Vent and Help

[SarayParay]

So I am a bit frustrated. I am new to the Hobby after getting my first fist in October 2019 and really venturing into it mid 2020. I've had no water parameter issues for a loooooooong time. I tend to test my water parameters a day after I have done my water changes. I did nothing new this time around and my Ammonia and Nitrate are horribly up there. My poor fish! Idk what to do. Do I change the water again? What can I add? I'm so frustrated with myself for not knowing enough of what to do to be a better person to my fish. 

It doesn't help that my last Platy doesn't look to well. I isolated her and did quarantine with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 and she was getting better. Now she looks sunken in and is just in the bottom of the little quarantine basket. I want to pull my hair. 

 

Anyways here are the pictures of my water parameters in my tanks.

 

This first one is my 20 gallon. My ammonia is always at 0 and my nitrates are usually around the 20 ppm mark. Did water change yesterday and cleaned filter which I do every other week. This tank has live plants. I'm so surprised about these readings as this has always been my "perfect" tank. =\ 

This second picture is my 10 gallon tank. Ammonia is at and my nitrates tend to be around the 10ppm. I haven't had a high reading like this in months! I don't want to lose my buddies. 😞 This tank I did a water change yesterday and it only has two live plants. 

 

 

Ugh. I understand now when people say they've left the hobby because it's so stressful. It's always been such a stress reducer for me and so calming. Has gotten me through lows in the pandemic but today I'm just so frustrated.

 

Thank you for reading this post that is all over the place.

[CT_]

oof.  Could there be agricultural runoff with high nitrate in your water? perhaps someone just fertilized their farm (I have no idea how farms are run, is January a plausible time to fertilize)?  I guess testing your tap water is a good place to start.

[Colu]

I would test your tap water to see if its change and start dosing seachem prime to help with detoxifying the ammonia and nitirtes 

[SarayParay]

4 minutes ago, CT_ said:

oof.  Could there be agricultural runoff with high nitrate in your water? perhaps someone just fertilized their farm (I have no idea how farms are run, is January a plausible time to fertilize)?  I guess testing your tap water is a good place to start.

 

1 minute ago, Colu said:

I would test your tap water to see if its change and start dosing seachem prime to help with detoxifying the ammonia and nitirtes 

 

I'm not sure, but I will definitely test my tap water right now. 

I do have Seachem Prime so I'll be using that right now. Thank you for that.

When would I do another water change? I don't want them to get hurt or die. =\ 

[Colu]

You should do a small daily water change of 25% till you ammonia and nitrites come down to zero

[FrozenFins]

Your molly that is sunken in might have parasites, treat with paraclense. Yes do a waterchange. I cant see the nitrate numbers in the first picture but if its 10-20ppm its okay. Plants will help with your water parameters, especially floating plants. 

[SarayParay]

3 minutes ago, Colu said:

You should do a small daily water change of 25% till you ammonia and nitrites come down to zero

 

1 minute ago, James Black said:

Your molly that is sunken in might have parasites, treat with paraclense. Yes do a waterchange. I cant see the nitrate numbers in the first picture but if its 10-20ppm its okay. Plants will help with your water parameters, especially floating plants. 

 

Okay, daily water changes until I see numbers come down. Got it.

Can I treat with Paracleanse while doing this? Or should I treat after the water changes? She is in my 20 gallon in a little quarantine basket.

[FrozenFins]

1 minute ago, SarayParay said:

 

 

Okay, daily water changes until I see numbers come down. Got it.

Can I treat with Paracleanse while doing this? Or should I treat after the water changes? She is in my 20 gallon in a little quarantine basket.

no don't do daily water changes AND a paraclense treatment. Go do a 50% waterchange and add seachem prime which will detoxify some of the amonia. This should really help then start off with the paraclense treatment.

[SarayParay]

4 minutes ago, James Black said:

no don't do daily water changes AND a paraclense treatment. Go do a 50% waterchange and add seachem prime which will detoxify some of the amonia. This should really help then start off with the paraclense treatment.

Okay, I'll do that right now.

 

Thank you!

[FrozenFins]

Just now, SarayParay said:

Okay, I'll do that right now.

 

Thank you!

also clean out the filter in the dirty tank water your taking out.

[SWilson]

I'm sorry @SarayParay I feel you on how stressful this is.  I just got my first fish again since college in December and I'm like...okay when does this hobby get relaxing?! lol

I really hope your molly gets better and don't give up!  The fact that you are so attentive and worrying is proof that you're a great person to your fish and doing your best. 

I agree with all of the advice above.  I was just gonna say a similar thing to @James Black to ask how you cleaned your filter.  

I don't have much experience with Maracyn or Maracyn 2, but I've heard mixed things on whether it can affect your cycle.

Sometimes Paracleanse can affect your cycle too, after I did a first round of paracleanse recently (my new fish had gill flukes, I think) and I noticed a similar bump in ammonia.  I personally like to use Fritzyme 7 to add more beneficial bacteria (in addition to a water conditioner to neutralize the ammonia), I know there's mixed reviews on that, but it's helped me get my cycle back on track.  You could also try adding some floating plants if you don't already have them which are especially good at sucking nutrients like nitrate out.    

