Is My Ruby Shark Sick?
- Thread starter pettrelli
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pettrelli
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Hiya, thanks for your reply.
Ok, i have 1 sailfin pleco he`s 4 and ahalf inches long, 6 fancy guppies and 3 ruby/rainbow sharks, they look young about 3inches. There is one particular shark whos the runt and he`s pale in colour. It looks like the guppies are incharge!
I have Trigon190litre very well planted tank, been running for 6 weeks now. Have lots of hiding places! Bought the sharks 4 days ago.
I have just checked my water (i check my water at least 2-3 times aweek): nitrate levels have gone up! 12.5mg/L Nitrite 0 / ammonia 0.9/PH 7.5/ and my water hardness has always been high i can never change it! on test strips; 240KH & 180GH.
I did a water change last week Tuesday (two buckets). Im going to do another water change today, just a bucket... Maybe add some aquarium salt... What do you suggest?
I have left the water in the bucket for two days to get rid of the chlorine (Added tap safe).
Im feeding my fish twice aweek: 1 algae wafer Monday and Friday along with a tiny sprinkle of sera microgran for the guppies.
Ok, i have 1 sailfin pleco he`s 4 and ahalf inches long, 6 fancy guppies and 3 ruby/rainbow sharks, they look young about 3inches. There is one particular shark whos the runt and he`s pale in colour. It looks like the guppies are incharge!
I have Trigon190litre very well planted tank, been running for 6 weeks now. Have lots of hiding places! Bought the sharks 4 days ago.
I have just checked my water (i check my water at least 2-3 times aweek): nitrate levels have gone up! 12.5mg/L Nitrite 0 / ammonia 0.9/PH 7.5/ and my water hardness has always been high i can never change it! on test strips; 240KH & 180GH.
I did a water change last week Tuesday (two buckets). Im going to do another water change today, just a bucket... Maybe add some aquarium salt... What do you suggest?
I have left the water in the bucket for two days to get rid of the chlorine (Added tap safe).
Im feeding my fish twice aweek: 1 algae wafer Monday and Friday along with a tiny sprinkle of sera microgran for the guppies.
what are these sharks?
in a tank your size 4 RTBS or Rainbow sharks, would battle till the last one is standing! and the ailment of the fish does sound, to me, like the fish is nervous and damaged. that said there are also other thing that could cause this. it is however well documented, here, that this number of these fish should not really be kept together in, and i know this sounds odd for a 190L tank, such a small tank.
Nim
Fish Crazy
I would not recomend keeping ruby sharks or red tailed sharks in more than 1 innumber in a tank smaller than 6ft. They are very territorial fish and eventually you will end up with 1. Exceptions are there but it is a situation that hangs from a thread.
Your tank has med-high ammonia reading which is not good. Did you cycle the tank prior to getting the fish? Ammonia could be the reason why the ruby shark is not doing well and the stress from aggression may also be playing up.
Nim
Your tank has med-high ammonia reading which is not good. Did you cycle the tank prior to getting the fish? Ammonia could be the reason why the ruby shark is not doing well and the stress from aggression may also be playing up.
Nim
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pettrelli
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Do you know what? My local pet store, who i also bought the tank off recommended i buy guppies to speed the process! My tank has had a full cycle. I gave my water to be tested before i bought the sharks. I was all in the clear.
I just rang the pet store and told them i should not have more then 1 shark in the tank. There reply was they are willing to change the fish if i am worried but they have never had a problem with them together and that they are the more dosile out of the shark family!
I have noticed since buying the tank that every person has given me so much wrong advice i dont know what to believe any more. I want this to be a hobby and enjoy it but at the moment iam so worried of harming the fish and doing wrong, that iam taking everyones advice... Whether its wrong advice or right! I can never tell!
Not talking about you guys by the way, This is why im on here for proper advice!
Thanks you guys
P.s what do you think about aquarium salt? Will that reduce my water hardness?
Nim
Fish Crazy
Hello,
The fish store advice are usually revolving around them selling stuff to you. Forum and experience advices will be genuine and even if conflicting advice in forums/experiences aquarists, it is unlikely that either of them will be incorrect or wrong. The problem occurs if you follow one path and then trodd on to another and then a 3rd creating a mess. So whenever you get any advice, dont start working on it immidiatly, wait for a few more people to pool in and then decide what you want to do and stick by it.
Once you are setup and cycled, it should be a breeze. Its these early stages that causes mayhem and confusion so once out of it, you will start understanding the fish yourself.
Dont worry about hardness or PH unless you want to breed specific fish or if you want to keep overly sensitive fish like discus etc. Most fish will aclimatize to your water parameters well and playing around with hardness or PH usually leads to the stressful side of the hobby.
And, sant does not reduce hardness. It may increase it but certainly not reduce. Ion exchange, PH buffers and precipitators, dilution with RO water or softer water, are the only way to reduce the hardness. There are a few more ways to reduce PH like Peat filtered water along with the above methods but frankly, they are not worth if if you are interested in keeping community fish.
Nim
The fish store advice are usually revolving around them selling stuff to you. Forum and experience advices will be genuine and even if conflicting advice in forums/experiences aquarists, it is unlikely that either of them will be incorrect or wrong. The problem occurs if you follow one path and then trodd on to another and then a 3rd creating a mess. So whenever you get any advice, dont start working on it immidiatly, wait for a few more people to pool in and then decide what you want to do and stick by it.
Once you are setup and cycled, it should be a breeze. Its these early stages that causes mayhem and confusion so once out of it, you will start understanding the fish yourself.
Dont worry about hardness or PH unless you want to breed specific fish or if you want to keep overly sensitive fish like discus etc. Most fish will aclimatize to your water parameters well and playing around with hardness or PH usually leads to the stressful side of the hobby.
And, sant does not reduce hardness. It may increase it but certainly not reduce. Ion exchange, PH buffers and precipitators, dilution with RO water or softer water, are the only way to reduce the hardness. There are a few more ways to reduce PH like Peat filtered water along with the above methods but frankly, they are not worth if if you are interested in keeping community fish.
Nim
sadly your are getting into fish keeping, sorry to say it gets no better the more you know. I have found that there are, often, many ways to do the same thing. often things seem to contradict each other. its par for the course i am afraid!
as for salt, i feel there is little use for it in a freshwater aquarium, though it is often a good, but mild anti bacterial. i have seen it described as Fish-keepers "snake oil", on this forum, and i am sure that is a good description. some do however use it all the time, and seem to have no issues. though it must be said it is just plain bad for some freshwater fish. so you take your choice, but the general consensus is, it is of little or no use.
Nim
Fish Crazy
Yes. You need to wait for ammonia and nitrite to be zero before you think of getting any more fish.
Nim
Nim
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