Help Please!

[mytropicals]

Hi,

I bought a juwel rio 180 4 weeks ago. Followed all the steps that the shop told me to do and everything was fine until last night......

I have been cycling my tank with platys & black phantom tetras for the past 4 weeks. Constantly monitoring ammonia etc......

5 days ago my readings were Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20.....last night I did a 10% water change(last one was 10 days ago) and noticed afterwards that a couple of platys were at the top of the water, gasping!.....this morning they still appear to be doing it.

What have I done wrong?

 

[SharonCC]

Well, it looks like the tank has cycled. A 10% water change should not have caused a problem. I'm assuming you added dechlorinator, and matched the temp of the new water to the temp in the tank. Sometimes livebearers are a little problematic these days, and are not as hardy as they used to be. Maybe they were weakened by the stress of a cycling tank...Sometimes the ph can bounce around during cycling. Have you been checking the ph?

 

[mytropicals]

Hi, yes i added my dechlorinator & the temp was virtually the same. The Ph is currently 7.6.....

 

[SharonCC]

All sounds OK...maybe someone else will be able to suggest something...

 

[8inary]

forgive me for asking the obvious, is there enough oxygen in the tank, either by means of surface disruption by the filters, or do you have an airstone?

 

[mytropicals]

Just a thought, the shop where I bought the tank & fish from told me it was best to take out the water during cycling with a jug and not syphon it from the bottom...could this have caused some stress to a couple of platys?

forgive me for asking the obvious, is there enough oxygen in the tank, either by means of surface disruption by the filters, or do you have an airstone?

The surface of the water is being disrupted by the filter & air bubbles are visible. I don't have an airstone in the aquarium.

 

[SharonCC]

I wouln't think so...but it may be an idea to give the substrate a vac with your syphon hose, now that the tank has cycled. Your nitrates are 20ppm so I woudn't consider that there's anything to worry about...

What's the temp in the tank...

 

[mytropicals]

The temperature is 23.5

 

[SharonCC]

That sounds Ok as well, for Platies. I'm all out of suggestions, assuming the oxygen level is Ok. I don't suppose there could have been any chance something got into the water....air fresheners, or any type of aerosol sprays...

 

[mytropicals]

No nothing that I am aware of could have got into the tank...I was hoping to add some more fish this weekend but am a little worried....what do you think?

 

[SharonCC]

I don't know what to suggest...wait for another opinion. I had Platies when I started, and they didn't do well for me. I've had better luck with non livebearers, and fish that are considered to be more demanding. I think they are overbred, and problematic. Yours could actually be old, considering you don't know the age when you get them...

 

[mytropicals]

I have got 5 platys & 4 Black phanthom tetras....was thinking about adding guppies?

 

[mytropicals]

Please could someone confirm if my method of water change is ok....

I fill the buckets from the cold water tap & let it stand in room temperature for 24 hours before adding the dechlorinator. I then wait for a further 1 hour before adding this water to my tank to allow the dechlorinator to work....