Having Trouble With Platys

[Dave T]

Hi and thanks to everyone for all the support i have been given
went out and purchased the API test kit only one available by LFS
checked all levels and came back the same except the ph level which increased to 7.2
which i am assuming is the differance between the kits
also checked the ammonia levels which have came back as zero

nitrate level between 0--10
nitro 0
general hardness around 10
kh level aroung 6
ph level around around 7.2
cl2 level 0
ammonia 0

dont know where to go from hear still changed 70% of the water and ill continue to monitor not going to introduce anything else to the tank untill
i feel a bit more confident in. It if anyone has any other suggestion please post as all infomation is welcome

Cheers

 

[OldMan47]

OK Dave lets take a look at where you are. You have moderately soft water that many fish will find acceptable with enough pH buffering capacity for fairly stable pH. You are down to 2 platies in a 35 gallon tank so the present bioload is very low now. The temperature is much higher than I would use for platies, they should be kept below about 24 or 25C, mine are kept closer to 21C. If I read it right you have only done one 20% water change in 6 weeks so it is time to use a 50% change by now to reset everything to being closer to tap water. By now the plants have probably used up a lot of the mineral content in your tank's water.

The only chemical that ever goes into one of my tanks, except the hospital tank, is a dechlorinator and some tanks get plant fertilizers that I mix up myself. I use the Seachem Prime but there are lots of good quality dechlorinators made by almost everyone in the fish products business. I find the Prime is cheap to use because it takes so little to treat a tank full of water (1ml is rated to treat 40 litres of water).

The pH adjusting stuff, the bacteria additives and the various other chemical treatments never get from the LFS to my fish room. The same goes for special purpose filter media like ammonia absorbers or nitrate absorbers, they get to stay at the fish shop.

 

[Dave T]

OK Dave lets take a look at where you are. You have moderately soft water that many fish will find acceptable with enough pH buffering capacity for fairly stable pH. You are down to 2 platies in a 35 gallon tank so the present bioload is very low now. The temperature is much higher than I would use for platies, they should be kept below about 24 or 25C, mine are kept closer to 21C. If I read it right you have only done one 20% water change in 6 weeks so it is time to use a 50% change by now to reset everything to being closer to tap water. By now the plants have probably used up a lot of the mineral content in your tank's water.

The only chemical that ever goes into one of my tanks, except the hospital tank, is a dechlorinator and some tanks get plant fertilizers that I mix up myself. I use the Seachem Prime but there are lots of good quality dechlorinators made by almost everyone in the fish products business. I find the Prime is cheap to use because it takes so little to treat a tank full of water (1ml is rated to treat 40 litres of water).

The pH adjusting stuff, the bacteria additives and the various other chemical treatments never get from the LFS to my fish room. The same goes for special purpose filter media like ammonia absorbers or nitrate absorbers, they get to stay at the fish shop.

Ok have i got this right i have now changed 70% of the water did another water check everything was still ok at this point

Going forward i should add some fertilizer for the plants lower the water temp to 24c 25c ( I should state the reason i increased a couple of degrees was based on info given that if fish are showing signs of sickness increasing the temp will higher there matabalisum in turn slow down any potential sickness is not correct)
And assume to continue to monitor the water conditions is there anything else
Probably making myself a little paranoid now as well as worked hard to get this right and nievly was not expecting to run into any problems

Please forgive spelling

Cheers

 

[Dave T]

Unfortunatly no visable signs of improvment with my Platys as of yet .
I have noticed that thay eating my plants 1 impaticular
water is unchanged

nitrate level between 0--10
nitro 0
general hardness around 10
kh level aroung 6
ph level around around 7.2
cl2 level 0
ammonia 0

Am i as well of to cut my losses on this occasion and go back to the beginning
do i weather the storm and wait although i have no idea what i am waiting for

Sorry if i am being a pain i am just clueless

A big thanks to every one who has offerd support so far
and to anyone who can

Cheers

 

[OldMan47]

I really never give up as long as I have one fish surviving in a tank. I am not sure if it makes any sense but it is the way that I am. Your water GH and KH are fine, the pH is a bit lower than I would use for livebearers but should be fine as is, the nitrite and ammonia levels are good and you are going to deal with the high temperatures. My first guess is that when the tank temperature comes down a bit, the fish will start to look a bit better. High temperatures do increase metabolic rates for fish but, if you have an actual disease issue, that means the disease will spread faster too. If you have only a water quality issue, the higher temperature will just add to the problem by making oxygen less available while the need for oxygen, metabolic rate, has gone up. Some disease treatments do require elevated temperatures so that the fish are exposed to the medications for less time, yes some treatments are that dangerous, so the advice is not without any merit. It is just not the right answer when we suspect water quality as the problem.

 

[Dave T]

I really never give up as long as I have one fish surviving in a tank. I am not sure if it makes any sense but it is the way that I am. Your water GH and KH are fine, the pH is a bit lower than I would use for livebearers but should be fine as is, the nitrite and ammonia levels are good and you are going to deal with the high temperatures. My first guess is that when the tank temperature comes down a bit, the fish will start to look a bit better. High temperatures do increase metabolic rates for fish but, if you have an actual disease issue, that means the disease will spread faster too. If you have only a water quality issue, the higher temperature will just add to the problem by making oxygen less available while the need for oxygen, metabolic rate, has gone up. Some disease treatments do require elevated temperatures so that the fish are exposed to the medications for less time, yes some treatments are that dangerous, so the advice is not without any merit. It is just not the right answer when we suspect water quality as the problem.

Evening
Thanks for all your help and advice in relation to Platy issue the temperture is down and based on a comment previously made oxygen introduced an air stone to the picture there appeares to be massive improvement in one platy (Hope i am not speaking to soon) the other one improvment yes a little still a bit anti social but hopfully over the next couple of days he will become more active .

Again very greatfull for help and patients