Fish Stress

[droopy1]

After buying my 65ltr tank I added Safe Start, I let the tank run for a couple of weeks (my LFS said it was a good idea), I did tests every couple of days, 7.5 nitrate, Zero everything else, so I added 4 Platties, one had fry immediately, all normal under stress I know. Fry were eaten, again normal, fish feeding fine, all levels fine 7.5 and Zero, then one fish died on me...the male! He got trapped between the rocks and drowned, Ok, so far. Another whacked her head as I fished the dead one out, I guess thats what happened..she had a white fluffy mark on her head..it could have been a disease but I watched before doing anything drastic, its just a dark mark now, she was feeding fine and still is.
I had another Platy give birth 2 days ago, decided to leave the fry be, as didn't want another bumped head...but the mother died yesterday, in a cave...so I had to move her out! That meant moving plants and the cave.
Thing is, I added 12 tetra a week ago...and one just died on me...the rest are fine. Still even have happy fry!
I have done my tests again...all levels are fine....still 7.5 and Zeros.....my water changes are stress free for the fish, I do a sort of tranfusion, I vacuum the dirty out and syphon in slowly the new water.
Is there anything I should give my fish for stress, as I think thats my problem? Or did my fish have a disease...no other fish is showing any signs of illness?
Any ideas, or is it just one of those things?
Sorry to sound nurdy!

 

[Larissa]

I am just wondering about your transfusion water change method. Do you siphon out and add new water at the same time? If so you could just be removing the new water, essentially not doing a water change at all. It may be a silly question but perhaps it is part of your problem.
- Larissa

 

[droopy1]

Hi, no I do one then the other. The new water gets fed it very slowly, and I make sure the temperature is almost the same. I have their new water ready for them the day before too.


Maybe its not the fish that are stressed its me! Lol

 

[Larissa]

How did you cycle your tank when you left it for a couple of weeks. Did you add ammonia and watch your ammonia and nitrite stats spike then drop to 0? if not, I don't think you tank is cycled. However you did say that all your levels are a 0 and with as many fish as you have, this would not be the case in an uncycled tank. Just to double check, what is your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. (It would be strange if you had no nitrates in a cycled tank as well). If your tank is not cycled, this could be the cause of your deaths.
-Larissa

 

[droopy1]

Larissa, thanks for your replies, my nitrates are both zero and ph at 7.6/7.8, my other levels are zero, my amonia has spiked at .25 which I put down to left over food, so did a water change, and its zero again and stayed.
(I said nitrate was 7.5 above, I meant my ph!!..)
Didn't add anything to the tank initially, just the safe start, my LFS said I could have added fish straight away, but best to wait..as I did.
Will just have to keep watching, I saw the thread that said stressed fish maybe could use salt so maybe pop to see a fishy fella about that?

 

[Tolak]

First off, take a look at some of the cycling info this site has to offer; http/www.fishforums.net/content/Beginner...esource-Center/

Most shops are years behind as far as fishless cycling info is concerned, even the better shops it seems. Safe Start is not a reliable cycling product, Bio Spira, which must be kept refrigerated, is one of the few useful cycling additives.

What sort of tests are you using? If you are using strips they are known to be inaccurate, liquid tests are better. Since you have had no ammonia or nitrite spike, and the tank shows zero nitrates, it does appear to be a cycling issue. What are you using to treat the replacement water, what sort of filtration are you running, and have you done any maintenance on the filters?

Salt is an old school remedy, used before cycling was completely understood, as it makes nitrites less toxic, reducing stress. There is no reason to add this to your tank, as you will then be dealing with the symptoms, and not the problem.

 

[Larissa]

It seems to me like your tank is not cycled - meaning there is not a benificial bacteria colony built up in your filter yet. This becteria is resonsible for turning ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate. It is now the fashion to cycle your tank without fish since it does not expose them to poisonous substances like ammonia and nitrite - which can cause dammage to their gills, induce stress and even kill them as I believe you have experienced. This is often down to bad advice from LFS's, many of which have no idea about fishless cycling. For future reference and to understand what I am talking about check out this thread:
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/
Now you have 2 options.
1. Take the fish back for now and cycle your tank without fish or...
2. Cycle your tank with fish
If you decide to do the second, I suggest you get some mature filter media (sponge) from a friend or LFS as this will give you some instant good bacteria and help reduce toxins and the time it take to cycle. You need to test your tank once or twice daily for ammonia and nitrite as these will begin to increase as you have already seen with the ammonia reading. First ammonia will rise, spike and fall to 0 then nitrite will rise, spike and fall to 0. Your tank will then be cycled and you will get nitrate readings. You can then do a large water change and progress to weekly matenance. See thread:
http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/17...ly-Maintenance/
You did the right thing changing some of your water and I would suggest you change between 25 and 50% of your water every day or every other day untill your tank in cycled in order to keep ammonia and nitrite levels down. Check out this thread on fish-in cycling as well:
http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/22...ish-in-Cycling/
Hope this helps, if you have any more questions please ask,
-Larissa


Oops, double post. lol.