TANKS CRASHING! coldwater and tropicals!

[sugarloves]

Im getting an allergic reaction from my aquariums so I used rubber dish gloves and a pair of vet livestock gloves to clean my aquariums yesterday. Now they are both crashing! Ive already lost 2 goldies and my third was stuck in the plants on its side gasping for air. Ive moved him to a bucket of clean water. Ive lost 2 danios from my tropicals and my female bettas are all liftless so I moved everyone (bettas, adfs, and cories) to a bare qt tank unfiltered. My favorite female was headstanding so i put her in her own bowl.

Should I add an airstone to my goldies bucket? I dont want the current to harm him. Will the cories be ok without airation for awhile? What do I do about my tanks? The params are fine so theres obviously something toxic in the water. Do I do a melt down or just a large water change?

Help, I really done want my fish to die, im so attached to all of them.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

You should aerate your goldfishes bucket and your QT tank just to be on the safe side even though they can go without air for awhile. I also suggest that you make a large water change to remove anything toxic in the water.

HTH

 

[Guest]

1) Large Water Change (50%)
2) Add water-change chemicals with new water, but enough for entire tank
3) If you have it, use a product like SeaChem Stability to rebuildup your helpful bacteria in the tank
4) Don't put all of you fish back into the tank at the same time

 

[Hooie]

No advise on why it happened, but I wish you luck

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Had you use the gloves before to do the dishes? If so, don't use them again. instead, buy a pair of gloves that will be used exclusively for the tank. Don't touch them with anything else (ie soap).

I agree with what everyone else said, large water changes. The water was most likely contaminated from the gloves. So sorry to hear about that happening. It's the smallest things that we don't think about that will make the tank crash.

 

[jsoong]

I would suspect some toxin got transfered to the tanks. Since you already have the fish out of the tank ... I would suggest not just large water change ... but a complete wash out of the tank.

You need to get rid of all trace of whatever got into the water. I'd remove all the water and rinse everything several times to be sure (ie. refill tank, drain, refill, etc.). I would use a heavy dose of decolor for the rinses in the hope that it will bind whatever was in the water. Running fresh carbon for a few hours after your last rinse before returing the fish is a wise precaution as well.

If you keep the tank wet during all this rinses, you hopefully will not lose much of your bacteria, but watch out for a mini cycle..... The other option is a complete teardown of the tanks, clean everything & start from scratch.

 

[Guest]

I would suspect some toxin got transfered to the tanks. Since you already have the fish out of the tank ... I would suggest not just large water change ... but a complete wash out of the tank.

You need to get rid of all trace of whatever got into the water. I'd remove all the water and rinse everything several times to be sure (ie. refill tank, drain, refill, etc.). I would use a heavy dose of decolor for the rinses in the hope that it will bind whatever was in the water. Running fresh carbon for a few hours after your last rinse before returing the fish is a wise precaution as well.

If you keep the tank wet during all this rinses, you hopefully will not lose much of your bacteria, but watch out for a mini cycle..... The other option is a complete teardown of the tanks, clean everything & start from scratch.

That is the 100% for sure way to do it, but its also a ton of work. Might want to try my way first, see how it goes, and if the one fish you put back in is still acting funny take out the big guns and get your ass to work!

 

[jsoong]

OK, I am cautious .... I have 2 of everything in case one fails!

But if something is killing my fish in the tanks, I wouldn't feel that great just removing only half of it .... At least get rid of all the water from the tanks & start with fresh water .... JMO