PLEASE READ: What is wrong with Houston water?

[BeefyG]

Sunny picked his up from Jacob when Jacob got out of freshwater. They pop up every now and then but pretty rarely. There is a DIY on here for how to make a carbon snake that does the same thing. I'll see if I can find the thread.

[moganman]

I have the Walmart rv one so how do u know when to replace the carbon filter ?

Test strips. If you use carbon bottle you know water is being purified. So you would only need to use the test strips around the estimated time of expiry.

[BeefyG]

Here is the article: http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...Y-Carbon-Snake

[sunkenmetal]

why you change water so much...

Test the tank and tap water. If tap water is worse than your tank water don't change water unless you have a carbon bottle. Or a water softener for your house that has carbon in it.

[ptran]

This is what happened, quoted from Mikulka on Cyphos.

"It happened in less than 45min after a weekly water change, i emptied
the tank 2/3, cleaned and refilled adding Prime as usual.
After about 10min i started noticing some strange behavior, as last resort i moved them to a standby tank but it was to late..."

[specialone0812]

haha...funny that I asked around for activated carbon. I got some bottles that need to be filled with carbon I am about to order from Ebay.

[ptran]

haha...funny that I asked around for activated carbon. I got some bottles that need to be filled with carbon I am about to order from Ebay.

Sorry I don't remember your name, buddy!!! I remembered seeing you fill your tank with a carbon bottle right? Where did you get it from? I think it is a good investment since we spend thousands of dollar on expensive fish.

[specialone0812]

Tony,
You remembered it right. I got my carbon tank from Christherm on here, not sure if he is still selling them. It makes water change easier and safer.

[mistahoo]

You can order online. They run from $200-1000 depending on the what size carbon bottle you get. The household size ones are around $1000. The small ones are about $200. 1 cu. ft. run about $400. As what some people mentioned, they pop up on the market every now and then but it's rare. Chrishem was ordering the 1 cu. ft. carbon bottles in bulk and selling them for much cheaper than online ($375?). From the last for sale thread he made, he said he won't be selling them anymore.

About the water, it rained today a bit. Usually after rain, they add more chloramine into the water. I usually NEVER do water changes on a rainy day. Doing so is just asking to kill your fish. Also pay attention to boil orders in certain areas. I know some people lost some expensive fish due to this. It helps to let the water run for a minute or two before using it. I can usually smell the chlorine/chloramine if they put 5x the amount. If I smell it, I don't do a water change.

I made a homemade carbon filter. Cost me around $30 and works very well. I built one for Ms. Letta (not1min) and she's enjoying it. I only use mine if it rained and I'm in dire need of a water change since I have Safe. Here's my DIY carbon filter thread. Very simple to make and each cartridge lasts quite a long time if you let it air out after each water change.

[ptran]

I'm willing to spend 400 for a carbon bottle that would last 8 years. :)
Nevertheless, Mistahoo, can you build me one of those?

[mistahoo]

Yeah I can, but I'm located in NW Houston. If you have the tools, I think it'd be cheaper for you to make it yourself.

[mistahoo]

Did a quick google search. Here's some carbon tanks for sale online.

[ptran]

Thanks, how about water softener system, does it do the same job as the carbon bottle? Can you use water from the water softener for the house?

[aquabee]

Yep. I learned my lesson the hard way as well. Less than 2 hours after a water change, more than 30 fish dead... And out of those, only 5 were wild geophagus red head tapajos and 1 was a wild flash pleco. The others were super hardy tank-raised silver dollars, tank-raised BN plecos, and emperor tetras. The water change was done about a day or two after a heavy rain, which is when the city adds all sorts of crap to the water. I always double dose Prime but in this case I dosed it at 5 times the normal, to no avail. The tank sat at about 6.8 pH (peat moss, IAL) so those guys had no chance. The shellies tank was relatively protected due to it's high pH of 8.6 (aragonite and coral sand).

I will never again keep any fish in this city without a carbon bottle. Took me 9-10 months to recover from the carnage and restart that tank.

[mistahoo]

Thanks, how about water softener system, does it do the same job as the carbon bottle? Can you use water from the water softener for the house?

Water softener and carbon bottle are two different things. You can soften the water but still have chlorine and chloramines. You can definitely use water from the water softener system in your house as long as it passes a carbon filter. I wouldn't recommend using that water for Africans. It would be more suitable for South American fish.