Poisoned fish please help

[Marvensmom6]

I have a 26g tank and parameters are usually PH 7.6, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrates 10 ish. Just did a water change and used prime, flourish or flourish XL and potassium.My fish were all gasping at the top of the tank afterwards, and the water look to be slightly tinged purple in the hose. Did another 50% water change and fish started perking up again as they were initially all at the top, gasping for air.

I’m thinking I put too much flourish, flourish xo or potassium in there??!

I don’t normally use flourish and flourish XL. I’m just concerned I may have grabbed the wrong bottle can you please advise now my nitrates are very very low after the two water changes as well so I put some biologic enhancer in there. What else should I be doing?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Flourish excel is gluteraldhyde, the main use of which is sterilisation of medical equipment. It is harmful to fish, so you have to be careful not to overdose and there is a fine line between no adverse issues and killing everything. The standard dosage for flourish and excel is the same, so getting them mixed up shouldn't be an issue, but if you typically double dose flourish and acccidently double dosed excel instead that could be a problem.

The sterilising properties of glutaraldehyde makes it a mild algaecide, thats all it does. It isnt a liquid CO2 additive like it tells you, all it does is help the leaves stay clear of algae a little bit and thus better take up available CO2 from the water. Given its downsides, and given the dubious benefits, is it really worth the risk of using the product? IMO opinion not. If you stopped using it i dont think you will notice any difference in your plant growth, you will certainly notice in a difference in the amount of money you spend, and you remove the risk of killing your fish by adding a dangerous chemical into your water. Excel and other similar CO2 additives are firmly in the category of products that should be removed from the shelves of fish stores because they simply dont do what they say they do, and can easily cause harmful side effects.

Unless you crashed your cycle adding a biological booster product wont do anything. Nitrate will just build up naturally again. At least this product isnt going to harm anything, but probably isnt doing anything beneficial either.

All you can really do is change out water to make it as pristine as possible. I would probably up the water changes for the next week or two. That will give your fish the best chance of recovering.

 

[Aiken Drum]

If you are saying the water had a purple tinge in the hose from filling the tank, then that could be an overdose of potassium permanganate from the water treatment plant. Talk to your water company.

 

[Marvensmom6]

Hi Aiken, I bet I accidentally overdosed the XL. I’m worried about it f my fish will survive. Yo yos are not looking great. I’m concerned about doing another water change as my nitrates are only at 5 or a bit less.

Anything else I can do. Ps threw out Excel! ��

 

[Aiken Drum]

Why are you worried that nitrate is low?

Standard dose of excel for 26 gallons is about a half cap. Lets say a 26 gallon tank is about 20 gallons of actual water. If you used a full capful, then that would equate to a 2.5 times overdose which could be harmful.

Quick google search on what to do if you accidentally overdose excel. All i can find is remove the product with water changes and hope things pull through.

 

[Marvensmom6]

Hi I worry about crashing my tank if I lose too many nitrates. I will keep reading online- thanks again

 

[Aiken Drum]

Just to add a note regarding nitrate. Nitrate is toxic to fish, its not as toxic as ammonia or nitrite but its still toxic. For fish, lower the nitrate the better. While nitrate present is a sign your tank is cycled, you still dont really want it there. This is one reason why you do water changes, to keep nitrate low enough that its toxicity is not an issue for fishes health.

Plants on the other hand do need nitrogen as its an essential nutrient. Plants get this nitrogen from ammonia and nitrate, so low nitrate might cause a nitrogen deficiency in plants. In planted tanks, its about balancing the nitrogen needs of the plants, with the toxicity of the various nitrogen sources in the water (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). If your tank was supplying enough nitrogen before, it will continue to do so. If you are doing more frequent water changes, nitrate is still being produced and still being used by the plants. Your water changes are just stopping it building up to higher levels. Its still being produced though and is still available for your plants. Low nitrate as a result of changing water isnt a problem for your plants. Low nitrate is going to be beneficial for your fishes recovery.

Low nitrate doesn't cause a cycle to crash. Its what the cycle produces. Just because you lower it with water changes will have no effect on your cycle.