry which is about 8 weeks old and the 11 Platy/swordtail fry which are roughly a week old. Would the fry maybe be stressing the fish out? I took out the breeding net so they had more room and the fry were big enough to not be eaten but there wasn't any change.
I also use ph down when doing my 40% water change every 6 days because the ph in my tap water is extremely high. I've been doing this since I set up the tank and it stays at 7.0. But I ran out of ph down and didn't have it for one water change and the ph went up to 7.6. I have now got it back at 7.0. I'm mentioning this because this was the exact day they started acting like this. Having said this, the ph in this tank fluctuated a lot a couple of months ago for a few weeks(I don't know why) and they didn't seem to act any different.
The only other thing I can think of that is different in this tank is that I added water wisteria about 3 weeks ago. The reason it looks like it's just been put in the tank is because I pulled apart the big bunch and spread them out to evenly plant the tank today. There were a lot of dead pieces that the fish had ripped off that were rotting a bit so I removed all of them and any waste in the sand.
I've never had any problems with this tank and I've tried everything. I'm stumped completely. Anyone that has any opinions or has seen anything like this please help me!! I don't want my fish to be stressed!!
View attachment 1

 

[AbbieM]

Here are the water parameters.

 

[AbbieM]

Sorry for all the info in advance.

I have an 80L/20gal tank with 4 mollies, 2 Platys, 1 swordtail, 1 mollie fry and 11 platy fry.
I've noticed that in the last few days they've all been acting really stressed. They either hang around in the bottom corner(as pictured) or at the top. They all have their fins tucked in and are extremely faded. My water levels have been stable for 6 months now(as pictured)the nitrate in the picture looks a lot redder in the photo than it actually is, it's about 30ppm. I haven't added any new fish since I set up the tank. With the exception of the one mollie fry which is about 8 weeks old and the 11 Platy/swordtail fry which are roughly a week old. Would the fry maybe be stressing the fish out? I took out the breeding net so they had more room and the fry were big enough to not be eaten but there wasn't any change.
I also use ph down when doing my 40% water change every 6 days because the ph in my tap water is extremely high. I've been doing this since I set up the tank and it stays at 7.0. But I ran out of ph down and didn't have it for one water change and the ph went up to 7.6. I have now got it back at 7.0. I'm mentioning this because this was the exact day they started acting like this. Having said this, the ph in this tank fluctuated a lot a couple of months ago for a few weeks(I don't know why) and they didn't seem to act any different.
The only other thing I can think of that is different in this tank is that I added water wisteria about 3 weeks ago. The reason it looks like it's just been put in the tank is because I pulled apart the big bunch and spread them out to evenly plant the tank today. There were a lot of dead pieces that the fish had ripped off that were rotting a bit so I removed all of them and any waste in the sand.
I've never had any problems with this tank and I've tried everything. I'm stumped completely. Anyone that has any opinions or has seen anything like this please help me!! I don't want my fish to be stressed!!
View attachment 298362View attachment 1View attachment 298364View attachment 298365View attachment 298366

I also thought I should add that they eat well when I put food in the tank. Except the swordtail just spits out the food lately.

 

[Potluck]

A stable ph is more important than making sure your ph doesnt fluctuate, there's better ways to keep your ph at a steady level than a chemical, you can add aquarium safe peat moss to your filter (will discolor the water so most soak it in a bucket for a few days before adding it to the filter) to do this buy a mesh media bag put the peat moss in the bag and stick it in the filter, driftwood also lowers ph, you can dilute your tap water with distilled or RO water, if your ammonia, nitrite are zero it is probably the raise drop raise in ph as going from 7.0 to 7.6 back to 7.0 is a big fluctuation, what's your tap waters ph? 7.6? If so that's not bad tbh as like I said a stable ph is what you want you do not however want fluctuations.

 

[AbbieM]

Thanks for the advice. The pH when I tested it today is 7.4 and they seem a lot happier. I think I will discontinue the use of pH down and let them adjust to my tap water which is 7.6

 

[Potluck]

Do it slowly though don't just go from 7.4 to 7.6, and add some Drift wood which will balance it out around 7.4-7.5 depending on how much you add, boil it for an hour first to remove the tannins they aren't harmful but will turn your water a tea color.

 

[AbbieM]

I don't have any spare driftwood at the moment. Would it be to much to change 30% of the water in a few days and not add any ph down?

 

[Potluck]

I don't know what your finances are like but is a 20 gallon tank wouldn't be much money from your lfs, they might even have pre bled pieces, as far as how to go about doing it slowly I honestly have no idea on that I would imagine a lower volume on your pwc like instead of 30% do 20%

 

[flchamp89]

Considering the fry the tank is overstocked. You have to feed the fry. 7.6 should work. Looking at your scape you have enough room for a large piece of wood. Too many factors too say if or how much it may lower ph. May not move it any but that's ok.

Id take a sunday stroll and hunt down an awesome large oak branch.

 

[AbbieM]

Do you know where I could get a good safe piece of wood? What type of wood is safe for aquariums? I've been to the beach where I live multiple times and I haven't found any decent sized driftwood.

 

[flchamp89]

For fw I prefer terrestrial wood. Aged dry Hardwood is preferred. Nearly every state in the US has a cultivar of oak. Oak is a great wood. Avoid wood with sap..or ones that are rotting. A general rule is if you can leave your thumb nail imprint in it its not a hard wood. Collecting your wood is to me an enjoyable part of building your tank.

A large piece in your tank would really change the aesthetics imo.

Your probably not going to the ADA world championship. Why pay for something that in your back yard.

 

[AbbieM]

Thankyou

 

[AbbieM]

I actually live in Australia and apparently there are not oak trees here so are there any other types of wood that are safe for aquariums?

 

[flchamp89]

Hickory, oak, pecan, sycamore,cedar are my favorites. I also like to use azalea and many species of small juniper like pacific blue and parsonii. If its dead, hard, aged, and pesticide free your on the right track. Ask Bert he lives there.

 

[AbbieM]

Thankyou so much