Tank creatures stressed out after water change

[dragon14]

Every time we do a water change, our pygmy catfish seem to pant for a few hours afterwards, and not be very active for quite a while afterwards. Our new shrimp are not being very active either after the water change.

We pour the water in from 1g plastic pitchers onto our fake rock bridge to keep the water from flowing directly into the sand to prevent a mess and also to disturb the critters less.

I don't know if there is maybe a different way we can pour the water in or something to stress them out less. Poor fishes & shrimps.

Any ideas?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Does your source water have ammonia in it?
What do you use as a de chlorinator?
What is the temperature difference between the two?

 

[dragon14]

Nope, no ammonia in our tap water! I should check it again though (last checked a few months ago), but, even after 2weeks and no water change, no ammonia. We have a strong bio filter

I use StressCoat most recently. I used to use just regular Aquenon water conditioner.

We have well water, no chlorine or anything like that in it

The temperature difference is usually a degree or two or sometimes three... I try to get it to match, but I can't always get it perfect

 

[dragon14]

Made a couple edits.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Seems unusual that you have no chlorine?
It's common practice in most areas of the world to chlorinate water supplies.

1-2 degrees is no problem.

I think you will have chlorine in your tap water as a minimum, if you're a long way down the pipe you will have Chloramines (you can detect Chloramines by testing supply for ammonia)

No ammonia = Chlorine.

 

[dcutl002]

They could be scared because you are invading their home every time a water change is performed. just respect the fish's home as much as possible while performing a PWC.

 

[dragon14]

I am pretty certain that we do not have cholorine, but I use a water conditioner nonetheless. I usually dump it all in the tank after putting all the fresh water in, but maybe I should slowly pour it in each pitcher to distribute it in the water first?

I will test the water again then to see what happens.

We have well water, though, so it's not going through a treatment plant, at least as far as I know.

 

[dragon14]

They could be scared because you are invading their home every time a water change is performed. just respect the fish's home as much as possible while performing a PWC.

That could be part of it too, or maybe the reason why.

We try not to disturb things too much, but, they like to get right in the way of the siphon tube :/

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Er, no.

They may shy away from you but I don't think this is the same.
After a while you will need to scare them off as they get used to your "invasion"


Read the edit change from tap to well.

Well water supplies can be re routed through a treatment plant, worth a shot on the test. Could be some other issue.

Temp has now deviated also.

If the difference is enough that up you can see the variable, cold water drops to the bottom, then that's too great!

If those cats are on the bottom it's most likely temperature shock. (Winter is coming and I have noticed the change in ground water temp)

Let change water sit for a day before addition. This way it will warm up a lot!
Or add water much slower and allow heater to adjust tank temp (wait for light to go off on heater) this may take 3 pours from your jug.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I am pretty certain that we do not have cholorine, but I use a water conditioner nonetheless. I usually dump it all in the tank after putting all the fresh water in, but maybe I should slowly pour it in each pitcher to distribute it in the water first?

I will test the water again then to see what happens.

We have well water, though, so it's not going through a treatment plant, at least as far as I know.

I always treat water first.
Chlorine is like an acid on a fish skin/scale, well an alkali, but the burn is the same. That's what I understand and I imagine it is not comfortable.

 

[dragon14]

We try to scare them off, sometimes it is successful.

Yeah, I will definitely test it again!

What do you mean by cold water dropping to the bottom?

The pygmy catfish are on the bottom most of the time anyway lol but yeah. :/ We keep the temperature around 78f (25.5c) or so. The water ends up around 80 or 79 when we are doing changing our water. We do about a 40-50% change each time.

How would letting the water sit a day help? Our room temp lately is 66-68f (20c), so the water would get a lot colder. Also we don't really have anythign for the water to sit around IN unfortunately. We could get another bucket though I suppose. We have two 1g pitchers we use for adding fresh water, and a 5g bucket for siphoning water out.

"Or add water much slower and allow heater to adjust tank temp (wait for light to go off on heater) this may take 3 pours from your jug."
I am a little confused what you mean by that. Just pour it in more slowly and wait for the heater to catch up or?

 

[dragon14]

I always treat water first.
Chlorine is like an acid on a fish skin/scale, well an alkali, but the burn is the same. That's what I understand and I imagine it is not comfortable.

Noted. I will definitely do that from now on.

