I'm Losing A Livebearer Everyday And Starting To Panic

[Crippler]

Hello everyone, first of all I'd like to apologize in advance for possible bad phrasing in english since it isn't my natural language.
 
I've come here seeking for help after losing 3 fishes in a row and without knowing why. I'll use your template and try to be brief but I apologize if I end up producing a lot of text to explain myself.
 
Tank size: 48 litres - I guess you can consider it 10g after substrate
pH: I use a mix of 20litres of bottled spring water with 5.5 (+- 0.3) that should raise to around 6.5 after 24hrs, with tap water (unknown ph) both dechlorynated after mix.
ammonia: 0.0 (Nutrafin Test for 0.0 - 7.3 mg/L)
nitrite: n/a
nitrate: n/a
kH: n/a
gH: n/a
tank temp: 23ºC - 74F
 
The story is as follows, on the 27th January, I finally finished filling my tank and was ready to endure the process of cycling with the pressure of my mom. The plan: platys, corydoras and tetra neons. After plating and filling, the tank received 5ml of API AQUA PUR and another 5ml of API FILTER ACTIV (both products that came with the tank) and I also placed an API CRYSTAL on the filter following their instructions. Besides the plants the tank also has a rock who was given at the store (which I forgot to clean and I feel horrible about it!) and some root I had laying when I got my newt but that I never used (the root was cleaned on boiling water). The temperature was set to 28ºC to avoid infections since I amazingly forgot to clean the rock. I bought and placed 3 platies and 3 swordtails (both in a 1:2 male to female ratio).
The fishes were acclimated before placement, and the male platy seemed "dead" on the plastic bag but started moving when I had to catch them. After tank placement, all fishes seemed ok except for male platy (let's call him Junior), who was laying still on the ground behind the rock. I moved Junior out, thinking he might be too weak and stressed to sustain the cycling process and he spent some hours with 2 neons on another tank. He returned to family after being fed and looking good again.
 
Day 2:
A female platy was found dead, this platy in question spent the earlier day swimming at top, like if trying to breath, but not in a panic swim, she was slow swimming and ignoring food. I thought she could still be stressed and failed to keep up. Junior was starting to show the same behaviour, and after some research and logical thinking, I thought it could be lack of oxygen and changed the outer exit of the filter. It was pointing down, it's now pointing to the opposite side, creating turbulence on the water. I also noticed what looked like a very very very small planaria on the water and wondered how it could be there so soon.
 
Day 3:
All aquarium seems fine, I start to lower the temp to 23ºC to account for future Tetra Neon placement. At night I noticed a female sword laying close to a plant, and a few fishes trying to bite the plant, found it odd since they were all fed. I'm feeding them API TROPICAL flakes 2/3 times a day with one day having an exception (more on that further).
 
Day 4:
The female sword with weird behaviour was found dead. I start to get sad about this. I forgot to mention, I did Ammonia measures on the previous days and they were 0.0 since Day 2. This particular day, I decided to add some more bacteria through SERA bio nitrivec. It was also newt feeding day, so I decided to give them some frozen bloodworms as well (and that is my plan, every 3 days, frozen bloodworms at night). They showed no interest on the bloodworms, and were the 4 together in a corner like if afraid of everything. The male swordtail who was very active wasn't even chasing or fin nipping anyone.
 
Day 5 (today):
I find the male swordtail dead, he was the most active fish I had, the one who rushed for food in first place, who chased females, who kept his superiority over the male platy, not to mention I was quite in love with him

 
I'm getting thorn apart. I know I've made mistakes and I know I lack some water tests, I never needed them before with the newt. I was trying to cycle the tank with some hardy fishes to help produce CO2 for the plants and I'm losing almost 1 per day. Even tho I don't have the rest of the tests I feel it shouldn't be a water problem but a parasite one since I didn't lost them at the same time but slowly one after another. Today the male platy is chasing the female, and the remaining female swordtail is just hiding behind some plants. I don't know what to do. I read it could be some anus worm and I'm keeping the male sword on a water cup waiting to see if there's worms coming outside but an hour has past and nothing so far.
 
