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Re: murder mystery in my tank
Adding a fish or several fish will temporarily stress the biofiltration. If salt helps it may be that you had elevated nitrite levels. Adding salt can help make the fish feel better as the salt inhibits the effects of the nitrite.
New fish may also bring in parasites or disease. Salt will cause fish to create a heavier slime coat which insulates the fish from a parasite and some parasites are adversly affected by the salt, so it can be a one-two punch that helps the fish recover from parasites.
Adding new fish usually also stresses the "king" of the tank. It is often the leader of the tank who gets sick and dies. The leader is in charge of running off any interloper who shows up and starts contaminating the water, if he can't run the new guy off, he shouldn't be king -- how stressful! So, when ading new fish, it is good to move tank decor around so the territory is all new, nothing to defend. And cut back food for a few days to let the biofilter adjust to the new load.
Distilled water is a big NO. Just use tap water and add the proper amount of dechlorinator -- follow directions on the bottle. If you have a lot of evaporation from your tank, like if you have a biowheel type filter and in a week the water level is down a 1/4 inch, then you can replace evaporated water with distilled. But water changes should be done with conditioned tap water.
Using pure distilled water deprives the fish of the minerals they need for healthy bones and skin, and it bothers the salt balance inside their cells. Make a sudden change in the water from hard to soft (or is it from soft to hard?) and it is like you going from sea level to high altitude, you get weary and ill and you could die if the change in pressure is too much (like opening a window in a jet). Purchased "Aquarium salt" typically has some calcium and magnesium and so will add some vital minerals to water that is too soft. But, our tap water here is pretty moderate in hardness. Just use tap water for guppies.
Adding a fish or several fish will temporarily stress the biofiltration. If salt helps it may be that you had elevated nitrite levels. Adding salt can help make the fish feel better as the salt inhibits the effects of the nitrite.
New fish may also bring in parasites or disease. Salt will cause fish to create a heavier slime coat which insulates the fish from a parasite and some parasites are adversly affected by the salt, so it can be a one-two punch that helps the fish recover from parasites.
Adding new fish usually also stresses the "king" of the tank. It is often the leader of the tank who gets sick and dies. The leader is in charge of running off any interloper who shows up and starts contaminating the water, if he can't run the new guy off, he shouldn't be king -- how stressful! So, when ading new fish, it is good to move tank decor around so the territory is all new, nothing to defend. And cut back food for a few days to let the biofilter adjust to the new load.
Distilled water is a big NO. Just use tap water and add the proper amount of dechlorinator -- follow directions on the bottle. If you have a lot of evaporation from your tank, like if you have a biowheel type filter and in a week the water level is down a 1/4 inch, then you can replace evaporated water with distilled. But water changes should be done with conditioned tap water.
Using pure distilled water deprives the fish of the minerals they need for healthy bones and skin, and it bothers the salt balance inside their cells. Make a sudden change in the water from hard to soft (or is it from soft to hard?) and it is like you going from sea level to high altitude, you get weary and ill and you could die if the change in pressure is too much (like opening a window in a jet). Purchased "Aquarium salt" typically has some calcium and magnesium and so will add some vital minerals to water that is too soft. But, our tap water here is pretty moderate in hardness. Just use tap water for guppies.
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