Please answer immediately urgent asap

[MarkA123]

I have a 28 gallon euro aquarium with marineland stealth pro 150w heater, penguin 150 bio filter, sand substrate, 4 big black stones, glass canopy and 17w strip light.*3 albino cory catfish 1 female betta. Ok so I unplugged my heater filter and light to do a 50 percent water change. I took 50 percent water out. The temp is down from 80 to 76. I use hose water which contains heavy metals, chlorine and chlorame stuff toxic to fish. I don't have a bucket or anything to fill up with water and add conditioner I have to put the hose in my tank and fill it up then add conditioner. It take me about an hour to fill the tank up so can my fish take 1 hour exposed to untreated tap water with heavy metals, chitons, and chlorame? And also I'm cycling so how long can beneficial bacteria be exposed to the toxic substances listed above? And it's not possible for me to use any bucket or any container. What should I do my temp is dropping and I don't know what to do should o just take the fish out and put them in a cup of treated cold water? Or scoop out some tank water put it in 4 cups and put 1 fish in each cup? I'm panicking lol this is my first water change with fish lol! What do I do?

 

[Etunes]

wow..

I would bag up the fish and take them back to the store. Your tanks not cycled which it should have been. You cant add bad water like that straight to the fish tank or it will KILL your fish and your bacteria. I have good links on cycling with fish and stuff but i dont have time to look them up and i am not on my computer but other people will do that. You NEED to take them back to the fish store and become more prepared and NOT jump in so fast because right now your fish are gonna die. If you alreay empied the water then leave your tank half empty and take the fish back and go get supplies. Dont even know what to say about how umprepared you are.

DO RESEARCH AND DO IT RIGHT NEXT TIME...

 

[taylorodw]

You should add dechlorinator to the tank, and then add the untreated water. Seachem Prime treats chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals.

I would NOT leave them "exposed" to the bad water for any length of time.

Also, if you are having this much trouble with something like a water change, you should probably try to make friends with an experience aquarist who can show you in person.

 

[MarkA123]

Thanks but my water conditioner works immediately sparring it before would only treat already treated water. Next time I go to petco or hardware store or someplace that sells buckets I'm going to but some. I took to fish out and put them in cups and the other two I couldn't catch so i had to leave them in. They seem to be doing fine now. And I don't know anyone that has an aquarium in our area and this was the only thing I was having trouble with because I had never done one before. And what exactly does chroline, chlorame, and heavy metals do to fish?

You should add dechlorinator to the tank, and then add the untreated water. Seachem Prime treats chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals.

I would NOT leave them "exposed" to the bad water for any length of time.

Also, if you are having this much trouble with something like a water change, you should probably try to make friends with an experience aquarist who can show you in person.

 

[taylorodw]

What dechlorinator are you using?

Edit: Chlorine and Chloramine are basically bleach. This kills anything it comes into contact with. We can handle the highly diluted amounts in tap water, but the chlorine will affect the fish, who are much smaller, and also it will kill beneficial bacteria. It is a bad idea.

Edit #2: Heavy Metals are things like copper, mercury, etc, which can also kill bacteria, and poison fish.

 

[MarkA123]

I did research and I know about the nitrogen cycle and cycling and all that. I researched almost everything I just didn't research water changes because it seemed simple. I can't take the fish back to the store they don't do returns they only do exchanges and the fish has to be dead to exchange. And I I didn't have choice to do fishless cycling something came up it's a long story I was going to do fishless cycling and I bought all the stuff for it but then like I said it's a long story!

wow..

I would bag up the fish and take them back to the store. Your tanks not cycled which it should have been. You cant add bad water like that straight to the fish tank or it will KILL your fish and your bacteria. I have good links on cycling with fish and stuff but i dont have time to look them up and i am not on my computer but other people will do that. You NEED to take them back to the fish store and become more prepared and NOT jump in so fast because right now your fish are gonna die. If you alreay empied the water then leave your tank half empty and take the fish back and go get supplies. Dont even know what to say about how umprepared you are.

DO RESEARCH AND DO IT RIGHT NEXT TIME...

