can water conditioner kill?

[T-Rexx]

my 60 gallon tank was once cycled but a few months ago put it back into a cycle by not seeding the new filter i got for the tank. it's still cycling so i went to go change the water (did a 50%) my fiancee suggested to clean out the filters. I originally said no because the tank was still cycling. but ended up just rinsing the filters in the dirty water i was taking out from the tank. Everytime I clean my tank I have noticed it gets cloudy for about a day my fiancee says its because im putting too much conditioner in. but it hasnt happened before until i started using this new bottle. So i decided to put his theory to a test. As I was putting in the water i decided to stop putting a little bit of water conditioner everytime i put a bucket into the tank and waited till the end to add the 30 gallons worth of water conditioner. I walked away because I was getting ready to go camping. came back to check to make sure everything was alright and 3 of my bosemani rainbow fish died and a bit later a pearl gourami died. the fish were healthy as can be prior to the change and Ive had them for at least 6 months. What happened????

 

[LyndaB]

I'm not sure how long you actually waited to put your conditioner in, but it sounds like you played russian roulette and your fish lost.

Which conditioner are you using?

It's important to put the Prime (or whatever) in as you're adding your tap water to the tank. When I put my Prime in, then refill, I can dose for only the water I'm replacing and it works fine.

If you fill your tank without Prime, then all the chlorinated water has mixed with the tank water and now you must treat for the entire volume of the tank.

Had you matched up your temp in the buckets to the tank water?

You should never change out all of your filter media at one time. Is that what you did?

 

[T-Rexx]

I'm not sure how long you actually waited to put your conditioner in, but it sounds like you played russian roulette and your fish lost.

Which conditioner are you using?

It's important to put the Prime (or whatever) in as you're adding your tap water to the tank. When I put my Prime in, then refill, I can dose for only the water I'm replacing and it works fine.

If you fill your tank without Prime, then all the chlorinated water has mixed with the tank water and now you must treat for the entire volume of the tank.

Had you matched up your temp in the buckets to the tank water?

You should never change out all of your filter media at one time. Is that what you did?

Hi there!
Thanks for responding. I'm using top fin. I hear that I should get prime though. So im just using up the rest of what I have, then I will buy the good stuff.

& Except for this time, I always put the conditioner in the water as I add each bucket to the tank. I only left the tank un conditioned for about 10 mins tops I don't even know if it was that long. i suppose how ever long it took, that was enough time to send my fish in shock. Ive never done it that way before so I didnt know it made such a bad impact on the fish ): but i figured that was the issue...

yea I always match the water temps. Less stress for the fish. I have a digital thermometer specifically for the aquarium.

No, I didnt change out the filters just rinsed them in the fish water. So the good bacteria will (hopefully) not be affected. was that okay to do while the tank is cycling?

 

[LyndaB]

You shouldn't have to rinse off your filters during cycling unless you're overfeeding or have really messy fish, which might deposit that lovely brown gunk on your media. If they appear clean, just leave them alone.

 

[Bkmrsteel]

As I understand it not conditioning water before adding it, or not conditioning the tank water before adding tap water will kill the bb.

I also read that adding twice as much conditioner will slow or kill bb growth.

the top fin conditioner never made my water cloudy. Even use it in the bath tub so the snake can swim in cl free water.

 

[Barakis]

Ok so the reason chlorine is in our water is to prevent bacteria to make it safe for human consumption.

The chlorine in water, if it gets added to a tank, will wipe out any BB that you had started, crashing the cycle. As well as of course harming the fish.

I'm not sure if too much conditioner will harm them too, but you need to add enough conditioner to the new water you are added (just for the ammount your adding, the rest of the water will be conditioned from the last WC)

Their are some conditioners that are safe to put straight in the tank, but you put the conditioner in before the new water, the idea is that it is used up to make the chlorine safe.