Ira Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Normally I don't test the nitrates in the tank the guppies are in because every time I DO test it, it's 0. But, I think because I recently trimmed the plants in there and the duckweed on the surface is all shrinking away to nothing...The nitrates went sky high. Enough that the test tube turned a very deep cherry red, much darker than the highest on the color chart, I'd have to guess way over 150. The guppies were mostly sitting on the bottom. I did a really big water change, about a 2/3rd change. Now all the guppies are clustered in a corner hiding behind one of the pipes for the filter and at least 4-5 very young ones have died so far. Yeah, I know, they're just guppies. But I've got some really pretty ones in there and some endlerish ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 If I was your guppies I would be hiding in a corner too! Never ever say they're "just" anything. Just because fish cannot cry, bark, mew or otherwise indicate verbally they are sick, does not mean they don't suffer. The smaller ones die first because they are not as hardy. When you decide to keep animals in an enclosed, artificial environment it is your duty to make it the best environment you possibly can for them. Hang on a minute while I climb down off my soapbox... Such a large water change would have changed other water parameters too, not just the nitrates. What was the pH before and after the water change? They might be suffering from a massive pH swing on top of the original problem. Why was the duckweed shrinking away? I would have thought this was the effect of the nitrates, not the cause. Something else may be wrong. It may just be shock and they will settle down soon. Hopefully someone else has more suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Sounds like you have several tanks. JMO, but personally I would get them outta there real quick and into another tank until you sort your water out, even if it means losing a few. Suspend them in a container in another tank with an air supply if you have. Concentrate then on what exactly has happened to your guppy tank. Can't see that trimming the plants has caused your prob, but the dying duckweed might of, but the question is: "Why did the duckweed die?" it's got to be one of the hardiest things to erradicate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 14, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 I don't really have a tank that is an option to put them in. My other two tanks are a 200 liter tank full of cichlids that would eat them and a 6 foot tall hexagonal tank that I'd never get them back out of full of tetras. So I think I'll just keep a really close eye on them. Changing the water in the tank is a lot easier than putting them in a different tank. I haven't actually found duckweed that hard to get rid of. For some reason it seems like it grows like mad for a while and then the individual plants just start shrinking. They go from being maybe the size of a grain of ride to not much more than green specks and then disappear. I don't know why. I've turned the light off in the tank and the guppies are acting more normally, but now instead of huddling in a corner a lot are sitting on the bottom again. Maybe that's the way they sleep? I don't know. I tested the nitrates again after the water change and it looks like they're 0 or at least as close as I can tell. Which is odd because it should be 1/4th of what it was, not 0 I'd have thought. Next time I get a nitrate test kit I'll get a tablet kit. These drops seem to have a pretty huge error range depending on how well you shake the bottles and test tube. Caryl, the PH in that tank is usually right around 7, it doesn't have anything in it to really change the PH and since I'm on rainwater my tap water is as close to 7 as I can measure. Hmmm...I guess it wouldn't hurt to go check it... Looks like about 6.7, so it might have been lower before. Yeah, I neglect that tank more than I should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Fish will often rest on the bottom to sleep. I will never forget one night (many moons ago) when I got up in the middle of the night and turned the lounge light on. Glancing into the tank I saw all my fish lying on the bottom of the tank and just about had a heart attack!! As soon as the lights were turned on they started to get up and move about again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 14, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 My Keyhole cichlid is great at making me think he's dead. When he sleeps he sleeps DEEP. Can't wake him up at all, like he's in a coma. He also changes color from brown and black to grey and black, looks very dead, especially when he's drifting around the tank rolling upside down, bumping into things and not breathing. The first time I found him like that I thought, "Awww, he's dead. Better go find the net." Took me about 5 minutes to find the net and I'd told my wife he was dead. By the time I found the net she was looking at the tank, "What the hell are you talking about? He's swimming around right there." To keep on the topic of guppies. Those things are a lot more trouble than you'd think. I just found one dead in another tank. He'd been massively bloated for a month or two, I hadn't been able to do anything about it. He looks like his stomach burst. What a gruesome way to go. And there's another one in there that looks like he's starting to get the same way, but right now only looks kinda like he's got a double chin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 14, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Just tested the nitrates in the other two tanks. The 200 liter with my cichlids was around 70ish where I expected it, but the tetra tank which is full of plants was 0 the last time I checked it 2 weeks ago is now about the same 70ish. *Sigh* I think it's time for a round of midnight water changes. It's nice being unemployed and able to do that, unfortunately(Maybe) I start a crappy job monday and will have to stop again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Have you actually checked the pH and nitrate level in your water source recently? This can change. Since all your tanks now seem to have a high nitrate level they have not had before, there must be something connecting them. Water changes is my first thought. Have you changed anything else in the tanks (type of food etc)? Just having a lot of plants will not ensure a low nitrate level, plants can only do so much. I am still concerned about your duckweed's behaviour. This is well known as a hardy plant which is hard to get rid of so there must be a damn good reason why yours keeps shrinking and dying off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 15, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2002 Yeah, I checked my tap water. It's 7 PH and 0 nitrates. I think the tetra tank was high because I slacked off on the water changes a bit. Doing less than 25% changes each week. The 200L, it was around what it normally is. About what you'd expect for a tank with about a dozen 5-6" fish and no plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted June 15, 2002 Report Share Posted June 15, 2002 I have two test tubes that i cannot use as the glass seems to be contaminated, even after many washings and cleaning including the dishwasher, after the second of 3 chemicals ( nitrate test ) are added I get a real high reading, there should be no color at this point untill I put in the third chemical, Could the high reading you had be due to a problem of this nature ?? And my Guppies sit on the bottom when they sleep,, or the fishy equivelent of sleep Rgds Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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