All Fish Dead After Water Change

[jsnoravo]

Last year, on Christmas day, I had a similar loss. Same as you, I had done the WC exactly the same as always. I also use Prime, and had been using twice the dose. I took a sample from the tap right after, and it tested at almost 10ppm! Even a double dose of Prime couldn't handle that, and all but a few died very quickly. It was the chlorine. Water company screwup! Same thing happened about eight years ago in the same house, which is why I started double dosing. Now, I filter my water first with the carbon snake that Fishfreak helped me build. My water company has not started using Chloramines yet, but even with the carbon snake, I have begun using the Prime again, just in case.

This happened to me as well. Fish died within 2-4 minutes. I tasted the tap water afterwards and the water smelled like a swimming pool. Ever since then I've been tasting/smelling the water before each water change, can't trust the water company man.

[Oldsgirl]

yikes... all this is scary- makes me nervous about water changes now!



On a side note, just for the sake of discussion, someone on the thread mentioned doing 90% water changes? Isn't that quite a bit, to the point is will throw things off in the tank? I've always been told to change 1/3, and not more than 1/2? Any thoughts/advice?

[myjohnson]

Why do you think that?

[Mzungu]

On a side note, just for the sake of discussion, someone on the thread mentioned doing 90% water changes? Isn't that quite a bit, to the point is will throw things off in the tank? I've always been told to change 1/3, and not more than 1/2? Any thoughts/advice?

As long as you're not cleaning out/changing the filter and filter media at the same time, you're good to go. Apparently there's surprisingly little beneficial bacteria in the water column. Plus, the fish will love you for it. :)

[myjohnson]

There is no standard answer to the question of how much water to exchange, or how often.

It depends on several factors including the size of your tank, number of fish, feeding schedule and filtration system.

Testing for nitrates is the most effective way to measure your water quality. As you begin to establish your maintenance schedule, perform a nitrate test before and after each water change, as well as once in between.

NO3 builds up slowly and your goal is to keep it as low as possible; at the very least it should be less than 40ppm at all times.

Once you determine a schedule that works for you, testing can be done less frequently to confirm your routine is adequate.

[Oldsgirl]

Thanks for the information. I tend to do 1/3-1/2... but a big factor is that I don't want to sit around all day waiting for the tank to refill.

Also, in my first post, that was supposed to say 90 percent... and for some reason came out looking like a cartoon character's cursing rant (sorry)

[imagirlgeek]

Also, in my first post, that was supposed to say 90 percent... and for some reason came out looking like a cartoon character's cursing rant (sorry)

I don't know why that is happening. I noticed it a few days ago and will figure out why it's parsing the percent sign like that when I have a little extra time. Sorry about that. It's irritating, I know.

[paranoid1123]

As long as you're not cleaning out/changing the filter and filter media at the same time, you're good to go. Apparently there's surprisingly little beneficial bacteria in the water column. Plus, the fish will love you for it. :)

+1

[Zulaab]

I do 75+ percent water changes.. I do use a carbon snake (aka John FshFrk invention) and I have so much happier fish when I do this over anything else.
I have a lot of spawning action (not always goal is reached, but the males are trying their hardest right after water changes)

[myjohnson]

Thanks for the information. I tend to do 1/3-1/2... but a big factor is that I don't want to sit around all day waiting for the tank to refill.

How big is your tank?

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18377/si1380554/cl0/pythonnospillcleanandfill25

This should help you do water changes faster. It sucks out water and puts it right back in. Just hook it up to your faucet.