Help!

[angelkatelyn]

hi everyone please help me, iv had my 200L tank about 3 weeks now and my ammonia and nitrite levels were slightly high last week, ammonia 0.4,nitrite 0.1, p.h 9 and nitrate 50.

i was told by people on here and the pet shop to do regular water changes every couple of days so i have been and everytime i have and tested the water it gets worse after every change. i tested about an hour ago:

ammonia - 0.4/0.8
nitrite - 0.5/1.5
P.H - 9.0
nitrate - 50mg/75mg

sorry there not more accurate its hard to work out the colour on the chart lol.

what am i meant to do? water changes aren't working neither is the weekly water cleaner iv been putting in which is meant to quickly remove ammonia and nitrite. iv already lost 1 red rainbow fish and 1 black angelfish the day after i got them, not to sure if they were already ill as i got them from pets at home, or my water.

another one of my angelfish looks really ill and i have 11 platy fry and 2 heavily pregnant platy which i really dont want to lose,

any help will be much appreciated

thanks alot, rach x

 

[omega59]

yes do a large water change about 50% then re-add declorinated water wait about 4hrs or 6hrs re-test if it's still high do another water change and wait 24hrs to test again. Your PH seems very high for tropical fish, it should be about 7.6 or so. i wouldn't use ANY water cleaners just do water change and use declorinator for the water. To me i think it's the PH that maybe causing issues.

explain what the i'll looks like, any signs of physical spots, hows the poo is it dark or white stringy, do they look bloated, do they swim okay please explain a little more.

sound slike a new tank syndrom. read about cycling tanks before buying fish it will save you money!

 

[Duck and Dive]

That is because you loose some of your filter bacteria everytime you do a water change. Try adding some tetra safe start which will help replenish the lost bacteria.

 

[angelkatelyn]

ok thanks, i did a 50% water change about a week ago, the angelfish that died was swimming slightly on its side and kept swimming into side of the tank, the white angelfish i have seems to be doing the same but has red streaks through its top fin, my red rainbow fish didnt show any signs of being ill but my partner found it and it looked like it had a chunk bitten out the top of its body, also in the shop it looked ruby red but as soon as we got it back before we even released it out of the bag it turned silver? PH has always been high i was told it was because of my plants but we took one out? no improvement. we declorinate the water before we put it in but nothings working, thats why im so confused

 

[susankat]

It sounds like your tank is still cycling. When you cycle with fish it takes longer for it to get fully cycled and you need to be doing water changes everytime the ammonia or nitrites get to .25.

When you do a water change you aren't loosing any bacteria as there is very little in the water column. What kind of substrate and rocks do you have in the tank? those can cause your ph to go up if they aren't inert. Plants don't really raise the ph.

The red streaks sounds like ammonia or nitrite poisoning to me. And with the ph that high will cause it to harm the fish faster.

Can you please post type of substrate and deco you have in the tank. Also take a glass of water let it set for 24 hours then test the ph on it. Water when it outgases after 24 hours will give you a true reading of your actual ph.

 

[C4ARL]

neither is the weekly water cleaner iv been putting in which is meant to quickly remove ammonia and nitrite.

Many of the chemicals that you add to remove ammonia will not adjust the reading on the test kit (it will still say that there is ammonia in the water)

What I would do is feed ½ the amount that you are feeding and do a 20% water change every other day
But first check your filter is working and is not over loaded
Also worth doing a test on the water that you are using to top the tank up
Do not be tempted to add any new fish till every this is back to how it should be
Hope this helps

 

[OldMan47]

Something that you need to be aware of is the ammonia that comes with chloramine in the water. When you treat that water with dechlorinator you break the chemical bond between the chlorine and ammonia and you will measure ammonia. Try measuring the tap water before you add it to the tank. If it is reading some ammonia after you dechlorinate it, that is the best value you will be able to get with a water change. I have some ammonia in my water but the water changes still help with most other issues. The typical dechlorinator will have made that part of the ammonia safe for the fish so it is OK to read a bit of ammonia after a water change.

 

[angelkatelyn]

ok thanks, in my tank i have 2 live plants now as iv taken one out, and the normal decorations you would buy from a pet shop, i need to get some bogwood soon for my loaches though.
when i checked the PH for the normal tap water it was far too alkaliney and i will take the sample of water and leave it 24 hours so thanks for that tip.

how would i help the angelfish if it is poisoning?

 

[angelkatelyn]

i think i have discovered the main problem, my partner cleaned the filter a couple of minutes ago and unblocked it, we didnt realise it wasnt pumping the water round properly but now it is, the fish seem to have perked up as well

fingers crossed lol