Newbie

[gracie166]

Hi everyone. Have had my tank set up since Xmas. Fish since mid February. Everything was ok till last week. Now platys are staying at the bottom of the tank. One of my yellow/black platys has gone missing and another is in the baby tank as it was resting on the bottom of the tank. He has laboured breathing and is not moving I have looked everywhere for missing fish. I have done 3 half water changes. I recently added some biological media to filter. Do u think this is the problem? I also have an algae eater. He does sometimes chase the fish could he have injured him/her. I also have baby fish they seem fine and are swimming all around the tank And the harliguins are also fine.

 

[Colin_T]

Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

If you can't test the pH and GH, then this information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

 

[gracie166]

Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

If you can't test the pH and GH, then this information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Thanks for replying I tested water with tetra 6 in 1 kit. NO3 is only result saying it needs a change and this is borderline. Which I already did this morning. Should I do another in the morning ? Thanks for your help. Also what should I do with the fish don’t like to see it suffer ?

 

[Essjay]

What are the actual numbers from the strip?

The instructions for the Tetra 6 in 1 strips say that nitrate concentrations greater than 50 ppm are harmful to fish but this information is out of date - we now know that nitrate should be less than 20 ppm. And they imply that it is OK for nitrite to be up to 1 ppm when it must be kept at zero. This is why we ask for numbers as some manufacturers (and shop workers) tell you that levels are OK when they are not.

It would also be useful to know what the strips give for your GH, pH and KH.