After water change, fish dies

[Charmane122]

I did a 30% water change. The next morning I noticed my water was still cloudy, then that evening all my fish died.

Any idea what happened? I'm so miserable

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[Brookster123]

Let's talk.. Details bout ze tank please? Age? Test results? St ock? All the details!

 

[pollex.jaypee]

Are you sure you did not add any other chemicals along with the water change?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Test your tap water (after 24hrs) for pH, then test the tank if it still has water in it.


Could also be temperature or something related to the waste cycle.


Do you use de chlorinator? Did you use tank water to clean the various bits and bobs, filter components etc.

 

[Charmane122]

Hello

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[Charmane122]

I have a 55 gallon tank. I had three tricolor shark fish. I've had my tank for 4 years when I did the pH balance test it shows 7.6 on the chart the water was very very dark blue. I also did I ammonia test and it came back normal. I had took the sponge and the bio bag out of the fikter and rinsed it with tap water. And put it right back in because the water was very cloudy so I thought it could have been the filter. Usually when I put the accuaclear my tank clears up tremendously this was not the case this time.
Thanks for any advice

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[treemanone2003]

I have a 55 gallon tank. I had three tricolor shark fish. I've had my tank for 4 years when I did the pH balance test it shows 7.6 on the chart the water was very very dark blue. I also did I ammonia test and it came back normal. I had took the sponge and the bio bag out of the fikter and rinsed it with tap water. And put it right back in because the water was very cloudy so I thought it could have been the filter. Usually when I put the accuaclear my tank clears up tremendously this was not the case this time.
Thanks for any advice

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Some of this is good but some is not so good IMO/E. Rinsing in tap water is BAD !!! You have the chance that you've removed all the BB doing that. It should always be rinsed in TANK WATER. You also say ammo test came back "normal". What is "normal" to you ? It should be zero. What about nitrAte and nitrIte ? What other stock in the tank ? Substrate ? What are the parameters of your tap water to begin with - do you age it - dechlorinate it ? Etc....

 

[Brookster123]

It's always best to wash any filter media in a bucket if dechlorinated/tank water. You may have likely caused a mini cycle as rinsing In tap will usually kill off bb. What's your wc schedule?

 

[Charmane122]

So I went to petco there and told them what happen. They checked my ph and some other stuff come to find out my ph was very high

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[severum mama]

Rinsing stuff in tap water does not nuke your bio filter on contact. I've been rinsing my canister media out under the tap for years.

 

[Brookster123]

Rinsing stuff in tap water does not nuke your bio filter on contact. I've been rinsing my canister media out under the tap for years.

hey mama! With all due respect.. I can smell the chlorine in my to when I fill buckets.. Not all tap water is the same, city tap has lots of goodies in there to keep the pipes from rotting out.. Mainly chloramines and chlorine, which will prob kill bb on contact in high enough concentrations?? Please correct me if I'm wrong.. Just an opposing view

 

[pollex.jaypee]

hey mama! With all due respect.. I can smell the chlorine in my to when I fill buckets.. Not all tap water is the same, city tap has lots of goodies in there to keep the pipes from rotting out.. Mainly chloramines and chlorine, which will prob kill bb on contact in high enough concentrations?? Please correct me if I'm wrong.. Just an opposing view

I really really agree with this. Chlorine = dead beneficial bacteria

Especially here in our country, (mostly in the morning), you can even see tap water filled with white clouds when you collect it from the faucet.

 

[severum mama]

I have city tap water.

I see this parroted on forums all the time, but my experience has told me otherwise.

Even when I've forgotten to add dechlorinator and killed some fish, it takes them a while to die. Untreated tap water doesn't kill fish on contact. Why would we assume that it completely nukes bacteria in filter media on contact? I get the point of being overly cautious, I really do, but just because something is repeated on forums over and over, doesn't mean it is grounded in reality (inch per gallon, anyone?).

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Yes but it does seem that the overwhelming evidence points to it being a bad idea. City tap water has chlorine and chloramines added to water to kill micro organisms. This would kill off beneficial bacteria in at least a small quantity at least. I would strongly advise against it but if it works for you no reason you shouldn't.

