Where Am I Going Wrong?

[lilacamy931]

Hey peeps
Since the start of this year I have had so many sick fish it is unbeleiveable. Been fishkeeping a year and learnt lots along the way and except for the bettas getting ill occasionally nothing has been bad.

My water stats always seem perfect, I have ensured that the tanks are packed with live plants and up to 10X filtration. They have weekly water changes with out question and a varied diet of flake and frozen foods.

My errors that I have learnt from along the way is not using a quarantine tank in the past (boy have I learnt) and also not enough equipment per tank so used between the tanks, sterilise often now and invested in equipment per tank to stop cross contamination.

Are there things I am doing really wrong or is it just a string of bad luck? I read on all my fish and ask lots of questions on here (thanks so much for all the great information).

Basically lost since January:
11 pygmy cories (epidemic contained to one tank)
2 panda cories and 1 habrosus(treated sterazin and seem to be doing well since)
1 angel fish (unknown cause, isolated and one of the first deaths)
3 killifish (1 jumper, 1 catted and 1 of stress - never again)

Hope dont sound down or anything but could do with some pointers. Speaking to friends in the area they have had unexplained fish deaths but find too easy to pin any blame or coincidence on this..

 

[grumpysteve]

you say your water chemistry "seems" perfect, but what are the exact results? are the tanks plenty big enough for the stock? could there be any additives to your water supply you don't know about? there's plenty of things that could cause fish deaths, even a poor supplier could be the reason. how mature are the tanks?

what exactly is your water change routine?

if you can't get to the bottom of all your problems it might be worth re-homing all your fish, and starting again from scratch with a decent sized tank and some hardy fish to see how they get on. i know its disheartening, but there will be an answer to help you carry on

 

[lilacamy931]

Hello there
Water stats are always ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrates are usually 5-10 on odd occassion up to 20.
The tanks are plenty big with filtration (checked on here frequently with yourselves )
I use prime dechlorinator as it seems the best strength.
As to the water supply unsure how to find this out..
The tanks there are four and one is a year mature, two are 8 months mature and one is 4 months mature.
My water change routine is once a week every week no question,occasionally do two a week. Usually do 30% water change on all tanks, match temperature going back in, with prim declorinator mixed well. Use a siphon to get the poop and debris off the bottom and hoover. Generally clean out my filters with each change, though one sponge a quick squeeze a week.

The species I currently have between the four tanks are:

1 betta (OAP)- fins regrowing healthy known tail biter
5 Corydoras species - this species have lost 11/13 on one species, 2/7 on another, problems stopped for now. Most of the species seem happy, have fry.
Pearl Gourami - adults fine since beginning
Glass Catfish - lost one on introduction, fine since beginning
Neon Tetras - was fine since beginning, now something is going on with at least one neon and hope it isnt dreaded something
Normani Lampeye - lost 6 to being eaten, 2 fry left
Bristlenose Plec - growing healthy
Guppies - guppies are guppies producing fry

 

[snowflake311]

fish die it happens. I just lost my 1yr old male blue acara. I think it was to bacterial infection caused by constant stress from his mate (who is doing great) once I split them up other fish stressed him out. I would see him challange my EBJD from time to time. He always tired to bully other fish around. I think always trying to be a bully adds stress. he also just seemed a bit off since I got him.

The QT tank is always your best way to pervent proplems. you can have perfect clean water but other things can cause stress and stress kills. wrong tanks mates, lack of shelter, too much outside movement, schooling fish with out a school, too much water movement, not enough water movement, wrong temp, lack of O2, tank size,and wrong food all can add stress on a fish.

also it could be poor stock too.

 

[OldMan47]

The fish that you say you have lost, other than the jumpers, are all soft water fish if I remember correctly. Do you have hard water where you live? That might explain a lot in terms of fish losses. I can only keep cories a long time by using a mix of RO and tap water to lower the mineral content. Rain water works to dilute the tap water too, but this time of year it is white and blows around too easily for me to use it. In summer I use it to save myself the expense of running my RO unit. Most common livebearers do great in my water but not cories or most of the tetras.

 

[lilacamy931]

Hello Oldman I am in a hard water area. Could this really contribute to them be susceptible to bacterial infections an such? We have a RO unit and I have considered it time and time again but am afraid to do so and end up with more problems than I started with..

The RO from what I gather takes a long time and with water changes always do the same bucket amounts, so what sort of ratio should I be looking at to not shock ph or hardness? For example half a bucket RO and half tap? Or one bucket in as RO and one as tap? This is something consider time and again but really afraid to go for it.

As to the species being intolerant or better in soft water, unsure if it helps that alot of my cories that I have sourced have been bred in hard water and these ones touchwood have never been sick. The ones that have been from stores that I can allocate their beginnings are the ones that have been dying off..coincidence? Or from now on source from local breeders?

Thanks so much for all the input xx

 

[OldMan47]

In my own case, I use 3 parts of RO to one part tap water. My mix is based on first measuring what my tap water contains and then working out what it would take to get the mix that I want for my fish. In terms of water changes, I start collecting bottles of RO a few days ahead of a water change so that I have enough the day I want to do the change. I always have 15 to 20 gallons of RO sitting around in gallon jugs in the event that it will be needed in a hurry. It is not something to go into lightly, but may be your best option if you can actually measure the starting point for your water and then look up the requirements of your fish. I try to keep my cory tank at well under 100 ppm TDS.

 

[lilacamy931]

Thanks for that Oldman47. Can I ask are there specific kits that can be invested in to calculate the hardness of the water (only have standard API freshwater kit)

 

[OldMan47]

I have a meter that I bought with my RO to measure TDS. If I recall it was about a $20 accessory. You can indeed buy test kits for GH and KH also which will give you some idea of the mineral content of your water. It is not the same as measuring TDS but the test kit is quite a bit cheaper at around $5 to $7. I have one made by API but they are not the only ones who make the kits. I never found one locally so I bought it on line.

 

[england]

Agreed, our ph is high, i kept neon tetra's ages ago,and rams and guppys, never really did any good with any of them, but i

never even attemted to change water with anything, i have heard things like dried oak leaves can help with this,

However try to go for other fishe's that do better in our water, them there malawi cichlids are perfect

when are you guys coming over

Maybe i can convince you into some babie channa's

 

[england]

alot of the shops down here get deliverys from further afield where waters alot lower in ph, The channa banks i brought a while back were kept in 6.0.6.5 and our ph is 8.0-8.5,,,,i didnt do anything with taking longer in aclimising these,channa are tough blighters and i lost nearly all of them, thats the only fish died on me just after buying, either rams/the banks and neon tetra oh and some guppys but dont really have small fish now, other than the two dp's

 

[lilacamy931]

Thanks for that both Thinking my partner should be getting a TDS then in set up of his marine tank (eventually ).

I like the little fishies!! I love those channas Nelly but I reckon I would have them crawling all over the place with kittens after them I will stick to my beloved cories I really am overdue to come see you (so sorry sweets!)