Livebearer Troubles

[Spishkey]

i have tried and tried to keep livebearers but they never last? give me any other fish and it flourishes but guppys/mollys/platys i just cant click with them

have had 3 different livebearer tanks, one for each of the sorts everytime i buy new ones they die in a month or so (go thin and waste away) ive tried anti parasite treatments incase it was internal parasites but to no avail
after nearly 2 years of trying (all fish from different sources and no tanks cross contaminated or equipment shared) i feel like giving up.

is it even worth me trying with swordtails?

 

[hughessomefish]

well yea you can stay away from livebearers,like me i am awesome with livebearers but i cant get a beta to live a week

 

[OldMan47]

Check your water hardness Spishkey. I have trouble with South Americans but no trouble at all with livebearers. My water is fairly hard with a high pH of 7.8. If you have soft, low pH water, that is your trouble. When you have the right water, livebearers are as easy as it gets.

 

[Spishkey]

how do i check water hardness, or will a ph value show you what that is?
just off to test ph

 

[Spishkey]

my ph is 7.5 (colour is between the 7.4 and 7.6 using api high ph range tester)

 

[Jammyjames59]

hello,
spishkey
i have had lots of livebearers and i think they are very easy to look after just follow these instructions to make sure your fish last a good life and maybe you can even breed some of your own!!:

(1) Make sure you set-up your tank correctly first get your tank and fill it with tap-water leave your water at least 1 week then get a water check from one of your local pet shops make sure your results are ok (if not treat your water with safe water for another week then get another water check) then its go go go from there!!

(2) Add your gravel and some live plants if possible (wash before placing into tank) and any other ornaments etc....

(3) Leave the water another 24 hours before you attempt to add fish.

(4) Research what fish you want i recommend guppies or if you want something more hardy that will last longer get a school of Danios.What ever you do don't attempt to keep cichlids, discus or Gourmais is you haven't' got much experience.

(5) Last of all get your fish make sure you chose fish that look healthy and active, and when you take them home acclimatise them for 30 minutes before you release them into your tank.

(6) After you buy your fish obverse them for at least 5 minutes per day and treat your tank with safewater.



P.S WHEN YOU GET TO THIS STAGE MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN OUT WEEKLY DO 20% WATER CHANGES (WEEKLY) AND HAVE WATER CHECKS EVERY 6 MONTHS..


PM ME FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS AND BREEDING LIVEBEARERS ETC...

 

[OldMan47]

Spishkey is a rather experienced fish keeper JammyJames, she just has no experience with livebearers.
You use a GH / KH test kit to get water hardness. Your local fish store could probably tell you what the water is like where you live but I like to test for myself. You can find a test kit on e-bay for not very much money but you seldom find the kit at the LFS. They must not sell as well as the pH kits. It seems every store has those pH kits in 3 or 4 different brands.

 

[Spishkey]

thanks for that old man, i have kh on strip testers, will that give me a rough idea? i know theyre not so reliable but it would give me a clue surely?

about 2 years ago i had three gorgeous redcoral platys 2f 1 m which bred like crazy every month. about 100 of their offspring reached adult stage. the three originals have since died and about 5 of their offspring i still have. but these have never bred and must be over a year old now? all other livebearers ive bought have died within a month or two from going skinny and wasting away. i find it so bizarre the original 3 were fine but since they died all this trouble with lb fish started?





edit to say 'he' is a she

 

[OldMan47]

Is that better Spishkey? I made the english language assumption and used the masculine when the true gender is unknown.

The strip should be fine for giving you a general idea.

 

[Spishkey]

must admit i call every he if i dont know...(!) am gonna find the strips today..havent used them sice getting a liquid kit so they could be anywhere

 

[Spishkey]

well seems my last purchase of platys are on their way out...thin, scrawny bent things. only 2 look perfectly healthy though theyve never bred


i give in.....totally with livebearers!

 

[OldMan47]

I'm sorry to hear that Spishkey. Livebearers are my main focus because they are so easy with my water. Why fight with RO mixes with tap water to make water where I can breed a typical egg layer when I can just throw a few livebearers in a cycled tank and start pulling out fry a few weeks later? It seems your water and mine are not at all alike. One way to acquire hard high pH water is to put some source of calcium carbonate into your filter. The usual ingredients are crushed shells or crushed coral, like salt water people use for a substrate. The constant dissolving of calcium carbonate drives the pH, GH and KH high. For people living in soft water areas, that is how they get water sort of like my tap water.

 

[Platygirl11]

Do you get your stock from one store? Perhaps order a platy or 2 online if it's in your price range (I know for a fact it's not in mine .) Post some pics.

Have they been eating? Have they every dropped? If so, how recently?

Good luck!

 

[Spishkey]

they eat fine, even when at the really thin and bent stage then poof! they are dead?
in the past year ive gone through maybe 40 platys and 20 mollys from various stores, i have left one black molly (who has never bred, she was one of the first i bought so must be at least 18months old?) and two platys (one is from the last lot i bought, a female, and a male who was born in my care some 14 months back)
we've not had fry for well over a year now

i thought perhaps it was the water but ive just moved house 2 months ago, yet the problem continued even though the water here was different to the last place?


they just dont like me! i so badly want a livebearer tank, with platys mollys guppys or swordtails i think its just not meant to be?

i may give swordtails a try as i havent really given those a shot..maybe i'll have a bit of luck??

 

[Mollygirls]

I cant get guppies to live but other livebearers are fine.. Its strange.. Outside of the feeder guppies I saved the rest die off in time..

My tank went through a major trauma not too long ago and the swords I bought stayed perfectly healthy. Not one death or even an ounce of a problem.. Maybe they are just stronger fish? Who knows but good luck I know its frustrating not being able to have the fishies you want..