 

[severum mama]

Yes but it does seem that the overwhelming evidence points to it being a bad idea. City tap water has chlorine and chloramines added to water to kill micro organisms. This would kill off beneficial bacteria in at least a small quantity at least. I would strongly advise against it but if it works for you no reason you shouldn't.

I never suggested that anyone else do what I do. I understand why people feel the need to be cautious with this. BUT- I have yet to see anything resembling "overwhelming evidence", more like a collection of opinions by a lot of folks who haven't actually tried it. Killing off bacteria in small quantities is really not a big deal in an old tank.

If we're trying to post accurate information here, then let's post something like "hey, it's generally not recommended to rinse stuff under the tap, just in case"... that's a much different statement than "you will kill your bio filter immediately and make your tank cycle."

That was immediately assumed to be the cause for the trouble in the OP's tank when we really don't have any details at all about the setup.

 

[pollex.jaypee]

I never suggested that anyone else do what I do. I understand why people feel the need to be cautious with this. BUT- I have yet to see anything resembling "overwhelming evidence", more like a collection of opinions by a lot of folks who haven't actually tried it. Killing off bacteria in small quantities is really not a big deal in an old tank.

If we're trying to post accurate information here, then let's post something like "hey, it's generally not recommended to rinse stuff under the tap, just in case"... that's a much different statement than "you will kill your bio filter immediately and make your tank cycle."

That was immediately assumed to be the cause for the trouble in the OP's tank when we really don't have any details at all about the setup.

Oh, good point
I think severum just wants to say that let's not be over paranoid about things?

IMO though,chlorine do kill those microorganisms. But forgetting to put antidechlorinator once in a while won't totally reset the cycle.
But still, I think if you rinse everything (including your filter and substrate) with chlorinated tap water, then you would be killing a large amount of BB
(unless of course, your BB colony is that strong)

And, I think it really won't kill fish on contact.
But would on bacteria. That's how they are supposed to work.


But thanks for your point. We shouldn't be diagnosing everything with just one assumption

 

[severum mama]

Basically, I'm just trying to say that we should dig a little deeper here. We don't even know what the stock list is in this tank, or exact readings for ammo, nitrite, nitrate, tank size, duration of setup... there are so many variables here.

Oh, good point

And, I think it really won't kill fish on contact.

It doesn't. Source: I've forgotten to dechlor the tank a couple of times. Fish looked fine at first (that's why I didn't figure it out in time), but I came back a few hours later to dead fish. Heartbreaking, considering that one instance was a whole tank of fire rasboras and the other was a west African mouthbrooding cichlid with a mouth full of fry. LFMF: don't get distracted while you are filling your tanks!

 

[ArtistGardener]

I met a woman recently at a fish club meeting who lost three entire tanks after a normal weekly water change. She is an experienced aquarist. What she didn't realize until lots of detective work is that her city flushes the water mains with HUGE amounts of chlorine and other chemicals twice a year. The regular amount of water conditioner was no match for those chemicals. Perhaps something similar happened?

 

[treemanone2003]

Basically, I'm just trying to say that we should dig a little deeper here. We don't even know what the stock list is in this tank, or exact readings for ammo, nitrite, nitrate, tank size, duration of setup... there are so many variables here.







It doesn't. Source: I've forgotten to dechlor the tank a couple of times. Fish looked fine at first (that's why I didn't figure it out in time), but I came back a few hours later to dead fish. Heartbreaking, considering that one instance was a whole tank of fire rasboras and the other was a west African mouthbrooding cichlid with a mouth full of fry. LFMF: don't get distracted while you are filling your tanks!

I agree totally mama and that's why I was forthcoming with the OP when I said IMO/E. Also, I didn't get any replies when I asked about other vital info so I went no further in the discussion till now. I'm not scrolling back up to check as bed is calling me, but I believe she said four years on the tank life so far. And what is "normal" to some in regards to params just doesn't sit well with me. I guess that's why I have my own test kits and don't rely on the LFS.

 

[venymae]

Is the OP even still on? Hey so to better help you we still are going to need to know nitrite, nitrate, WC schedule, etc. One possibility, if you don't do regular WC and your fish have gotten used to living with high NitrAte levels, a big water change could drop them enough to shock your fish. At least that's what an article on NitrAte poisoning told me