Getting Fed Up And Put Off The Hobby Of Fish Keeping!

[bordercollie05]

I think people often recommend using peat moss to lower the pH. I haven't used it myself, so someone else who has will have to fill in, but I know most people say to avoid the chemical-type pH lower-ers that you can buy because if causes the pH to swing up and down too much.

Good Luck, I hope you figure out what's wrong!

Laura

 

[OldMan47]

If your pH is not over 8.0, and is stable, you are fine with most livebearers. As has been said, livebearers in general like the higher end of typical fish water pH. Neons are going to find high pH difficult so I would avoid them rather than start a pH battle. If you get to fighting your pH, you will lose the battle eventually and your fish will suffer during the battle. You can get some pH reduction without too much trouble by putting some peat in the filter but a good choice of fish works better. In addition to the common live bearers, african cichlids in general like a high pH so that might be another option.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hi there, sorry you're feeling so low and put off fishkeeping, I can totally understand it's really hard for beginners with so much conflicting information out there and lfs's dishing out dodgy advice. However be assured you are not the first to find yourself in this situation and you certainly won't be the last, you're in the right place for help now and we will do all well can to give constructive advice and get you out of this situation.

Your water quality seems fine, I wouldn't worry over the pH at the moment, it's highly unlikley to have killed your fish, perhaps if you'd put something v pH sensitive into the tank I could understand but with the fish you've mentioend it shouldn't hurt them. Also dont worry over the salt, the fish do not need it. Mollies like hard alkaline water (your pH indicates you have this) adding salt to the water usually gives these hard alkaline water. it's the hardness that is important not the salt.

Some of the fish which have died (dwarf cories and guppies spring to mind) are notoriously weak and often die for no apparent reason in newly cycled tanks, if there were no obvious symptoms on the fish then I would put this down to adding weak fish to the tank too soon.

You do not need an airstone, unless all your fish are gasping at the surface then the oxygenation provided by your filter is fine. Airstones do not actually put a massive amount of oxygen into the water, if you watch them you'll see the air bubbles remain as bubbles until they reach the waters surface, this means that the oxygen is not fully absorbed into the water from them, in reality what gives a better level of oxygenation is surface agitation, when the output from the filter breaks the waters surface and makes waves or ripples across. That's the best way to get oxygen into the water and is also free as you've already got a filter, just need to adjust it or drop the water level to make waves.

So, way forward for now, leave the tank as it is for the next week, closley monitor the fish, spend as much time watching their behaviour and so on as you can, post back with details of anything you think is odd, doesn't matter how trivial a detail it seems it may mean something to us. We'll be able to identify from that if there's a disease or if it is just weak fish. Also test the water every day and post the results up here. With a bit more data we may be able to pinpoint the problem.

That is of course assuming you have no more deaths, if you do then post that and we may advise you to medicate the tank. I dont advocate medicating without a confirmed diagnosis though so best to hold off and take a few days to work out what is going on before launching it with some chemicals which may do more harm than good.

 

[locust267]

Thanks for all the advice, am keeping a diary of all the water results and if the fish act strange etc.

I'm also starting a little project book on specific fish, starting with the ones I already have and then moving onto the ones that appeal to me for the future so that I can keep track of which fish I like and get on together in the same conditions.

From what has been said sofar on here it seems like my tetra's are worse off than any of the others, when the remaining 3 die What would you reccomend replacing them with i.e are cardinals any better or should I avoid any tetra's full stop any try a different kind with what I already have?

Have taken all the advice on board and am hoping that the recent deaths have just been coincidence and from now on all the fish will live a bit longer *fingers crossed*

 

[Miss Wiggle]

are the tetra's look at all unwell or do you just think they'll die because the rest of them have?

Hopefully they'll make it as will the rest of your fish, if this is the case you should leave the tank 2/3 months before adding any more fish, this gives it all a chance to stabilise and mature and hopefully it'll be plain sailing from then on.

 

[locust267]

No I just assume that out of whats left they will die first as the others did and the pH is too high for them. They seem happy enough hiding behind plants and chasing each other, their colours are still bright now.

