Water Quality Help...

[Monte20]

Lately my nitrates have shot up in my 55 gal. I have done about 4 25% water changes over the past week and 1/2 or so. but my nitrates are still about 70ppm. nitrites are at 0. ph is 7. slightly alkaline. water temp is 80.
the mollies are also developing a slight swelling and deteriorating of the lip. one of my fish died a month ago, (pop eye, and lips eaten away). it doesnt look like cotton mouth. just lips rotting away. this is still early so im in a frantic mood to get them better. one of the mollies is also sitting at teh bottom barely moving, until i feed them then he is like normal. im so paniced. something is up with the water and i cant get control over it.

5 mollies
2 glass tetras (starting to become too aggressive for my taste)
2 guppies
1 choc albino pleco
1 striped rafael

 

[Bloo]

What is your tapwater Nitrate ?

Is this a new or newly cycled tank ?

What size is the choc albino pleco (and what exactly is it?) and the Raphael ?

Have you recently done a good filter maintenance and good gravel vac to make sure there is no decaying matter anywhere ?

What is your ammonia reading (but not really relevant if this tank is more than 6 months old) ?

I don't know much about glass tetras, but if they are anything like most other tetras, then you'll really need a group of 6 to diffuse aggression.

 

[Monte20]

tap nitrate : 0
tank is over 7 months old.
pleco and rafael approx 4 inches.
i vacuum every month. regular filter changes also.
ammonia 0.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

tap nitrate : 0
tank is over 7 months old.
pleco and rafael approx 4 inches.
i vacuum every month. regular filter changes also.
ammonia 0.

I would increase the amount of time you clean your filter and substrate (making sure you don't over clean your filter) to more like once every 2 weeks- adding healthy live aquarium plants to the tank can also help cut down on nitrates as plants naturally take them up .
How often do you do water changes on average and how much water do you take out?
The decaying of the mouth on the molllys sounds like mouth rot, it is technically columnaris but when the desease effects the mouth it has different symptoms (flesh being eaten away, cloudy/discolored skin, red sores/septicemia-like symptoms, fungal/cotton-like growths etc etc..)- treat the fish with an anti bacterial and fungal med like Pimafix .

 

[Monte20]

added melafix. i had concluded after tons of research that it was columnaris. will update how the med works for other peoples' fish who have, or will get this problem. also, when i vacuum, i change 20-25% of the water.

i would love plants. im too scared to start planting, as i still consider myself a novice and i dont want to mess things up. dont know what all i need to start planting. also the light i use is great for fish color, but too low wattage for plants. great, now you got me in the mood to learn about plants....

 

[Monte20]

first day of treatment. disease doesnt look better yet, but then again its no worse. the fish have definitely pepped up. swimming around and trying to get their groove on with the ladies. more tomorrow.

 

[cane76]

good luck with the treatment you should vac your gravel once a week

 

[dwarfgourami]

added melafix[/url

Melafix won't be strong enough on its own; it is more like a general tonic. You want to combine it with Pimafix, which is the anti-bacterial medication produced by the same firm. The two are fine for using together. The advantage is it will also clear any head colds in the neighbourhood!
Good luck with the treatment!

 

[Monte20]

just realized ive been undermedicating. been adding 3 tblspoons instead of 5. will fix that on next dose. ive also noticed that some of the fish are hanging right by the heater all the sudden. theyve never done that before.