Please Help !!!!!

[Ducati1983]

Hello ,
New to the forum and I am looking for some help . I am new to fish keeping and have been trying to go about it the right way.
But I am having big problems keeping fish alive . I have done my research and know about the nitrogen cycle. My goal is a low tec planted tank with guppies and Corey cats . ( love those guys )
So here is my set-up :
•20 gal long
•Eco complete substrate
•One fake log ( medium size ) purchased from LFS
• one java fern and three Anubis
(Not planted in substrate but
tied to fake log)
• HOB filter (rated for 30 gal tank)
•100 watt heater
• in tank thermometer
• using seachem Prime as water conditioner
• api master freshwater test kit
I have fully cycled the tank using the fishless method. I used Ace hardware brand pure ammonia to start the cycle. I am able to turn 4ppm of ammonia to 0 in a 24 hr period . Also Nitrates are at zero ,
Nitrites are at >10 ppm . pH is 6.5-7.0 . This took aprox 8-10 weeks to achieve. ( along the way I did 3-4 water changes to keep the nitrates in check . ) The day before adding fish I did a big water change 80%-90% . Condition the water with prime in buckets before adding to tank following the directions on label .
Sounds like I am ready to add fish
right ?
Just to sum up Tanks levels are :
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrates
Less than 5 ppm of nitrites
ph 6.5 - 7.0
Purchased 2 guppies from LFS (pet co )
Let bag float in tank for 1 hr , added 1 cup of tank water to bag with fish . Waited 45 min , added another cup of tank water to bag .
Waited 45 min , then added fish to tank ( making sure not to get water from bag into tank )
Woke up this morning and guppies have red gills .
Where did I go wrong ??
Just to clear up the question I know will be asked levels of tank are :
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrates
5 ppm nitrites
Guppies clearly have red gills as I inspected them throughly before adding to tank and did not see the red gills .
I am completely at a loss and to be honest feeling rather daft as I have tried to do all research and do my tank the proper way .
Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Gruntle]

Is it nitrites at 5ppm or nitrates? Nitrite is the blue/purple test in the API Master Kit, Nitrate is the yellow/orange/red one with 2 reagents.

If your nitrite is at 5ppm you are not cycled. IF it's your nitrate at 5ppm I'll leave it to more experienced members.

 

[Ducati1983]

Sorry for the confusion,
Nitrite is 0 ppm
Nitrate is 5 ppm

 

[Byron]

Aside from red gills, are the guppies showing any other signs of trouble or stress? How did they behave when added to the tank, and since?

What is the tank water temperature?

Do you know the GH (general or total hardness) of your tap water? You should be able to ascertain this from the website of the municipal water authority. Your pH of 6.5 to 7 suggests you may have soft water.

I follow your same method of introducing new fish, but even so, if there are significant differences in the water this method will not acclimate the fish as it takes longer. So we need to see if there is something here, though red gills could just be the stress of netting/bagging/new environment.

Byron.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Guppies tend to be hard water fish tbh.

It may be that your water is too soft for these guppies

But if you could find out what your gh and kh levels are, this may help. Byron already asked for this on last post but it is useful information, as already said you can find this out on your local water authority website, if you’re unsure what to look for as these sites can display their readings in various scales of measurements, you can take a screenshot of the webpage and put it on here and we can look for this for you.

You could also ask your LFS to do a water hardness test but they may ask a fee for this and ensure to ask for exact readings and hopefully it’s not a dip strip type of test as these can be unreliable tbh.

A little more information on guppies FYI -

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-reticulata/

 

[Ducati1983]

They seem to have been staying towards the top of the tank. When I fed them last night they jumped right at the food . ( flakes and just a little bit , don’t want to overfeed and complicate things further ) Water temp is right at 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
I bought a water hardness test kit , ( API liquid test kit for gH and kH ) and when I get home I will post the results here.
Would that be more accurate than the water companies info ? I checked the web site and did not find the info I was looking for ...
Also , thank you both for your quick responses and taking the time to help . It is very much appreciated.

 

[Byron]

Guppies tend to swim in the upper water level, but if they were at the surface and sort of "gasping," it would suggest something in or with the water is irritating the gills.

Temp is OK, I had thought it might be too warm which would usually send fish closer to the surface too.

The GH will help, though even very soft is not going to cause this much distress so early on. But it is a factor in the equation. The API test is reliable, but it is always worth confirming with the "official" if you can find it, just in case.