 

[Fishobsessed7]

Well water usually doesn't have chlorine


Fishobsessed7

 

[J.Mcpeak]

The cold water sinks rapidly to the bottom of your tank. If the temp variable is big enough you can see it ripple down.

Hot water floats as it is less dense. Even a few degrees will see a layered temperature.

I'm pretty certain you are not pulling ground water at 25.5C this time of year, or even @ room temp, I'd say knock 5-15C off that.
I'm assuming it's winter on the eastern end of America, ground water temp will be between probably 5-15c depending on latitude.

Maybe I'm confused here? Do you use a heater in your new water? If not then the water is much colder than you currently think.

(And yes, pour it in more slowly and wait, well done for taking notes!)

 

[dragon14]

The cold water sinks rapidly to the bottom of your tank. If the temp variable is big enough you can see it ripple down.

Hot water floats as it is less dense. Even a few degrees will see a layered temperature.

I'm pretty certain you are not pulling ground water at 25.5C this time of year, or even @ room temp, I'd say knock 5-15C off that.
I'm assuming it's winter on the eastern end of America, ground water temp will be between probably 5-15c depending on latitude.

Maybe I'm confused here? Do you use a heater in your new water? If not then the water is much colder than you currently think.

(And yes, pour it in more slowly and wait, well done for taking notes!)

Thanks for the mini science lesson! I didn't know that.

I think I was being a bit confusing... we keep our water in the tank around 78f (25.5c) using a 100w heater. We do not use a heater in the new water. Again, we fill 1g pitchers from the tap water in the sink. When we finish putting the fresh water in the tank, the thermometer usually reads 79 or 80f (26.66c), so the water from the sink filled into the pitchers is a bit warmer than the temp in tank.

Our hot water is extremely hot when we run straight hot water from the tap. Sometimes the temp jumps around (especially if someone else in the house is running water) while I am filling the jugs, so I keep my finger constantly under the flow to make sure that it doesn't get too hot or cold when filling the pitchers. I adjust the hot and cold until I think it is just about right, then I start filling the pitchers.

We will try to pour it a bit more slowly then. I don't think we pour it exceptionally fast, but a little slower won't hurt!

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Well water usually doesn't have chlorine


Fishobsessed7

If the water is untreated there could be myriad reasons why there is a problem. Surely the water is treated at some point before consumption?
I would be concerned for bacteria etc. for my own health let alone the fishes!

I know America is different but water gets treated, then I do remember a conversation last year though, a middle American mountain man with a 2-300ft well. A fresh spring from deep underground. So further research for your supply.

I should note that the original question has been edited from tap water to well water and my first answer was based around that original post.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I assume you only use the hot tap in winter time.
So just recently, and this is a recent event.

Don't use hot water.
It is vastly different from your cold after it's been through your heating system.
Normally it has lower Kh, could also contain elevated copper.
Hot water is not safe.
(I used to use boiled in winter until I read about Kh)

Suddenly increasing temperature. Temperature shock. If the water you add is too hot, your fish will suffer after it's pumped around a bit, lack of oxygen.
(Could explain panting)

Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water and that combines with the fact your fish need more oxygen with increasing temp as metabolism increases.

Edit, copper and shrimp is not good. You may be on PVC for your boiler but normally copper is used somewhere. Copper loves hot water.

 

[dragon14]

For fish stuff you mean (you asked about using hot water only in winter time)? We got our tank in June... we've always run the hot and cold together, so its around 79 degrees or so. (One handle for hot water, one for cold) so they mix together while coming out of the faucet. We used to have a single bar that controlled hot and cold, but our faucet and drain went back so we got a new faucet, which I was thrilled about because the old oe was crappy and I didn't like not having separate hot and cold handles.

Anyway, so its not really hot water, its just hotter. I try not to run straight out HOT water when I do this, I run the hot and cold side together, so the water doesn't get too hot initially. Tank water is usually about 2degrees cooler than the water being added into the tank. Would even a slight difference cause panting?

I am not doubting what you told me, I just really hope we haven't been hurting our fish.

We can't really buy another heater to stick in a bucket for water changes, I hope we don't have to do this I thought that water from the sink was fine... :/

 

[dragon14]

I definitely don't want any copper, that's bad for our shrimps!

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Yes for fish stuff



Hold on. . .