Is this really a problem?

[OliveFish05]

So on Saturday I bought 5 honey gourami, brought them home, acclimated them to the tank (which had just had a water change), and released them. One looked bad on Sunday morning, and I could not find it Sunday night. Monday morning I found it dead, and Monday night a second one died. My LFS has a 3 day health guarantee, so today I brought it in with a water sample, as required. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 10, Ph 7.5 (as always), and Phosphate 1. They said my PH was way too high and the nitrates were bad and that I had to bring in a water sample next time I wanted to buy fish. They also said to go home and do a water change, which I planned to do anyway (I couldn’t do a water change before I took the water sample if I wanted it to be accurate). In reality though is there anything wrong with my PH? This tank consistently has less than 5 ppm nitrates, I’m guessing that the dead fish caused a spike in ammonia, which was handled by the fact that the tank was cycled and just left more nitrates than the plants could handle in a short period of time. Right?

What does the phosphate mean? Is 1 too high? What can I do about it?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Nothing wrong with your ph or nitrAtes; but I suspect plenty "wrong" with the fish they sold you

 

[OliveFish05]

Nothing wrong with your ph or nitrAtes; but I suspect plenty "wrong" with the fish they sold you

That’s what I was thinking, and they were all like “your water parameters are bad”. But the other gourami look good and there’s nothing wrong with the other fish in the tank. I’m starting to feel like I shoulda quarantined.

 

[Slaphppy7]

That’s what I was thinking, and they were all like “your water parameters are bad”. But the other gourami look good and there’s nothing wrong with the other fish in the tank. I’m starting to feel like I shoulda quarantined.

QT is best practice, I agree

 

[OliveFish05]

I am sort of offended they would try to make it like it was something I did wrong.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I am sort of offended they would try to make it like it was something I did wrong.

Remember that the next time you consider doing business with them...but, if you are like me, you only have 1 LFS nearby to shop at, anyway (I stay away from Petco/Petsmart for livestock)

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

That's so cheeky...I would tell them armpits and take my business elsewhere. Why don't you ask them to test their own water so you can take note of what to aim for in the future? I bet they don't

 

[OliveFish05]

That's so cheeky...I would tell them armpits and take my business elsewhere. Why don't you ask them to test their own water so you can take note of what to aim for in the future? I bet they don't

Ha! Seriously.

Remember that the next time you consider doing business with them...but, if you are like me, you only have 1 LFS nearby to shop at, anyway (I stay away from Petco/Petsmart for livestock)

Unfortunately yes, they are the only LFS I have. Already they are 30 minutes away from me! They are pretty good about most things and did give me my money back. They are pretty educated and the employees (especially some of the newer hires) are extremely helpful, informed, and pleasant to work with. They have good fish selection, but they rotate some of the more select stock. For example, they always have neon tetras, pygmy cories, and guppies, but they rotate back and forth between platinum hatchetfish and marbled hatchetfish or kubotai rasboras and emerald dwarf rasboras

 

[Colin_T]

A pH of 7.5 is not a problem unless you are keeping wild caught gouramis and that is extremely unlikely for honey gouramis.

10ppm of Nitrate is not an issue. You try to keep nitrates as close to 0ppm as possible but anything under 20ppm is fine.

1ppm phosphate means there is either phosphate in your water supply or the fish food you use has a lot of phosphate in it. It's not a major issue but can encourage algae problems.

Quite frankly the water is fine as far as I'm concerned.

--------------------
Do you have pictures of the fish so we can check them for disease?

You should always quarantine new fish for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks before adding them to an established tank.

 

[OliveFish05]

A pH of 7.5 is not a problem unless you are keeping wild caught gouramis and that is extremely unlikely for honey gouramis.

10ppm of Nitrate is not an issue. You try to keep nitrates as close to 0ppm as possible but anything under 20ppm is fine.

1ppm phosphate means there is either phosphate in your water supply or the fish food you use has a lot of phosphate in it. It's not a major issue but can encourage algae problems.

Quite frankly the water is fine as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you, that is exactly what I was thinking. Pff problem with my parameters

 

[OliveFish05]

Do you have pictures of the fish so we can check them for disease?

Yes, here are some.

 

[Colin_T]

They don't have any external signs of disease but are a bit slim and not very high in the body. Are you sure they are honey gouramis?

You need a picture on the back of the tank to make them feel more secure.

Your sword plants look like someone is eating them. They could do with a bit of aquarium plant fertiliser too.

 

[OliveFish05]

They don't have any external signs of disease but are a bit slim and not very high in the body. Are you sure they are honey gouramis?

You need a picture on the back of the tank to make them feel more secure.

Your sword plants look like someone is eating them. They could do with a bit of aquarium plant fertiliser too.

It was the two smaller ones who died. They were labeled "gold honey gouramis". I am going to paint the back of the tank in a couple days. And the swords... I forgot to give them root tabs when I moved them from their other tank and they just failed. They have root tabs now and I am pruning out the dead leaves.

 

[Colin_T]

The gouramis that died might have been malnourished if they had only recently come into the shop. Then the stress of moving them was too much and they died. Feed the others up (3-5 times a day) for a couple of weeks and see how they go. If they are fine and no more die, then it was probably stress and weak fish.

 

[OliveFish05]

The gouramis that died might have been malnourished if they had only recently come into the shop. Then the stress of moving them was too much and they died. Feed the others up (3-5 times a day) for a couple of weeks and see how they go. If they are fine and no more die, then it was probably stress and weak fish.

Ok, thank you. I was thinking it had to do with stress. My LFS just got a large shipment of more today, should I try to go back and get 2 more, or leave it at 3?