 

[MarkA123]

I use tetra aqua safe and I know about prime I am sticking with aquasafe that's my preference. I took 2 fish out 1 Cory and the Berta the other 2 I couldn't catch they seem to all be doing ok next time I go to the store I'm buying some buckets so I can treat the water in the buckets. And what exactly are the affects of chroline cholime and heavy metals if the fish are exposed for 1 hour? I know it does some kind of damage but want to know what kind of damage. Thanks

What dechlorinator are you using?

Edit: Chlorine and Chloramine are basically bleach. This kills anything it comes into contact with. We can handle the highly diluted amounts in tap water, but the chlorine will affect the fish, who are much smaller, and also it will kill beneficial bacteria. It is a bad idea.

 

[MarkA123]

Ok thanks what are the symptoms of being exposed to these chemicals in fish or would they just die immediately because from what I can tell they're fine I'm not sure what to look for though.

What dechlorinator are you using?

Edit: Chlorine and Chloramine are basically bleach. This kills anything it comes into contact with. We can handle the highly diluted amounts in tap water, but the chlorine will affect the fish, who are much smaller, and also it will kill beneficial bacteria. It is a bad idea.

Edit #2: Heavy Metals are things like copper, mercury, etc, which can also kill bacteria, and poison fish.

 

[taylorodw]

To be honest, I don't know. If I were you, and I was worried about my fish, I'd google and do my own research until I felt comfortable that they were okay.

 

[MarkA123]

Thanks I've tried google it just come up with a bunch of stiff about goldfish and why they can't live in pools.

To be honest, I don't know. If I were you, and I was worried about my fish, I'd google and do my own research until I felt comfortable that they were okay.

 

[taylorodw]

Here you go:
----
Chlorine Poisoning
Free chlorine, present in most tap water, is toxic to fish. Chlorine affects the gills and causes death by asphyxiation. Chlorine can be removed by boiling the water, letting the water stand for a few days, vigorously aerating the water, or by adding a water conditioner.

Heavy Metal Poisoning
Heavy metal poisoning can result from old pipes and/or metal in the fish tank. Heavy metal poisoning is evident when fish gasp at the surface for air and breath rapidly. Tests are available to measure the amounts of heavy metals in your water.

----

I would like to add that while boiling and aerating the water get rid of chlorine, they do not get rid of chloramine so you still need a water conditioner.

 

[MarkA123]

I use tetra aqua safe and I know about prime I am sticking with aquasafe that's my preference. Not saying ones better than the other it's just my preference. So please don't try to talk me into switching I'm sticking with aquasafe. I never do all that boiling airpump stuff I just add aquasafe. And occasionally when I add tetra betta safe. It's not a med it just has Indian almond leave extract. I usally add a drop of that my betta really likes that. And so do my cories.

Here you go:
----
Chlorine Poisoning
Free chlorine, present in most tap water, is toxic to fish. Chlorine affects the gills and causes death by asphyxiation. Chlorine can be removed by boiling the water, letting the water stand for a few days, vigorously aerating the water, or by adding a water conditioner.

Heavy Metal Poisoning
Heavy metal poisoning can result from old pipes and/or metal in the fish tank. Heavy metal poisoning is evident when fish gasp at the surface for air and breath rapidly. Tests are available to measure the amounts of heavy metals in your water.

----

I would like to add that while boiling and aerating the water get rid of chlorine, they do not get rid of chloramine so you still need a water conditioner.

 

[strokinbyeu]

what kind of hose are u filling ur tank with that it takes an hour to put 14gal of water in ur tank? it takes me less than 45 min to do a 60% in my 75gal and thats b4 i made a python. and had to carry buckets. just askin you mite as well tell us the long story as to why u couldnt do a fishless

 

[mfdrookie516]

I'm totally confused as to what exactly it is you're asking. When you do a pwc with a hose rather than a bucket, just add the amount of dechlor it recommends for the entire volume of water in the tank, then fill it back up. All you need to do is make sure you're using a hose thats designed for potable water and that you're temp matching what you're putting in with what's already in there.

I'm not real sure why you made the above statement about prime, nowhere in that quote do I see where anybody is trying to get you to switch conditioners.

In the future, it would be helpful if you put what the problem is in your title. Something like "urgent pwc help needed" or something like that would be much more suitable, and could potentially guide others to read/answer this thread. Just a suggestion

 

[taylorodw]

I use tetra aqua safe and I know about prime I am sticking with aquasafe that's my preference. Not saying ones better than the other it's just my preference. So please don't try to talk me into switching I'm sticking with aquasafe. I never do all that boiling airpump stuff I just add aquasafe. And occasionally when I add tetra betta safe. It's not a med it just has Indian almond leave extract. I usally add a drop of that my betta really likes that. And so do my cories.

