About my 46 gallon aquarium...

Question
QUESTION: Hello Karen. First and formost I wanna thank you for being a member on this site and helping people out with their fish problems. I myself am a huuuuuge tropical fish freak and have been for years. Another reason I thank you for being on this site is because, well, I myself am also a member (under 'Antique Clocks'; I specialize in the repair of clocks)and I know sometimes you have to research foreverm to find an answer, but, you could also be an 100% expert, and completely know it all, which I also have great respect for. Any-how. I've had the same fish in my tank for a few years now. I have 2 black neons, 2 black skirt tetras, 2 red minor skirt tetras (I think thats their name....looks the same as the black skirts, but have a black dot behind the side fins and are reddish in color), one zebra danio, and one australian rainbow. I had a plecostomatus in there the same amount of time I'd had the other fish, but it mysteriously died 3 months ago, and I dont know why.... any suggestions?. And, everytime I try to add another fish (like, I tried to add a 2nd zebra; same size, and it lasted a few weeks and died, or I tried adding a few fancy tail guppies 2 months ago, and they all died one by one within 3 weeks)... now I understand tetras need a diffrent ph than live bearers, which is why I kept the tank at 7.0..... if that has anything to do with their deaths?.

  How come the fish I have had, are perfectly content, and the fish I keep trying to add, die on me? And how come my pleco mysteriously died, after being healthy with the other fish, the past few years? I keep the ph balanced, I gravel vac (btw, I own the "Python" gravel cleaner. I recomment this to any aquarium enthusiast...works great, and it makes the job 80% less messier, hehe), I maintain the heater at 80 degrees, and the filters are kept clean and I keep the good bacteria where its needed in the filters, alone, when I perform filter maintence. Any answer would be great, and sorry for making this so long. Also, ever since, about half a year ago, a film of white scaly-rock texture like film has devoloped over my heater, and NOWHERE else in the tank. At first, I took the heater out, scaped the stuff off making sure not to damage the heater and put it back. Within 2 weeks, it came back fully, the same amount. This time I left it, because the fish seem not to be bothered by it, chemically or physically....could this be my problem? It looks like a heavy lime build up. Once again, any answer would be great!

ANSWER: Hi Rich,
With Mysterious fish loss I can't blame any one thing 100% as the cause. But I have a few thoughts (keep in mind these are just educated guesses)

When you explained that your tank seems healthy and the current established fish happy and thriving in it but everytime you add new fish they eventually die reminds me a lot of "Old tank sydrome" Which is where the tank just isn't getting enough frequent water changes. Waste products build up in the tank and nitrate levels rise as well as the pH drops. The current established fish slowly adapt to such conditions and seem to do well even though they aren't the best conditions. But any new fish added will be thrown into shock at the completely different water in your tank versus the petstore's water. And further more, even if they do survive the first initial shock, they just cannot handle the water conditions for very long and that could be why your fish eventually die after a few weeks in your tank.
*Not that I'm blaming you for poor tank maintenance. But maybe there is a problem going on with your water quality. I would recommend to test your water for: Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate (most important) and then we can go from there with solving this problem.
~How often do you do water changes? And at what percentage?
~How do you acclimate your new fish?

~I would also ask your petstore what they keep their water at in terms of pH... It could be drastically different.

In most cases, water quality conditions are to blame for mysterious fish loss. I bet once you can get that figured out, you can add fish again and actually have them live and thrive.

With the pleco, I can't really be sure. Again it may have been a water quality problem. Or he may have not gotten enough food. (As sad as it is, many plecos unknowingly starve in an aquarium if they aren't provided with enough food at the right times), the pleco may have had a sickness we just can't be sure. But definitely for the time being, test your water. You can bring a water sample to most petstores and have it tested for free. But be sure to ask for the exact readings of each the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Many times the only answer you get from the petstore's employee is "Everything's fine" which isn't the best answer ;-)

I would think that your pH is fine. It should suit both the livebearers and tetras just fine. Most fish are very adaptable and hardy and they can thrive in a wide pH range. I don't think your current pH level has anything to do with why cannot keep any new fish alive.

The white scaly stuff sounds like the weird stuff I've seen in my aquariums before. And what's funny is it's been on the heater also! My guess is it could be a fungus/mold that lives off of old fish food or other organic matter in the tank. Usually if I was careful with feeding my fish and made sure to scrap it off as I see it and keep up with frequent water changes it wouldn't come back.

Well, I hope this has helped! If I've missed anything, feel free to let me know. Oh and I looked at your work you've done with the antique clocks and you seem like you know your stuff!! What a very different and unique hobby!

Best of luck!
Karen~
(Ps: the mystery fish "red minor skirt tetras" sound like Serpae tetras--which are also called Minor tetras but without the 'skirt' in the name. Just thought I'd let you know. Here is a link to a picture of one just to confirm-
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_serpae.php)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yes!, thats the one, a 'Serpae' tetra.. just forgot what it was called. I usually
change the water once a month, but thats when I do my gravel change... I
figured as I do the gravel, its taking water out too so that would be my water
change..unless thats not enough? And as the pleco goes, I think I may have
starved it out because I do keep algae down to a low minumun...a very low
minumin, lol... I have a master test kit, and I just tested the water for PH,
High Range PH, Amonia, Nitrate, and Nitrites. My Nitrites are fine, actually
un-detectable, BUT, my nitrates are sky high, how is that?.. I did a 30% water
change and put some 'Cycle' in (which by the way, is a grreeeaatt product and
does miracles, lol) and it brought it down majorly... I guess my nitrates are
whats killing the fish....?

Answer
Hi Rich!
I'm wondering if once a month water changes are not adequate enough in your situation. It's really best to try to do water changes as often as you can. Water changes do wonders for your fish. If you could do it at least every-two weeks or ideally once a week that would be so much better. And yes, everytime you make a water change, you should vacuum the gravel thoroughly, that's what I do.
It's great that you have the test kit. And I think we may have found our problem here--high nitrates. The nitrates being sky-high means that the aquarium isn't getting enough frequent water changes and you need to just step it up a little more. Ideally you'd be aiming for a nitrate level as low as possible--a reading or 20 or less is acceptable.

So the high nitrates may have been the culprit in preventing any new fish from surviving in your tank for very long. I bet that once you get your nitrates down to a decent consistantly low level, I bet you can add new fish again!

Best of luck!
Karen~