Unexplained deaths? Rummies, corycats

[Fishfur]

You can also contact your water company and ask them what they treat with and when. They have no reason not to tell you, and most publish the information somewhere, if not online.

Many cities add ammonia as well as chlorine, which combine to form chloramines. They last much longer than chlorine, thus kill bacteria and other organsims in water longer, making them popular with city water plants. Sometimes it is only part of the time, after heavy rains or storms, or in summer if it's very hot, or if there's an algae bloom in the source water, etc. It can happen without warning, so unless you test you can never be certain unless you are on well water.

It is possible to age chloramines out of water, but it takes at least a week of leaving the water in a wide top container. An air stone helps speed up the gas exchange process. It is what all fish keepers had to do back when I was in school, when chlorine was the only thing added and the dechlorinators did not yet exist.

 

[lagoonlyrics]

Got the kit, no chloramine in the tank or the tap. So either there was a spike in chloramine that's gone now or something else was the problem. I called the board of water supply and they said they add chlorine and don't dose with chloramine or ammonia.

A guy at the LFS said he thought it was a coincidence of two separate events: the tetras dying because of acclimating issues and the corys dying of old age. He based that on the corys being full grown when I bought them and I had them for nearly a year.

At least no new deaths and everyone (still) looks healthy.

 

[Berylla]

At least the tools are there if you need to test again. Thanks for the update.