We may have more to offer when we have tonight's observations.

 

[Ducati1983]

Ok ,
So I tested all my levels .
The results are :
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5-10 ppm

kH 0-50 ppm (one to two drops tured it almost immediately yellow)
gH 0-50 ppm ( one to two drops turned it almost immediately green)
Again using the API gH/kH test kit

pH 6.0 !?!?

Side note :
I tested the water from my tap
Results are:
kH 0-50 ppm
gH 0-50 ppm
pH 7.0 ( maybe a touch below hard to say )
I am concerned with the low pH ,
Is this a major problem?
If so , how can I correct it ?

Fish seem to be doing ok , they both ate at feeding time . Don’t seem to be swimming a whole lot though, but are moving around.

 

[Essjay]

You have very soft water, which is not good for guppies. Cories would be quite happy though.

When you tested the pH of tap water, was it freshly run? If it was, let some tap water stand overnight and test it again. Tap water pH often changes when allowed to stand, and the water in the tank has been standing a while.


The best thing to do would be to take the guppies back to the shop, and replace them with fish that need soft water. I know you particularly like them, but it is not good for guppies to be kept in such soft water. It is possible to make the water harder by adding certain minerals to the water but it does mean treating every drop of water that goes into the tank, for ever. You could never do an emergency water change using plain tap water.
It is much easier to keep fish that like your tap water. This includes virtually all fish from south America and most from Asia, a huge choice.

 

[Ducati1983]

Thank you again for the input . I think I might just do that and take the guppies back . It’s not so much that I love them as I hoped they were easy to care for . As I stated I am new to fish keeping and wanted to have the best chance at success.
However, I really do like Cory’s and was happy to hear they will do well in my tank . Any suggestions for a species of fish that will do well with them ? Would like a small school of Corey’s approx 7-8 if you think that is okay with my tank . ( 20 gallon long ) Don’t want to overstock , but,
I would like to have another type of fish as well .

 

[Byron]

Agree with all essjay posted.

You asked about pH at 6 being low...this is not a problem with most soft water fish. Very soft water (as you have, and so do I by the way, even lower at 7 ppm which is less than half 1 dGH) usually (but not always) is on the acidic side, so fish species suited to soft water tend to prefer an acidic pH. The test essjay suggested will help us sort out the tap water, but I would suspect that the water authority may add something to raise the pH (this is done here in Vancouver area). I won't get into all that, but skip to what is likely to occur in the aquarium.

With a low GH and KH, the pH will naturally tend to lower. As organics accumulate and are broken down by bacteria, CO2 is released. This creates carbonic acid, and the pH lowers as a result. You can keep this in balance with regular weekly partial water changes of 50-60% of the tank volume (at one time; larger changes are more effective than smaller more frequent changes). Also not overstocking or overfeeding help, as less food in means less organics. So this, plus whatever they may bee adding as a pH booster, is why the pH lowers in the aquarium.

With very soft water on the acidic side, you have some good options for fish species. This is a 20g long, 30 inch (75 cm) length, which is good (longer tanks tend to be better than higher, with the same volume). Cories are an option; one of the dwarf species would do well here, as it would allow more of them with less impact biologically. For upper fish, you could look at many of the "nano" species, being small-sized fish suited to nano tanks. Ember tetra, dwarf rasbora (Boraras species), etc. Pencilfish, hatchetfish in the Carnegiella genus (these remain smaller, like the Marble Hatchetfish), etc. Many of these will be wild caught, which means available perhaps once or twice a year, but worth looking for. The more commonly seen fish like many of the tetras will fill this tank space very quickly, so I would suggest staying away from these, at least until you have considered others. You could end up with a group of one of these tetras, and a group of cories, if that is what you decide on. But give the nano fish some consideration first; having more fish in a small tank when the fish are suited is generally more interesting for the aquarist.

Byron.

 

[Ducati1983]

Byron,
Wow , thanks for all the info. I really appreciate the time you and all others who have responded to my post. I am glad you described what is actually taking place in my tank . Helps to know what’s going on so I can keep it and the fish happy and healthy. I am going to do some research on the nano varieties you described . I will set out a cup of water to properly test the pH as was suggested. I will post the results when I have them . Just for reference I am located in the upstate of South Carolina.
Can’t say thank you enough for knowledge and help .