Great, much has been written about Indian Almond leaves and their positive effects.

The reason I ask about Tetra Aquasafe is that I am not able to find online about adding it to the tank while filling. With Seachem Prime, you can dump in the dose of Prime and then start filling the tank. This is MUCH better for your fish than filling, then dosing, IMO.

Edit: MFD, the directions listed online don't say anything about adding for the entire tank volume, or dechloring into the main tank... just about treating water before adding. I don't know if Tetra Aquasafe is made to do that.

 

[MarkA123]

Ok thanks no one on this post tried to convict me to switch but some people on yahoo answers did and on some other posts. I was just a little confused on if I was doing it right. Sorry about the title. What do you mean by potable water? And I can't put it in the tank an them add water because my conditioner is immediate so it instantly kills any harmful substance within 10 seconds and then it's done and you have to ad more. I'm just going to buy a bucket but for now what would you do? Take the fish out and do it or leave them in?

I'm totally confused as to what exactly it is you're asking. When you do a pwc with a hose rather than a bucket, just add the amount of dechlor it recommends for the entire volume of water in the tank, then fill it back up. All you need to do is make sure you're using a hose thats designed for potable water and that you're temp matching what you're putting in with what's already in there.

I'm not real sure why you made the above statement about prime, nowhere in that quote do I see where anybody is trying to get you to switch conditioners.

In the future, it would be helpful if you put what the problem is in your title. Something like "urgent pwc help needed" or something like that would be much more suitable, and could potentially guide others to read/answer this thread. Just a suggestion

 

[MarkA123]

It sys it's instant and I posted a thread on their website and they said it kills everything in 10 seconds than it's done. I don't want to use prime I prefer aquasafe. It's made to instantly kill any toxic substances in the water and then stop working after 10 seconds because everything dead. They said it will work like you said but not as effective.

Great, much has been written about Indian Almond leaves and their positive effects.

The reason I ask about Tetra Aquasafe is that I am not able to find online about adding it to the tank while filling. With Seachem Prime, you can dump in the dose of Prime and then start filling the tank. This is MUCH better for your fish than filling, then dosing, IMO.

Edit: MFD, the directions listed online don't say anything about adding for the entire tank volume, or dechloring into the main tank... just about treating water before adding. I don't know if Tetra Aquasafe is made to do that.

 

[dkpate]

Prime is IMO, FAR better, and FAR cheaper in the long run. I don't know how much one bottle of AquaSafe treats, but a medium bottle of Prime treats 2700 gallons. Also, Prime gets rid of ammonia, detoxifys nitrites and actually helps with your cycle. Anyway, that's just my two cents.

Like stated before, make sure the water is the same temp when you fill it up. Taking the fish in and out is very stressful.

 

[MarkA123]

Thanks aquasafe helps with the cycle too it contains bio extracts. And aquasafe treats about the same amount as prime. Once reason I don't want prime is because it detoxified ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. My filter dies that and the reason I do water changes is to remove those chemicals. And plus when cycling it removes the bacterias food. I don't want to go into an argument about which is better. We all have our preferences I like aquasafe you like prime.

Prime is IMO, FAR better, and FAR cheaper in the long run. I don't know how much one bottle of AquaSafe treats, but a medium bottle of Prime treats 2700 gallons. Also, Prime gets rid of ammonia, detoxifys nitrites and actually helps with your cycle. Anyway, that's just my two cents.

Like stated before, make sure the water is the same temp when you fill it up. Taking the fish in and out is very stressful.

 

[adeebm]

Prime detoxifies ammonia and nitrites, but it doesn't remove them from the water. They just get bound to other molecules and aren't harmful to your fish. It will NOT stall your cycle or remove your bacteria's food. It's your choice between prime and aqua safe, but I see no reason not to get prime. Prime's detoxification is an added bonus, it will help your fish, especially since you are cycling.

If aquasafe is causing you problems with water changes because you can't add it before the new water, then do your fish a favor and get prime. It should be about your fish's preferences, not yours. I'm sure they will thank you for not exposing them to chlorine.

--Adeeb