Miracle Metafix?

[Jon_D]

7 days ago after spending 4 weeks in the QT I transferred a number of fish into the CT. Included among these was a female Swordtail. Three days later she distinctly showed that she wasn’t at all well; refusing food, losing her red colour to almost light orange, and almost lying still on the bottom of the CT. An examination showed no spots or anything unusual on her body. I feared the worst and was concerned that whatever she had would have been passed onto the other fish. However all the remaining inhabitants were hale and hearty. As Sod’s Law would have it I unusually had no Melafix in stock so immediately ordered it. It arrived on the second day of her illness and I immediately applied it to the tank. Within 24 hours of me dosing the tank, she was out and about and behaving like a teenage hooligan with her shoal-mates.

[Stephen]

Hi Jon

Isn't your water fairly soft?
I'm trying to rattle my brain as to where you live, I know it's the Teesdale area, is it Barnard Castle ?
I know that the water in Barnard Castle is fairly soft at 4dGH which is too soft for Swordtail fish as they need hard water (10dGH+).
Maybe I'm mixing you up with another forum member.

All the best

[Jon_D]

@Stephen Yep! It's Barnard Castle of notorious fame! The water is indeed soft, and many thanks for the hint about the hard water for swordtails, another bit of knowledge for me. I have a spare tank and already have a bag of crushed coral to harden the water. As soon as I check its quality is suitable, I'll transfer the swordtails.

[Jon_D]

@Stephen Just tested the ph in the CT after the water change and it is 7.6ph. I suppose that is considered average. In fact it could well be greater than 7.6 as the colour is a deeper blue than the chart for that number. I am using the API Chemical set.
Just checked the female Swordtail, and unfortunately she is hiding in the moss and not looking too well.

[Stephen]

Hi Jon

It could be the soft water that's the issue.
Certain fish such as Swordtails, Platy, Molly etc.. all need hard water.
I posted a thread "Hard water, Soft water and fish" which hopefully explains why certain fish need hard water (or soft water). It's basically about balancing the internal fluids with that of the surrounding water, fish use osmosis to regulate their bodies and water is taken in through their gills and skin. If their environment (water in the aquarium) is not correct then the fish will suffer through a lack (or too much ie soft water species) minerals in the water. This then leads to organ failure especially kidney failure and eventually death.

I have a spare tank and already have a bag of crushed coral to harden the water. As soon as I check its quality is suitable, I'll transfer the swordtails.

Great idea Jon, I would aim at something around 10dGH, this will be fine for Swordtails.

All the best

[Jon_D]

Stephen, I read your article on another forum after I Googled about soft v hard water fish.

[Jon_D]

@Stephen I think I overdid adding the crushed coral to the spare tank to increase the ph. The very dark blue colour in the testube is way off the scale !!! I think I will need to extract quite an amount of the water and replace it with some from the CT. The idea is to make a tank suitable for the Swordtails. BTW, the femail Swordtail doesn't seem any worse.

[Stephen]

@Stephen I think I overdid adding the crushed coral to the spare tank to increase the ph. The very dark blue colour in the testube is way off the scale !!! I think I will need to extract quite an amount of the water and replace it with some from the CT. The idea is to make a tank suitable for the Swordtails. BTW, the female Swordtail doesn't seem any worse.

It's not the pH that needs increasing but the hardness (GH).
The crushed coral will help to increase the water hardness and it's the hardness that needs monitoring.
pH and hardness are two different things; pH measures the acidity/alkalinity of the water, hardness measures the mineral concentration of the water especially calcium and magnesium.
Adding crushed coral can raise the KH (carbonate hardness) which can therefore raise the pH.
As long as the GH hardness is 10dGH or higher and the pH is above pH7.0 (even pH8.0 is fine) then the water will be fine for Swordtails.

All the best