Water Problem

[BlackSwords11]

Three scenarios...

1. My dad has a 120g freshwater aquarium which he changes 12g a week. He tests it every other day and keeps a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. He loses about one fish a day, either a tetra or livebearer. The main problem, he has 4 killies and hasn't lost any, tets that he just started losing, and livebearers die within a few weeks.

2. I have a 35g freshwater aquarium that I change about every week and a half. I test it periodically and everything reads fine. Although it is overstocked, it is rare if I lose two perfectly healthy fish in a month. The only ones I lose are either new fish or old ones.

3. My brother has a 10g freshwater aquarium. He has not lost any fish in over 6months. He changes his water maybe once a month and never tests it.

What is going on with my dad's tank. All of our parameters are the same. We use the same chemicals in our water at the same dosage. We have tried everything and he lost 10 this week alone. We took his water in to be tested and they said the nitrate was high. They said we should do a water change but I am against that because he just changed it two days previous.

I have tried every way to fix his tank but nothing works. We tried changing water less often, not using salt or cycle but the results are always the same. He is at a loss and i am not sure what else we can do. I'm running out of ways that it might be fixed. We've asked specialists and they didn't know why. I am really good at determining other ways, but I can't think of any.

 

[WILDER]

What is his water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.
How many fish and which type.
Any symtoms to go on.

Once a tank has cycled you do a gravel vac and water change once a week.

 

[BlackSwords11]

What is his water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.
How many fish and which type.
Any symtoms to go on.

Once a tank has cycled you do a gravel vac and water change once a week.

oh its been established for a while. Once in a while the levels may spike, but that isn't very common. He contains mostly tets and some killies.

 

[Tolak]

Numbers for the test results are needed, as others may see things, or trends in things, that you are not seeing. Also, type & quantity of fish is needed, along with make & model of filtration.

It would really help if you could fill out the standard form provided;

pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):


A few more to include; what make & model of filtration, what brand of water treatment & how much per gallon is being used, and what is the origin of your water?

Right off the bat a 10% water change, along with a shop telling you that you have high nitrates does indicate a more frequent or larger water change. Salt is unnecessary in a freshwater tropical tank, and Cycle does nothing but make the aquarist feel better.

 

[scooterchick]

Yeah, need stats as everyone says. 12g a week on a 120g tank isn't enough, he should be changing around 40g a week. Also although you say you only lose 1 or 2 fish a month in a 35g tank I'd be concerned about that too. What are your stats?

 

[BlackSwords11]

ammonia: 0-.25
nitrite:0-.25
tank temp:78F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Usually quit eating begin to hover toward top of tank

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 12g a week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Start Right as dechloranator

Tank inhabitants: tets, barbs, and livebearers

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): fish once in a while

Exposure to chemicals: none

As for changes 10% a week. 12/120=10/100 or 10% so 40 in my opinion is WAY too much.

 

[Tolak]

40 gallons out of a 120 gallon is 25%. This is standard maintenance for a normally stocked tank, anything less means you have to reduce your stocking to compensate. I have overstocked breeding tanks, and do 50% to 80% weekly, some tanks get changed more often.

Since you have been doing only 10% weekly your tank may be suffering from what is commonly referred to as old tank syndrome. I would change 10% to 20% daily for a few days, then at least 25% for a couple days after that. This prevents any rapid changes in water parameters, and gets the fish accustomed to your tap water, not the water in the tank.

When aquariums are not properly maintained the buildup of waste products tends to make the pH drop, while the hardness & total dissolved solids will increase. This will make the tank water different from your tap water, sometimes much more different. The smaller daily changes keep too rapid a change from happening.

Don't worry about the larger changes once you get things sorted out, fresh water is the best preventive medicine there is for fish.

 

[BlackSwords11]

Well as you can see this post was from a while though.

Now, he still only does a 10% water change and it is rare to lose one. I am completely surprised by this since he was losing so many so often.