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Thanks for that way of putting it.
I forgot to update my info. The Goldfishes are by themselves since last month, the platys are in a 2 1/2 gal tank. the guppies are in a different 2 1/2 gal also, but, according to the sales man at the pet store....the tanks that I bought are more than 2 1/2. I do use filteration for the goldfishes. The platy and the guppies, I cycle their water every other day and full water change once a week....too much..or too little. I don't really like asking the pet store, because it is like they don't know what I am saying or asking.....duhhhh!
Maybe wrong information from them is killing my fishes. They never even told me anything about ph balance or stuff like that or even that my platy needs salt.
My frys are doing fine in the tank they are in....but, boy do they grow fast. It just takes a week for them and they are swimming right besides their mother. I haven't seen my guppies gobble up any fry that were born..since I feed them a pinch whenever I come close to their tank and they come swimming up and expect food.
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Your tanks are still far too small even though you have upgraded them.
Common goldfish need at least 10gals each, so for 2 you need a filtered 20gal tank- goldfish can live up to 40yrs but would be lucky to last a couple of years in your tank set up, comet goldfish can get to a foot long.
Adult platys need at least a 10gal tank, guppys need at least a 5gal for a pair of females- both tanks need filtration. You cannot cycle water in a day.
When you cycle a tank, you mainly do it to build up the beneficial bacteria living in your filter sponge capable of breaking down ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as part of the water chemistry in your tank water.
Fish pee and poop ammonia but this is also lethal to them, without anything to break it down in the tank it builds up and kills them. The beneficial bacteria in your filter sponge breaks down this ammonia into harmless substances, but when you buy a filter it has none of this bacteria. So when you cycle a tank you are basically trying to grow this bacteria.
Obviously you need a filter for the tank, but you also need dechlorinator as this removes chlorine and other substances present in tap water that will kill your beneficial bacteria. You must use dechlorinator on any water that goes into the tank and you definatly don't wash your filter out in tap water, you must only wash it in old tank water from water changes, chlorine is also harmful to fish.
You should never take out more than 60% of water out of the tank a day as your beneficial bacteria needs ammonia to feed off and without any it dies, taking too much water out of the tank a time can starve your bacteria and cause it to mini cycle.
Ammonia and nitrites should be 0 in a mature tank while nitrates need to be kept under 40- you need to buy test kits for these from your local fish store and test your water ASAP. Water changes will help lower all harmful stats, any nitrites and ammonia above 0 are harmful to your fish.
Your fish are dying because of water quality issues and will not live out long happy lives in their current state im afraid, you need to make alot of changes quickly if you are to take proper care of your fish. Your platy does not need salt at all, salt is a medicine for primarily treating fungal infections, which your platys do not have at all, and you should avoid changing your tank ph at all costs as it will severely stress your fish out, livebearers are naturally adaptable to many ph's but they are not adaptable to fluctuating ph chemicals.
, and to make matters worse...had a female guppy that was due any day and she was in her delivery tank and then the same thing happen to her.