Will the remaining be ok in a group of 3? I really dont want any more neons so if I had to buy more would they "hang out" with glowlights or cardinals?

Ideally dont want any more fish in my 54l tank now. Once the molly fry have been moved to the other tank and then move onto another home I may reasses any space I might have left in the 35L tank for some smaller fish.

 

[vinylman]

From what has been said sofar on here it seems like my tetra's are worse off than any of the others, when the remaining 3 die What would you reccomend replacing them with i.e are cardinals any better or should I avoid any tetra's full stop any try a different kind with what I already have?

If you do lose any more fish, the worst thing you can do is replace them. You need to find out exactly what's wrong first.

 

[locust267]

How would I find out what's wrong if nothing is showing any signs of poor water or illness?

They could just be really poor quality or die from old age as TBH the neons haven't really grown since I bought them but are still about 1".

I dont want any new fish in the future to die of the same thing but on the other hand if when the next lot die there still isn't an explanation then I dont want to just chuck the water away and give up the hobby

Cheers

 

[pastabake]

cardinals are even more pathetic than neons ... glowlights are better ... but I would stay away from tetras with your pH.

 

[iankent]

cardinals are even more pathetic than neons ... glowlights are better ... but I would stay away from tetras with your pH.

my glowlights are huge - and they get really fat after eating lol, but they're quite good fun to watch (if a little stupid at times ) - i've seen a chain of 6 or 7 glowlights try to munch on the same bit of food then spit it back out lol

 

[vinylman]

I've been keeping Cardinals for the last four years with no problems; just take time acclimatising them and don't get any until your tank has been cycled and matured for a good 3-4 months. Much hardier than Neons if you take a little care.

 

[Tolak]

As long as your filter is running, and there is some surface motion, a low O2 level is doubtful. Running air in a tank increases the O2 level by increasing surface motion, not by O2 transfer from the air bubbles themselves.

O2 transfer is more a function of friction between the water & air. When the surface is moving it creates friction between the water & air, transferring O2 to the water, and water to the air as well.

What product are you using to treat the water, and how much are you using per what volume of water? I make it a habit to never trust my water supplier, I suggest others do the same. Your water supplier is concerned with the health of humans, and could care less about a tank full of fish. They will increase chlorine, chloramine, and other additives for a variety of reasons, without notice to the public in most cases.

Contact your water supplier, have a chat with them. Knowing what my water supplier does when & why, I double up on dechlorinator during the winter, and during certain weather conditions year round.

 

[locust267]

As long as your filter is running, and there is some surface motion, a low O2 level is doubtful. Running air in a tank increases the O2 level by increasing surface motion, not by O2 transfer from the air bubbles themselves.

O2 transfer is more a function of friction between the water & air. When the surface is moving it creates friction between the water & air, transferring O2 to the water, and water to the air as well.

What product are you using to treat the water, and how much are you using per what volume of water? I make it a habit to never trust my water supplier, I suggest others do the same. Your water supplier is concerned with the health of humans, and could care less about a tank full of fish. They will increase chlorine, chloramine, and other additives for a variety of reasons, without notice to the public in most cases.

Contact your water supplier, have a chat with them. Knowing what my water supplier does when & why, I double up on dechlorinator during the winter, and during certain weather conditions year round.

Ok thanks will give them a call to see if they ever do anything out of the norm. I use Aquasafe and use exactly what is the stated dose on the bottle ALL the time, never up it at all.

 

[JenCliBee]

not sure if been mentioned in this post but u say u red tail shark keeps himself 2 him self are u sure about this it could also be a reason y ur fish keep dieing even tho u say he is calm u cant be watching him/her all the time just a thought.

jen

 

[locust267]

not sure if been mentioned in this post but u say u red tail shark keeps himself 2 him self are u sure about this it could also be a reason y ur fish keep dieing even tho u say he is calm u cant be watching him/her all the time just a thought.

jen

Like you say I cant watch him all of the time but I'm as sure as I can be. Put it this way the Danio's and black molly find it funny to nudge into him occasionally and he doesn't react to it at all. All the times I do watch the fish he is always either sat chilling, munching up bits of food, hiding in the leaves or swimming around happily.