I’m at my wits end, any advice, encouragement, or instruction would be greatly appreciated

[foxgirl158]

Please be nice as I am just completely crushed, overwhelmed, and upset.
I’m sad and sorry to say I neglected my tank around a month ago, for at least three weeks. There was a period where I was gone from dawn to dusk and lots of things fell by the wayside. My ammonia when I finally got time to do my tank was .25, and stayed that way after several small water changes. I’m sorry to say that several of my platies died as a result of my negligence, and I know it was my fault so please don’t come at me.

As I was working on getting my ammonia back under control, I realized that my pH was off the charts, measuring at the highest level that the API mater test kit can. I also noticed that some platies had worms, so I got API general cure as one of the pinned posts here said that the symptoms I was seeing could be treated by it. I finished that treatment two days ago, and everything seemed fine. The two platies seemed to be recovering, and my ammonia had gone down from .25 to somewhere around .10. Then my adult red wag died. I continued to monitor the tank, and my other 8mo platy seemed to be recovering. Then I just found her upside down under a barrel decoration that I had. She was still alive, but as I carefully transferred her to a fry trap, she died. I am absolutely crushed as she was my favorite ever since she was born. Her name was Dot. I just don’t know what I am doing wrong, as my test today showed 0 ammonia at last, and the pH should be going down with the frequent water changes. I just don’t know what to do anymore.

ETA: I should say that the tank is unfortunately all plastic. I am in the process of remodeling it to be almost all natural, but it’s a work in progress and I haven’t started tearing down the tank yet.

 

[connorlindeman]

I'm so sorry to hear about this.

How large were the Wc's you were doing?

 

[foxgirl158]

I'm so sorry to hear about this.

How large were the Wc's you were doing?

25-50% up until I did the general cure. This will be my first water change since the medication.

 

[connorlindeman]

25-50% up until I did the general cure. This will be my first water change since the medication.

Hmm. Is there any visible marks on the fish? Are there any that are currently sick?

 

[foxgirl158]

Hmm. Is there any visible marks on the fish? Are there any that are currently sick?

No visible marks, just curled like dead fish do. None that are sick like that, although I thought I had a gravid female but I stressed her out too much and she only dropped eggs.

 

[connorlindeman]

No visible marks, just curled like dead fish do. None that are sick like that, although I thought I had a gravid female but I stressed her out too much and she only dropped eggs.

What are the actual levels off everthing? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, gh, kh...

 

[Rocky998]

I'm so sorry to hear this @foxgirl158... I would try to keep doing daily water changes IF possible.
I cant really help in any other way, sorry.

 

[foxgirl158]

What are the actual levels off everthing? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, gh, kh...

Ammonia: very close to, if not quite, 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: off the charts
Not sure how to find gh and kh, sorry

 

[connorlindeman]

Ammonia: very close to, if not quite, 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: off the charts
Not sure how to find gh and kh, sorry

hmmm. It could be that really high ph that is killing them. Nitrates also a bit on the high side. Other than that I really cant see anything wrong... Could some sort of contaminate made it into the tank?

 

[foxgirl158]

hmmm. It could be that really high ph that is killing them. Nitrates also a bit on the high side. Other than that I really cant see anything wrong... Could some sort of contaminate made it into the tank?

It’s up on a stand, and we never use any sort of air freshener or perfume or anything because we are sensitive to strong smells.

 

[Oblio]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I'm nibbling at the same problem, sometimes I forget to cycle lights or feed due to being overloaded. Do an 80% WC, that should reduce your nitrate to ~ 5ppm and also bring your pH to near tap water level.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm really sorry to hear it @foxgirl158 . No blame or judgement here, I'm sure most of us have neglected water changes for a while at some point or another, just are sometimes lucky enough to get away with it, but not always.

Sending big hugs from this side of the pond. Try not to beat yourself up too hard, you will get through this, learn from it, and only become a better hobbyist in the end! It's really sad, but you're not a terrible person.

 

[Colin_T]

Leaving the tank for 3 weeks without a water change is not going to cause major problems unless you add heaps of food to an overstocked tank.

If the pH is off the chart, the test kit could be faulty or you have some major issue with the tap water. If it is actually above 9.0, there is something wrong with your water supply and that is probably what caused the problems.

Whilst livebearers like a pH above 7.0, a pH of 9.0 or above is caustic and dissolves organic matter. Household bleach has a pH up there.

You need to find out what is going on with the pH of the water and work back from there. You might need to find a different water source or use a reverse osmosis unit to reduce the GH, KH and pH.

Most pet shops test pH< GH and KH and you should take a sample of tap water to a shop and ask them to test it for you. Write down the results in numbers when they do the tests. And write down what the tests are measured in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

You should also contact your water supply company by phone or look on their website, and find out what they have in the water and what they reckon the pH, GH & KH are. Then compare the results to what the pet shop says.

Post the results here so we can try and figure out what is going on.

 

[foxgirl158]

Leaving the tank for 3 weeks without a water change is not going to cause major problems unless you add heaps of food to an overstocked tank.

If the pH is off the chart, the test kit could be faulty or you have some major issue with the tap water. If it is actually above 9.0, there is something wrong with your water supply and that is probably what caused the problems.

Whilst livebearers like a pH above 7.0, a pH of 9.0 or above is caustic and dissolves organic matter. Household bleach has a pH up there.

You need to find out what is going on with the pH of the water and work back from there. You might need to find a different water source or use a reverse osmosis unit to reduce the GH, KH and pH.

Most pet shops test pH< GH and KH and you should take a sample of tap water to a shop and ask them to test it for you. Write down the results in numbers when they do the tests. And write down what the tests are measured in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

You should also contact your water supply company by phone or look on their website, and find out what they have in the water and what they reckon the pH, GH & KH are. Then compare the results to what the pet shop says.

Post the results here so we can try and figure out what is going on.

Thank you for the info Colin. My 30g is the ONLY tank that has this high of a pH. My plastic 10g tall has a pH of 7.8, and my planted 10g long has a pH of 7.4, which makes me think it’s not my tap water. It might have something to do with the fact that I didn’t realize my snail was dead for quite a while, because he was black and blended in with the rocks and the background. Maybe his shell dissolved or something?

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

@foxgirl158 these sort of things happen to the best of us. I may or may not of had the same issue recently.