adding new fish.

[piscean]

my tank has been running since dec2003. i added #1 and #2 platies on jan04... but #2 passed on jan09 reason not known. so i added #3 platy on jan28. fry was born on jan29. but alas... #3 passed on feb04 possibly due to dropsy maybe i'm doing this all wrong. am i adding new fish too early? should i wait longer than 3wks? #1 and my little fry guy is still as healthy as can be (as far as i know)

btw -- can someone please tell me what the PH LEVEL and GENERAL HARDNESS for platies are suppose to be i've checked online and seem to get an array of answers

 

[mrnewbie]

do u have a water test kit to test ph , nitrite , and ammonia levels , this is where u should be starting , test all 3 of those then post results here and we should be able to help u further , but from what u r describing it sounds like your tank hasnt finished cycling and your nitritre and/or ammonia levels are still 2 high ( both deadly to fish)

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The reason you see such a vast array in water perameters is because there is no real right answer. Most of the fish we buy were born and raised in the same tap water that we use ourselves, they're used to it anyway. Unless your values are unusually high or low I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Keeping tests handy for ammonia and nitrite is a good idea while you get your tank cycled.

What size tank is it? What is your waterchange schedule like?

 

[piscean]

PH - 7.2
NH3 - 4
NO2 - 0
GH - 6

yikes i just tested my h2o... ammonia shot up 3pts and hardness up 4pts since last week! i recently bought ammo-lock2 and use it every other day but apparently it isn't working at all. i still don't have a test for nitrate tho. the temp is stable at 80°F. my tank is a small 3gal and i do 50% h2o changes weekly. i usually add aquarium salt and stress zyme to my conditioned h2o. also i feed MR FISHY tropical flakes twice a day - freeze dried bloodworms and sun dried baby shrimp 4x a week. i feed GRIMACE first bites.

- am i doing something wrong?
- are my h2o parameters ok?
- what's a better treatment for removing ammonia?

 

[piscean]

ps my tank underwent a fishless cycle for a month before i added my first 2 fish...

 

[sinistral]

A 3 US Gallon tank is on the small side even for 3 small fish, isn't it? Everything I've read that starting with a bigger tank (20 gallons and up) is better as water chemistry is more stable over time and wastes accumulate more slowly in the larger volume.

Hard to tell, but from what you've written to me it looks as though the tank is going through some form of re-cycling. Either the good bacterial cultures had a bit of a die-off or the tank may not have been fully cycled appropriately to start with For Ammonia to be at 4 and Nitrites to be at 0 looks more consistent with an ammonia spike from early on in the cycling process...

I'd do more frequent water changes to get the ammonia down to the neighborhood of 1.0 and treat the situation as if the tank were cycling. I wonder also if you may be overfeeding the fish?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The ovefeeding can be a big factor. Remember, fish are cold blooded, they don't need much. Try reducing to once per day, and feed the bloodworms OR shrimp every couple of days. Feed these instead of, not as well as, the staple flake.

For now I agree, do water changes and let your bio-filter catch up, ammo-lock would only interfere anyway. What filtration are you using?

 

[Bol]

Your hardness rose 4 points in a week?? That seems like an awful lot.

Are you using tap water? Softened? Has it changed recently?

How much salt are you adding to the water, and why?

Also, personally, I'd just toss out the Stress-Zyme. It's worth basically nothing, imo.

Lastly, platies are pretty hardy. I've seen them thrive with pH 6.8 and (my) 7.8.

 

[piscean]

i guess my 3gal tank is small... but i received it as a gift and i wanted to put it to use. so what kind fish possibly fits in there safely? i just think mm platies are so cute i plan on a bigger aquarium later on but i'm still learning and i don't want to make bigger mistakes. i'm using the 3-stage filtration that came with my eclipse system 3 by marineland. i admit - the ammonia spike might've been from me overfeeding my fish which i will be sure to cut down from now on. i condition my tap h2o with wardley chlor out (and sometimes add stress coat). i use a pillow softener when GH is too high. i add 1/2 < 1 tsp of salt after each h2o change cos i've read that salt helps relieve stress and improve recovery.....

anything else i should do (or change) to make my tiny tank a better environment for my fish??

 

[sinistral]

I understand how you feel about wanting to put the tank to use and also not wanting to make bigger mistakes. Also, I love platies too! I'd imagine that one platy plus a fry in a 3gallon tank isn't overloading it. All the material that I've read though does suggest that for beginners (like you and me ) bigger is better, and from hearing about your experiences I think I see why. As I noted in my previous post I do think the stability that a larger tank environment provides is really critical to our success as newbies. A bigger tank (like 10 or even 20USgallons) is less sensitive to abrupt changes in water chemistry and temperature variations. For instance, the power went out in my apartment the other day for two hours. It was 10 degrees Farenheit outside, and my apartment got really chilly, but my 29 gallon tropical tank dropped only 4 degrees from 78 to 74, and my fish despite the stress all appear to be happy and healthy. Plus, you can keep more platies in a bigger tank

You clearly care a great deal about your pet, which I think is awesome!

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Be careful with the use of salt in such a small tank. Salt does not evaporate with the water, and salinity can climb too high before you know it.

The best thing for your fish is not any additive, but clean water. I don't use salt, stress-coat, or anything else in my tanks, I just keep up the water changes and this has kept my tanks clean and healthy for many years.

It sounds like you are taking everybodies advice into consideration, and I'm sure it will turn out well for you. good luck!

 

[piscean]

i only take everybody's advice into consideration cos it's simply taking in all the info may spin my head in circles but being a little more knowledgeable of caring for my fish - thanks to everybody's help - never hurts! i mean it tends to get a little exciting and overwhelming being in a fish store and finding all the neat things to buy for your fish... come to find out you really don't need it. so it really helps to learn this sort of stuff and makes a lot of sense! and yes i will strive for a bigger tank someday cos yes i do want more platies and other fishies too of course i'm just so addicted to my fishies!

 

[LoveMyOscar]

 

[piscean]

I have never used salt in any of my tanks unless I am treating illness. I just don't see the point unless you are going for a brackish (sp) set up which you aren't. I personally would nix the adding of salt all together. Like I said I have never used it and my fish are all great. I have had mollies, platies, tetras, barbs, loaches, plecos, and my oscar (not all in the same tank of course) and they all did fine without salt.

consider it done