Help needed --- fin rot & dead fish

[warthog76za]

The last 2 weeks Ive been losing fish on a regular basis It normally starts off with tail deterioration (fin rot), then the fish starts swimming with the tailside down and after a few days it dies.

My water parameters are Ammonia- 0, Nitrite- 0,05, Nitrate-1....I always see that the tank is clean, water crystal clear and it does bother me that something just isnt going right and that is bothering me. Because on the one hand Im having fishes die...while on the other hand my guppies are breeding and giving birth to babies, most of the fish/Snails and Shrimp in my tank look healthy and strong yet I have 2month old guppy starting to show the symptoms I mentioned as well as one swordtail, I lost my male swordtail last night

Please any advice would be appeciated.

 

[Homedog98]

Well first off, your nitrite is a bit high, and your nitrate is very low. I'd suggest doing a 25% water change to get down the nitrite. Test everyday and do water changes as needed. Pristine water is the best way to cure finnrot... And just to be sure... You are testing with the API freshwater master kit right?

 

[warthog76za]

Yes I am testing with a freshwater master kit. Just "bathed" the affected fish in an aquarium saltwater bath. Just hope I do manage to help the affected fish.

 

[Homedog98]

Ok, ya, work on the nitrite issue, and bathe the effected fish once a week. It'll all heal with time.

 

[warthog76za]

Took some of the water from the tank to the pet store and they said, my water is too soft, was given some aquarium salt to put in my tank. Is there anyway to keep the water hard on a regular basis? Since I also dont want to put in too much salt since I have snails and corys.

 

[Homedog98]

You don't need the salt. It'll just hurt your cories.

 

[roadmaster]

1/4 to 1/2 cup of crushed coral per 20 gal in mesh bag and stuffed into the filter compartment will raise hardness,pH.
Clean or replace each month.
Or,,simply keep fish that like softer water.

 

[Homedog98]

1/4 to 1/2 cup of crushed coral per 20 gal in mesh bag and stuffed into the filter compartment will raise hardness,pH.
Clean or replace each month.
Or,,simply keep fish that like softer water.

+1

 

[warthog76za]

1/4 to 1/2 cup of crushed coral per 20 gal in mesh bag and stuffed into the filter compartment will raise hardness,pH.
Clean or replace each month.
Or,,simply keep fish that like softer water.

Thanks Roadmaster, will try that tomorrow.

 

[Rosenweiss]

To be honest, I don't think this is a nitrite issue. .05 nitrite isn't going to hurt your fish, there's probably about that much constantly in your tank if you have an established tank, since the bacteria will constantly be turning it into nitrate. Have you witnessed any aggression in your tank? Fin damage and poor swimming are often symptoms of injury.

 

[warthog76za]

Yeah its true with the nitrite at .05 that shouldnt be a problem, since my other fish and Amano shrimp are breeding without a problem. I havent seen any bullying but it did cut me up, seeing the deterioration of my fish and even though I tried just about everything to deal with the problem....

Both my sick fish have died in the past 2 days, one swordtale female and 1 2 month old guppy, both had clamped fins, the tail started deteriorating, then it had this imbalanced way of swimming, where the tail seemed weighted downwards, no matter how much they wanted to swim up its as if their had weights in their tails. From the fish I now have left, there are 3 female mollys, 2 Male 4 female guppys, 1 female swordtail and 6 Amano shrimp (who somehow sense if a fish is sick they literally stalk the sick fish)

At the LFS after they checked my tank water they said, I should try keeping the water hard, since it was soft, after I added the aquarium salt....the GH test showed the water was getting harder...so now I just hope I can keep that balance going.