# Sunburst Platty turning black and after birth water is cloudy is this stuff normal?



## paradise4nangel (Jan 19, 2009)

Hello and thanks for you time. I have a female Sunburst Platy. I have had her for about a year. She is turning black. I also noticed when my fish have babies, (guppies and platies) the water gets cloudy is this normal?



1. Size of aquarium (# of gallons) 29 gal
2. Is your aquarium setup freshwater or brackish water? freshwater
3. How long the aquarium has been set up? Well, The river rock has been in tanks I have had for more than 5 years. The current set up for about 3.
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium (species are important to know) Too many fish to count. I have a whole circle of life thing going on. I have an African albino clawed frog that eats the stuff in the tank. I also have Guppies and Platies that breed. Ghost shrimp that breed. 2 Snails, (large ones I am not sure what kind) and a black loach. The shrimp, guppies and platies are food for my frog. There are all ages of shrimp, guppies and platies in the tank. 
5. Are there live plants in the aquarium? Yes all plants are live. Temple plant, banana plant, ferns and a couple I don't know the name of. 
6. What temperature is the tank water currently? I never regulated the tank temp. I live in FL and don't worry much about temperature. If it's good for me it's good for them.
7. What make/model filter are you using? Whisper Bio wheel for a 30 gal
8. Are you using a CO2 unit? no
9. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? Yes, it's by a window and gets some of the sunset hours. 
10. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed? I change about a quarter of the water about every 2 months. It needs to be changed. 
11. How often do you perform water changes? see above
12. How often and what foods do you feed your fish? I feed them once every 3 days or so. I have a healthy coat of algae on the back 3 parts of the tank and I see them nibbling on it. I also have so many that i try to control the population by not over feeding. I feed them live bearer food with tubi-fix and flake low cloud. I also occasionally feed them straight tubi-fix worm cubes that I stick to the side of the tank. 
13. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on? I am not sure, just the kind you get at the pet store. I keep it on about 12 hours a day.
14. What specific concerns bring you here at this time? My large female platy turning black and the water being cloudy after either the platies or guppies have given birth.
15. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I have never tested my water. I also thing it is a bit unnecessary. If the water doesn't smell clean enough to drink I do a water change or change the filter. In all the years I have had fish tanks I have never tested and I have always had healthy tanks. 
16. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips? n/a
17. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank? I haven't bought a new fish for more than 6 months. Zeus my frog ate Artemis's my platies mate. I had to get her a mate. I got 2 black and orange platies and another sunburst female platy. I got a new temple plant about a month ago and one of my snails dies shortly there after. But, we also were doing some home repairs and the temperature change drastically. I think it may have been a factor.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

It is unfortunate that you don't have a test kit for the results of the test kit can speak volumes as to possible water quality issues that affect fish . 
Most experts recommend weekly water changes of 10 to 20 percent to keep fish healthy in the long term. In a heavily populated tank it becomes mandatory. 
Your feeding schedule is probably helping your fish more than you realize.
Were it me(and it's not) I would purchase a larger filter, The Emperor 280 by Marineland would be my choice and ,,I would perform WEEKLY water changes of 20 percent. Problem solved! 
90 percent of all fish ailments and Illnesses are DIRECTLY related to water quality or lack thereof. Without a test kit such as API freswater master Kit and the results of the tests provided with that kit,,, No one can make an educated or accurate guess as to what possible problem if any, is affecting your fish.


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## paradise4nangel (Jan 19, 2009)

Thanks for the quick response. 

I just wonder about those kits and all the water changing. I have had fish tanks my entire life, (at least 20 + years I have had tanks) and never used the water testing kits. The only time I had a major die off was when my dad put a hot heater in a cold tank and it exploded. It fried the poor little guys. I haven't used a heater since then. But, honestly all my other fish appear healthy. The water is clear.(Except after the girls have babies it is cloudy for 2 to 3 days after wards.) They are still reproducing. No one is swimming funny. Nature doesn't test it's water. I do have quite an eco-system too. I'll buy a kit. But, if my stats are normal you are paying me back. ; )

Thanks again


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## paradise4nangel (Jan 19, 2009)

*Test results*

OK I went out and got a fancy testing kit. This is my first time using one so I may have done it wrong. But, the results are as follows. I think i tested the PH wrong. I did the high PH test rather than just a PH test'.

