Trouble in a 20 gallon

[electricblue]

Today i did a water change on all my fish tanks. The 20 gallon with 2 pea puffers 8 neons and rcs always gets a weekly 50% wc but since i had just added the driftwood and it was a bit messy i decided to do a 75% (despite something telling me not to). When i went to feed them bloodworms i was surprised none of them were eager to eat, that's when i saw the first dead neon. Then i notice all the other neons looking ill.

My only guess was that i didn't get enough declorinator since it's measured by 5ml intervals and i approximated a little less than 7.5. I added just a bit more but still loss 4 or 5 more neons. There is only a penguin bio wheel 150 in the tank so i added a sponger filter in case more oxygen was needed cause of the greater oxygen reaction due to a greater wc.

I'll just have to c and wait, the peas seem to have the odds in their favor as well as 2 other neons, a third one has ben kickin for at least an hour.

I doubt temperature was an issue all of the neons were brightly colored, no signs of stress.

I have prime but don't use it cause i need something to measure real small amounts. I usually use aqua safe plus but used aqueon this time.

I was planing on getting a test kit but after no incidents in a while i said, screw it i'll just make sure i follow all procedures right. Yes i will be getting a test kit for sure.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

[nhung]

Was the fishes breathing real hard? When did you do your water change? in the summer time, I always try to change water in the morning. The water gets too hot other wise. Hot water can not hold as much oxygen. The Fishes will start gasping for oxygen.

[electricblue]

Was the fishes breathing real hard? When did you do your water change? in the summer time, I always try to change water in the morning. The water gets too hot other wise. Hot water can not hold as much oxygen. The Fishes will start gasping for oxygen.

nope don't think so, it's kinda hard t tell on these smaller fish but they were just more inactive and swiming sideways. i had just gotten them some fresh blood worms and i was really surprise they didn't even touch them when they usually devour them in seconds.

[armthehomeless]

When you say that you used aqueon, are you talking about this:
Do you have a HOB for filtration?

Neons can be fairly sensitive to changes in water parameters. . . sorry for your loss.

[electricblue]

tim, yes that was the exact thing i used. i know it's just a common cheap fish but i just don't like loosing my fish. although i have to admit i was more worried for the peas than any other.

[nhung]

If you have Prime, I would use that. The pharmacy have 5 or 10 ml syringe. They are great for measuring small amount of liquid.

[electricblue]

nhung, yea i been meaning to get a syringe or small pipet, buy you know how "i been meaning" goes

[Sea-agg09]

1.When i went to feed them bloodworms i was surprised none of them were eager to eat, that's when i saw the first dead neon. Then i notice all the other neons looking ill.

2.My only guess was that i didn't get enough declorinator since it's measured by 5ml intervals and i approximated a little less than 7.5.

3.I doubt temperature was an issue all of the neons were brightly colored, no signs of stress.

4.I have prime but don't use it cause i need something to measure real small amounts. I usually use aqua safe plus but used aqueon this time.

5.I was planing on getting a test kit but after no incidents in a while i said, screw it i'll just make sure i follow all procedures right. Yes i will be getting a test kit for sure.

I numbered in your quote for my sanity...

1. Describe "ill", vague words are hard to read into.

2. This happens, but usually companies will recommend slightly more than required, as more of a cover their %@@ sort of thing. With that said... overdosing dechlor isn't bad unless you really pour it in. I usually round up to the nearest 5 when treating water. 1 Prime cap is 5mL, just as a standard for measuring. If another cap looks like it might be the same size... it is.

3. You said in one paragraph they were ill, then in another they weren't stressed. That doesn't make much sense. Temperature doesn't mean much to us, but out at the city level, warming water releases most of the dissolved oxygen. Add to the fact that most chemicals we add to water, including dechlor, will bind to oxygen, and you can add anoxic water to your tank. What I'm saying is that while the water doesn't seem hot, heat may have played a big part.

4. All will work, as long as you dose them according to the directions. They are not all the same dosage.

5. Test kit for what? Not much to test for at this point... unless you think there was an ammonia spike. With that said, we should all have the basic test kits (NH3,NO3, pH low and high) at home.


Side note; a 75% water change is pretty stressful for a fish. The large change in parameters is pretty crazy on fish who in the wild never go through that (that quickly at least). It's totally normal for fish to act shy/skiddish after a large water change.

[electricblue]

sea-agg: by ill i mean they were kind of swimming sideways as if loosing their balance and were less active.
I see what you mean by heat and that's why added the sponge filter. But from keeping neons for a bit i know they'll show stress due to a temperature
change immediately.

Like tim said, they're sensitive to parameter changes, and this was a change doing 75% wc but when i was beginning in the hobby i kept 7 in a 5 gallon while doing around 90% water change with no issues, i would just let the water stabilize a bit in a bucket first.

[daddy]

i also did my water change in my 75 last night around the same time electricblue did and i just now noticed that i lost 3 trophs fry and 3 loaches i used prime only

[electricblue]

thought i should add that my water got cloudy by the following morning, i'm guessing the water had more chemicals and i needed to add more declorinator

[fshfrk]

I would give the other stuff away and use the prime. I have noticed that if I add dechlorinator first. Then start the water flow my fish are gasping after the tank is 1/2 full. The gasping stresses the fish. So I drip in the dechlorinator mixed in tank water as the tank fills. When I do this I do not see any gasping. I know people will not agree with this but I have proved it time and time again to myself.

[electricblue]

fshfrk, your way actually sounds like the proper way to me but the best way is really to premix the water first like in a bucket. I use to do that until everyone else told me they were fine just pouring the water straight into the tank. I'm planning on going to a 125 to maybe even a 200 gallon tank and i can see were premixing can become really cumbersome and time consuming.

For those of you that have many big tanks it would actually be nice to have a large container, like the one cf was selling, on top of a tall base and premixing all the water there, that way you could monitor the water well and even keep it at room temp during the winter. The only issue i could see is that im not sure if anything could build up inside of the container.