I'm attaching some pictures, is there any ideas? I don't wanna join them with the neons and risk losing the neons too but I'm also not sure on what to do.
 



 
If anyone made it till here, thank you for reading thus far and thank you in advance to anyone that can possibly help me out.
 
With the highest regards,
João Silva

 

[phoenixgsd]

welcome to the forum, the first thing you need to do is read the link in my signature on cycling, it will explain alot and if you dont understand something just ask   unfortunatly you are now in a fish in cycle so read up on that section, do not add any more fish at this stage especially neon tetras as they do no not thrive in new tanks and often dont survive
 
alternatively......if you read and find fish in cycling is too much of a commitment and hard work, because it is, rehome your fish and do a fishless cycle

 

[Crippler]

Thanks for the reply
 
Althought I'm familiar to the nitrogen cycle I still read the link you supplied in case there was anything new. I've never done a successful fish-in cycle tho (my other fish aquarium is too small to be stable and hold fishes - 8 litres), I've cycled my newt aquarium with the newt but it's a totally different animal.
 
My biggest concern here is if my fishes could be sick by some disease, otherwise I'll join them with the neons. I'm not planning to add the neons soon at all, in fact the only thing that relieves me is to think I haven't added them against external pressure to do so.
 
One thing however I didn't account and came to mind while reading, plants help to reduce the nitrates. Do they only do that at day-light? I ask this since my losses were all during the night, supposedly when there's no photosynthesis. I'd think the chemosynthesis could happen without a problem during the unlit period of the aquarium.

 

[Shaddex]

nitrite: n/a

 
Does this mean you are not checking for Nitrite levels ?
 
If not, buy a liquid test kit and test it.  Nitrite is as dangerous as Ammonia.
 
Nitrite poisoning =

• Fish gasp for breath at the water surface
• Fish hang near water outlets
• Fish is listless
• Tan or brown gills
• Rapid gill movement

 

[Crippler]

nitrite: n/a

 
Does this mean you are not checking for Nitrite levels ?
 
If not, buy a liquid test kit and test it.  Nitrite is as dangerous as Ammonia.
 
Nitrite poisoning =

• Fish gasp for breath at the water surface
• Fish hang near water outlets
• Fish is listless
• Tan or brown gills
• Rapid gill movement

 
Ohhh, now I get it then, my fishes reproduce 3 of those syptoms at least. And yep, it's already on the list of things to buy since this started, I need a true kit. cheers

 

[the_lock_man]

Fish produce ammonia, it is a by-product of their respiration (breathing) and also from their excretia. As you are aware, it is highly toxic. It burns their gills, and stops them from being able to take the oxygen from the water.
 
To combat this, your filter grows a colony of bacteria, which eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite. Hooray! you might think, but no, since nitrite is also highly toxic. It attaches itself to the red blood cells of the fish, stopping those blood cells from carrying oxygen around the body.
 
To combat this, your filter grows another colony of bacteria, which eat the nitrite, and turn it into nitrate. Hooray! you might think, and this time you'd be right, because nitrate is not toxic at the sort of quantities you should ordinarily see in an aquarium. You would remove this nitrate during your regular water changes.
 
WHen aquarium filters are new, they don't have any of these bacterial colonies, so they have to grow on their own. This takes a few weeks. Because there aren't the bacterial colonies, the ammonia and nitrite sit in the water and poison the fish. So, you have to do the job of the bacteria, and get rid of the poisons, until the bacteria arrive and say "Hi, we're here, we'll do the ammonia and nitrite job now", by doing regular water changes.
 
You should test the water each day, and any time you see a reading above 0ppm for ammonia or nitrite (either, not both), you should immediately change 80% of the water. Do this everyday, until you go a week without seeing readings for either ammonia or nitrite, at which point, your filter is cycled.
 
By doing this, you will hopefully stop your fishies from dieing.
 
Hope this helps, any questions feel free to ask, we were all beginners once, we've all made silly mistakes, and we're not afraid to admit it. But hopefully we can help to stop you making any more!