I also agree you should do the water changes and get the parameters back up as best you can before re-starting the paracleanse, because you stop water changes for 4 days once you start the treatment. With the paracleanse, I've heard Cory say you should do a second round after about 2 weeks to kill off the second generation of parasites from the eggs that were laid befor you killed off the adults from the first round.  It doesn't say that on the box.

Lastly, I don't know much about this, and I hope more experienced folks correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you moved your sick molly back into the main tank into a quarantine basket?  I completely understand that, I felt horrible for my endler the whole time he was alone in his quarantine tank.  But I have been doing some research on breeder boxes to use for the pregnant female endler I have, and am seeing some reports about how stressful they are.  I don't know if that would apply here, and I know there are a lot of ways that being in the main tank could also be unsafe for a sick fish. I'm sure you're doing the right thing here, but just another variable -- but please don't pull your hair out anymore!      

[SarayParay]

23 minutes ago, SWilson said:

Lastly, I don't know much about this, and I hope more experienced folks correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you moved your sick molly back into the main tank into a quarantine basket?  I completely understand that, I felt horrible for my endler the whole time he was alone in his quarantine tank.  But I have been doing some research on breeder boxes to use for the pregnant female endler I have, and am seeing some reports about how stressful they are.  I don't know if that would apply here, and I know there are a lot of ways that being in the main tank could also be unsafe for a sick fish. I'm sure you're doing the right thing here, but just another variable -- but please don't pull your hair out anymore!      

 

Thank you so much for your input! I truly appreciate it! I used to use Fritzyme 7 in the beginning because I was so scared I'd kill off my fish. I stopped using it around September/October. I might go back as a bit of help. 🙂 

 

In regards to your last paragraph, my Platy (her name is Molly, but I'm not sure if I mentioned it before and it is why she is being called Molly? lol) has been quarantined in the 20 gallon. So I don't have another extra tank for a quarantine tank. So I bought a little mesh basket for fry and have put her in the mesh basket away from the other fish. My Zebra Danios are jerks and fast. lol Anyways, she has always been in the 20 gallon, just in her little basket for the past week or so because she has been sick. She was improving, but now she looks very bad. I'm so sad because I feel like it's my fault she is in that situation. After reading your research about the little mesh basket I might have to try to find a plastic bucket or something to house her in by her self.

Thank you so much for sharing your words! I truly appreciate. ❤️ 

[SWilson]

18 minutes ago, SarayParay said:

Thank you sIn regards to your last paragraph, my Platy (her name is Molly, but I'm not sure if I mentioned it before and it is why she is being called Molly? lol) has been quarantined in the 20 gallon. So I don't have another extra tank for a quarantine tank. So I bought a little mesh basket for fry and have put her in the mesh basket away from the other fish. My Zebra Danios are jerks and fast. lol Anyways, she has always been in the 20 gallon, just in her little basket for the past week or so because she has been sick. She was improving, but now she looks very bad. I'm so sad because I feel like it's my fault she is in that situation. After reading your research about the little mesh basket I might have to try to find a plastic bucket or something to house her in by her self.

 

Ohhh Molly the Platy! I love it! haha I thought you were saying "my molly" (mollie?) I get those two livebearers mixed up.  

I see, that all makes sense.  Like I said it's probably ok, and always so hard to know what the right thing to do is.  Have you seen @Irene's video about making a quick quaratine tank out of a plastic tupperware tub and an existing (cycled) sponge filter?  That's what I did, and it worked out pretty well.  You do need extra heater, etc. all that too though, it's cheaper than a whole other tank, but still requires a lot of equipment. I'm sure what you're doing is fine and she appreciates the calm zone of the basket.  do you have plants and things in the basket for extra cover? 

[SarayParay]

1 hour ago, SWilson said:

Ohhh Molly the Platy! I love it! haha I thought you were saying "my molly" (mollie?) I get those two livebearers mixed up.  

I see, that all makes sense.  Like I said it's probably ok, and always so hard to know what the right thing to do is.  Have you seen @Irene's video about making a quick quaratine tank out of a plastic tupperware tub and an existing (cycled) sponge filter?  That's what I did, and it worked out pretty well.  You do need extra heater, etc. all that too though, it's cheaper than a whole other tank, but still requires a lot of equipment. I'm sure what you're doing is fine and she appreciates the calm zone of the basket.  do you have plants and things in the basket for extra cover? 

Yes, my sweet Molly the Platy. She is my last Platy to survive from the 5 I originally got back in June 2020. They were all fine up until Mid-December. Then, one by one they started dying. 😞 I wasn't sure why and I began treating my 20 gallon with Maracyn and Maracyn 2. Wish I would have done Paracleanse. 

She has Lily pads above her giving her cover. My Danios are leaving her alone, but I think I may lose her tonight. 😞 She is on her side just breathing. I keep talking to her and telling her to fight it and that she is my girl. 🙂 I just see her little eye move from me to up and then back to me. ❤️ 

It's very sweet how lovable fish are.

I did see Irene, Girl Talks Fish, video on quarantine. It's why I bought a nano sponge filter and a small heater to have on hand. My sponge filter is in my 20 gallon to get the beneficial bacteria, but after this spike of ammonia and nitrate idk if it will work.

I appreciate your help along with everyone else who commented. Please know that I am taking all the knowledge you share to learn more. ❤️