Forgot to add Stress coat

[Gene D]

I did a 50% percent water change on my 56G Mbuna tank about two hours ago and forgot to add a dechlorinator before adding the new water. Three fish have already died and most of the others are not looking to healthy.

I have added it now that I realized my mistake. Is there anything else I can do besides wait and curse myself?

[myjohnson]

Lights out, lower temp, and don't feed them. I think this would keep the aggression down and lower the stress level in the tank.

Sucks to hear this Gene. Happens to all of us sooner or later....just depends on how long a persons been keeping fishes.

This is another reason why I have a carbon bottle.

[cichlid1409]

also get as much aeration on that tank as possible asap...sorry gene, happens to the best of us.

[Zulaab]

+1 to both above posts.
Air is needed to convert the chlorine in the water column out and the second problem is that all of your fish, you burned their gills.. they need to heal and right now they are damaged which means they cannot get as much O2 as they are used to being able to do.

Last words.. Carbon bottle.

[Gene D]

Well I removed most of the rocks to retrieve the dead. This lowered the water level so the Wet dry spray bar is really agitating the surface. I also added the only air pump I had with a 6 inch stone. Lowered the temp and shut off the lights. I will check on them again in the morning.

The death toll for now:
6- Psuedotropheus Demasoni
1- Yellow lab
1- Maingano
MIA
2 - BN Plecos

I cant remember the last time I felt this bad. The worst part is I am the only one to blame.

[mark razmandi]

man i can relate, i killed all my bacteria by cleaning everything with tap and sent my tank into a mini cycle almost killing everything....im sorry you had to go through this...hopefully it resolves itself by morning...

[gotticgs]

before I spend on anything else I am going carbon

sorry man

[fshfrk]

I'm going to call my chemist buddy and see if we can get this catalytic carbon local.
Gene those fish had a better life in your tank than any where else on this planet so don't feel too bad. Run your water thru this carbon filter we are going to make you and it will never happen again.

[Gene D]

Update - When I left this morning all the fish who had survived the initial incident had made it through the night. As well I also saw one of two missing BN Plecos. Hopefully these guys are going to be allright.

I left the lights off and did not feed them this morning. Any opinions as to when I should resume my usaul light and feeding cycles?

Thanks to everyone for their help and thanks to John for offering to make me a Carbon snake.

The death toll for now:
6- Psuedotropheus Demasoni
1- Yellow lab
1- Maingano
MIA
1 - BN Plecos

[myjohnson]

If they act fine then I would trun the lights back on like normal. As for feeding, I would start slowly. Maybe over the course of three days slowly get their intake back up. Blout sucks and them eating less for a few days wouldn't hurt.

[mark razmandi]

glad to hear that they made it through the night....id take john up on his offer

[Zulaab]

Please remember all your fish are scared right now (think if you in haled chlorine vapors) it will take a while for the scaring to heal up and start working again. You will need to continue what you are doing. Feed them a little tonight and see how they behave. You have to think that the fish needs food to regenerate what they have lost.. they need to get stronger.

[Darbex]

Sorry for the loss man.

[Gene D]

Update

Just got home from work and checked on the survivors. All of them have made it through the day. They have returned to their normal behavior and are even looking to be fed. I think the worst of this over, though I will monitor them closely.

Does anyone have any opinions about water changes, given the stress they have gone through in the last 24 hours?