Ammonia
0.50

Freshwater High PH range
7.4

pH
7.6

Freshwater Nitrate
5.0

Freshwater Nitrite
0 ppm


So what do ya think.

It looks pretty normal.

All the tests that I did were in the lower ranges of the spectrum. I do have quite and established tank. I also have all real, live and established plants.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Ammonia levels in a mature aquarium should be Zero all day ,every day.As for what I think,,, Already stated what I would do were it me.Larger filter,,, Weekly water changes.;-)


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## paradise4nangel (Jan 19, 2009)

*New tes after water change*

OK 

PH
7.6

Ammonia
.25

Nitrite
.25

Nitrate
40

I must add that i did get a new frog yesterday and i did feed them last night and today. I got a little over zealous with the feeding. I didn''t want the new frog to eat everything n hte tank so I gave her a bunch of food. all though she is doing her fair share of controlling the popultaion. 

AHAAHAH

My nitrites went sky high after the water change. What do I do?


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

IF fish do not appear distressed,, Cut back on amount of food offered,, Wait 24 hours and check ammonia, and Nitrites. Exactly what brand test kit are you using? The API freshwater kit is explicit with directions for all tests. Follow the directions to the letter and test results will be more accurate than if one does not.;-)


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

Ammonia
0.50

Freshwater High PH range
7.4

pH
7.6

Freshwater Nitrate
5.0

Freshwater Nitrite
0 ppm

PH
7.6

Ammonia
.25

Nitrite
.25

Nitrate
40

Nothing is normal about that???? That is your water stats after a water change??? They are worse then before. IMO You aren't testing properly, unless you don't clean your tank often and disturbed a hole lot of crap in the gravel when you did your water change. A healthy aquarium reads ammonia 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, and nitrates 5ppm-40ppm... Look at how much your nitrates jumped after that water change. Do you vacuum the gravel everytime you do a water change?

Thats disgusting. You have to change out the water AT LEAST every two weeks. Sure the ocean doesn't need water changes but the ocean is a heck of a lot bigger then a 29 gallon tank...

We need to know exactly how many fish you have... It sounds like your tank is horridly over stocked and never sees water changes. The only reason a fish would turn black is if the water parameters are terrible.

BTW did you plug the heater in and then put it in the tank??? :| There are safety instructions in the box it comes in...


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## FishGirl (Mar 31, 2008)

The water parameters did improve, just not enough. The nitrates could be high from over-feeding the frog.

paradise, a bi-weekly water change is necessary to keep your water parameters in balance. Shoot for getting the Ammonia balance to zero. It improved with the water change you did. Another water change of at least 50% and vacuuming that substrate well will do wonders. I would be surprised if the nitrates and nitrites didn't zero out as well with a good second water change.

The ocean does change it's water and it has a very effective cleaning system (if man didn't dump so much junk into it.) Our tanks are just a small ecosystem and not so good at cleaning themselves. More like a puddle that can go stagnant.

Anyway, another good cleaning and your fish should be loving you.

I try to clean my tanks every two weeks @ about 50%. I know that's not the best but I'm comfortable with that commitment and they are both heavily planted which helps break down the nitrates, etc. The most I let my tanks go for was three weeks when I was on vacation. I cleaned them the day before I left and the day after I returned. If you're like me and err on the side of overfeeding, try not to miss the cleanings.

Now that you have your test kit you can test and see how well your tank is doing between cleanings. Then you will know how long you can wait in general. Ammonia at .50 is damaging to the fish and other inhabitants of the tank.

Keep us posted on how your tank is going and especially how your platy is doing. I have had quite a few live births in my aquarium and haven't ever had cloudy water. I had a molly that gave birth to over 100 young and I never noticed any cloudiness. I don't know why you would see that. It would be interesting to notice if after the water changes and keeping the parameters lower if the cloudiness goes away.

Have fun with your new frog!


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

They didn't really improve at all. Sure the ammonia went down a litte, but now there is nitrite readings and nitrates are really high :|


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