Fishkeeping Difficulties

[thisguyek]

I really hope to get some feedback on this issue. I'll be honest, I haven't had any replies on my last couple posts.

I've been 'trying' to keep fish for about five years now. The first year or so was tough because of my complete ignorance to the hobby. After a while i found out about what really goes on in an aquarium. Still never had much luck keeping fish alive for an extended period of time. I would have a few make it about a year, but I would always be combating some unseen plague, leaving me to always restock and restock again.

I upgraded to a 55 gal tank on the first of the year, and lets just say its been nothing short of a nightmare ever since. Don't get me wrong, the tank looks great. The water has always been clear and there has been very minimal algae growth. But what's the point if the fish don't stay alive.

After taking another large loss to something I have no clue of... I'm about to lose the one fish that has made it the longest. I feel awful, because it seems no matter what I do, nothing gets better.

I'm wondering what I should do next. I obviously don't want to scrap this hobby because I do enjoy it and I just dumped a boat load on my new setup. should I give my tank a bleach bath? If so, what should I do with the remaining fish? I'm just looking if anyone else out there has had similar experiences, and if so, what did you do about it?

sorry for the 'life story', but I'm just at wits end and desperately need help figuring out what to do!

thanks for your time!

 

[Rogue4Fish]

why dont you tell us about your routine fish care habits and what spec tanks you have.

 

[minnnt]

Have you got a liquid test kit? If not then purchase one (£18 from ebay) as this will help you determine any ammonia, notrite, nitrate, what your ph is and hardness etc. The results will give you vital information regarding your water and what you can keep. It might be that your ph is too low/high for the fish you're keeping.

 

[Davo86]

Hi, Whats the maintenance routine been whilst you've had the tank?
No need to bleach bath the tank, a good sized water change should be sufficient but It may be worth investing in a test kit to make sure the water parameters aren't the issue,

Generally its just one simple error that can cause a world of trouble inside the tank,

 

[Caprichoso]

Tell us everything about your tank and we can help you from there. Don't give up!!

 

[thisguyek]

First off I have been using the 5 in 1 test strips along with the ammonia test strips ever since i figured out about water chemistry. Over the past, I would say, 2 years my routine has been consistent. When I still had my 10 gal, I was changing roughly 10% a week. Now with my 55 gal (standard rectangular size) I change roughly 25% weekly. With every water change I add the recommended amount of aquarium salt, stress coat, and stress zyme.

Just recently I was almost certain I had some sort of parasite infection. My oldest platy had very slimy poop and became quite thin. Others I saw scraping from time to time. I treated with parasite guard, and cranked the temp to 80. Had a couple die since then and the old platy is BARLEY hanging in there. Can't believe it's still alive to be honest.

I should note that on the first day I started with my 10 gal, I bought a pleco from wal-mart, and the #29### is still alive! Are they that resilient?

Anyway, here are my stats. For quite some time (including before and after the upgrade) they have been consistent. Ammonia and nitrites are 0, nitrates are less than 20, GH falls between 150-300 (so quite hard), chlorine 0, KH between 180-300, and Ph is somewhere around 8.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

everyone will tell u to lose the test strips and get a real liquid test kit. also, i notice u say u put salt in every water change? do you keep brackish fish? marines? plattys dont need salt in their water. u should probably tell us all the fish u have as well. also i hope u are using a DECHLORINATOR, thats all u need to be adding to your water for water changes.

 

[tribalbrit]

The test strips aren't very reliable, you would do better with the vial type test kit.
I assume your in the US if your buying from walmart.
I dont know what the water quality is like where you are but I NEVER add any of the so called stress coat, de-chlorinator or anything.( and I top up straight from the tap) not suposed to be good practice but works for me.

I have been keeping fish for more than 30 years and find that adding chemicals just causes more problems in the long term.
My clown Loach are 24 years old so I think I must be doing something right, which is actually not much really. Apart from a weekly water change for the plant life, I dont mess with the water. Fish in the wild do not live in chemicaly treated crystal clean water so why do we try to make them in our tanks?

Invest in a good filter system, dont try to be to clinical and perhaps change 25% every two weeks instead of every week.

Just my opinion

 

[thisguyek]

At the moment i have 7 male guppies, and maybe two platys. (i havent seen one in a day, so i assume its dead now.) and the one pleco. I've tried tiger barbs, angelfish, neon tetras, mollies, and zebra danios... but theyve all come and gone.

Yeah, I'm from the US. Tap water seems clean. Would everyone be in agreement to say do a couple larger water changes to 'start fresh'?

I have a aquatech 60 gal and a 20 gal internal filters right now (the smaller one was left over from my 10 gal tank). A 250W heater and a 50gal UV sterilizer. (guessing you will say i don't quite need that too,huh? ) Also a powerhead as well.
I will check into the vial tests.

For the record, any of the additives (including the aquarium salt) is unnecessary?

 

[This Old Spouse]

As suggested, you should really invest in a liquid test kit. I have an API master test kit that my local feed store was able to order for me (hence eliminating shipping costs) and it cost me about $35. Well worth it imo. I was using the test strips before that, and they were pretty much worthless. Once you get the kit, be sure when you're testing for the nitrates that you give the second bottle a whack and then shake for a couple minutest to get accurate test results.

I honestly think your biggest problem is adding salt every time you do a water change. The salt doesn't evaporate, so you're increasing the level of salt every time. None of the fish you've mentioned are in need of the salt at all.

My advice is to do about a 90% water change and don't add any more salt. Make sure the water is about the same temp as what you took out (it should really be 77-78ºF) and also make sure you vacuum the bottom occasionally, like at least every other water change. I do mine every week, but I'm a bit obsessive about that. I use StressCoat to dechlorinate because it also neutralizes ammonia, which I have in my tap water. I dechlor the water in the bucket before it goes back in the tank.

I think you'll be okay. Eventually! Keep us posted ...

 

[Tolak]

All you really need to add to the water is a good dechlorinator. I have never seen anyone have more problems with an aquarium if they start to feed half as much, and change water twice as much, usually following this eliminates most all problems.

 

[twodoctors]

Most tropical fishes don't need salt like others said. Unless specifically brackish water fish, don't waste any more money on it.

pH 8 MAY be a problem. I stress the word MAY as most hardy fishes are tolerant of higher pH. Certainly the live bearers are more alkaline-liking. Also consider rainbowfishes, gouramis or african cichlids(species only setup) etc. They are quite hardy and should be ok with higher pH (WITHOUT SALT!).

Adrian

 

[fluttermoth]

Don't get me wrong, the tank looks great. The water has always been clear and there has been very minimal algae growth. But what's the point if the fish don't stay alive.

Sulphuric acid is clear, but it's not going to be very good for your fish...
Forget all those chemicals and use nothing but a dechlorinator and do 50% water change or more a week, and I bet you anything you like things will get better.

 

[thisguyek]

thank you all for the replies! I really appreciate it! I will keep you guys posted and if there are any more ideas out there, let me know

 

[MBOU]

I think you are doing a pretty good job to be honest seen far worse!!

I'd agree with the others, stop the salt (only use it if necessary to back up a medication), keept using Stress Coat to dechlorinate your water (and I would keep using Stress Zyme too).

What temperature is your tank running at?

I would also consider getting your fish from a different supplier!!