switching from aquasafe plus to prime- problems?

[Masha]

Up to now I've been treating my water with Tetra Aquasafe Plus. It's pretty expensive and you have to use a lot of it so I though I'd switch over to Prime.

I did a bit of research online and could not find anything to suggest there might be problems doing this - but in retrospect I should probably have started with a smaller water change. I think the Aquasafe contains some kind of stresscoat so the water treated with Prime is probably rather different from the fish's perspective.

Basically - after doing a 50% water change with Prime (I made very sure I was using the correct dosage) I noticed my fish behaving differently immediately. My black widow tetras are spending almost all their time in their favourite hiding spots where before they were swimming about, and one of my bronze cories is completely hiding now where before he used to be out and about a lot. The other one is only now coming out a bit more.

The smaller fish (silvertips) are all perfectly fine.

Its been a bit more than a week now and I don't see any change in their behaviour -one of the bronze corys started coming out a bit more but most of the time it's like they are a little scared and dont venture out into the open water as often as they used to.

I'm hoping this is just something they'll get over? I'm actually quite worried about that cory.

(Oh - I tested the water. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and nitrates were at 12.5 just before the water change)

 

[Masha]

Hmm. Also found my water temp is a bit high? It was about 83 F ? I dont remember adjusting the heater but I'm sure it was lower than that before. I've turned it down a little, hope that will help.

 

[severum mama]

That's pretty far outside the preferred range for the bronze corydoras and black skirts. Imo that is probably the cause of their behavior.

 

[Masha]

That's pretty far outside the preferred range for the bronze corydoras and black skirts. Imo that is probably the cause of their behavior.

Yes, I hope so, as that explains it and is easily fixed. I was relying on a really tiny hard to read thermometer, and by chance put a larger one in the tank just now and saw the red line just shooting up. Am going to lower it slowly so as not to shock them more.

 

[Masha]

Well, the temperature is down a bit, and the black widow tetra are already swimming round more. I now realise everyone was hiding on the side away from the heater :-(

Could kick myself for not realizing for more than a week. My usual problem is fiddling too much, was telling myself to give them time to adjust.

I'm thinking of buying a digital thermometer. Also for water changes, never sure I've got the temp right.

 

[severum mama]

This stuff happens to everyone. Keep an eye on it though, if it is heating that high and you have NOT been tinkering with it, it may be time for a replacement.

I've used some digital thermometers. I've got a Lifegard Aquatics one that I really like, and I used to have some Coralife ones that I didn't like nearly as well (seemed to be less accurate). I just noticed you are in South Africa so recommending brands from USA probably doesn't help you that much. :/

 

[Masha]

Thanks, you never know! We do get some US brands here. Just quite expensive