Bad water??

[bsope]

Hi All,

Have a question about guppy health. I have 2 male guppy in a 10G tank that has been up for almost 3 months (along with 2 platys and 2 ottos).

About a week ago they started to shimmy (I turned up the temp 2 degrees to 78).

Then a couple days later they became reclusive (top corners). However, when I watch from afar they are everywhere within the water column. I am thinking they may be scared (I have a 4 yr old daughter who can be loud and hyper near the tank).

I tested their water: pH 8.2 / NH3 0 / NO2 0

I added pH down to achieve 8.0. But now 4 days later back to 8.2 (hard water with buffers), so pH Down probably useless!

Today pH is 8.2 and nitrAte is about 6 ppm. Tomorrow is my typical 25% water change and vacuum day (I do this once a weeK).

I have tried feeding twice a day instead of once (less food each time however). I think they all eat the algae discs I put in after lights out for the ottos.

I plan on calling the local water co. to get hardness params.

Could it be too little space? Maybe the platys are getting pushy? Any thoughts are very welcome!

Thanks

[Jay]

so pH Down probably useless!

Agreed...for lots of reasons. One being you end up chasing your tail as you have discovered.

What you are describing sounds to me to be a Stress related behavior. Stress = an adverse environmental or biological reaction.

Can you post a full set of parameters taken tonight or tomorrow after your water change. If we get the water fixed, then we can look at the platies.

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
KH
GH
pH

The platys could be causing the behavior, but my guess you have some water chemistry issues also.

Jay

[bsope]

Okay,
Today I did about a 40% water change. An hour later I checked params:

pH 8
NH3 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 7 or 8 (my API kit is 5, then 10, ...)

Still need to access KH and GH

I also tested straight tap for nitrAte and got the same 7 0r 8.
Will post GH and KH asap.
The guppies seemed better today before the change, more outgoing, but still not the way they used to be.

Thanks

Bad news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talked to the 2 water districts for our water and it seems that our tap is VERY hard. This is frustrating. I was hoping to have some tetras.

Our tap is apparently a mix of 2 treatment plants, plus a smidge of well water.
Plant #1: hardness 200-250 ppm and alkalinity 100 ppm
Plant #2: Hardeness 220 ppm and alkalinity 160 ppm



I have bought my fish from a chain lfs and I doubt they do RO or distilled or anything besides tap with conditioners. Their pH runs at 8.2. Maybe the fish are not there long enough to show signs of stress from hard water.

Would driftwood help at all? Any natural helpers?

THANKS!!!!!!

[Jay]

I think you have several options.

You can use peat in your filter. This will lower your GH but the down side is it will tint your water a bit.

You can buy water softening pouches to put in your filter but these will exchange calcium and magnesium for Sodium ions.

You can buy filtered bottled water and use it for water changes. You are essentially reducing your GH and KH by dilution.

From what I know about guppies, they should be able to acclimate to your water parameters.

I had lots of health problems when I started a guppy tank. The solution was the addition of mineral salts (electrolytes)
Your water is very hard, the hardness could be driven by lots of Calcium and not much of other essential trace minerals.

I would mix filtered water with tap water to lower the Kh and Gh a bit and add a Mineral Mix like Seachems Live bearer salt <- not NaCl table salt.

Jay

[bsope]

Thank you Jay for your advice. The guppies seem to be doing better. I moved the heater and am getting a more consistent temp. I feed more frequently, but smaller meals. I have added more fresh veggies (on ocassion) like peas and zucchini. They are still a bit skittish, but not quite so much so.

I will try to find the correct salt. I was hoping to have some tetras in my new 20G. My water may not be as hard as I thought. I took it to a lfs to test and she said between 100-200 ppm.....but I think she was too much in a hurry and didn't do the test right. I thought about buying a test kit but the 2 they had looked old and very dusty so I wasn't sure if they were decent anymore.

Thank you!!