# HELP did my usual 30/50% water change and now everyone is dying!!!



## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I've lost 4 out of 6 blue tetras, once glass cat. My kuhil loaches are swimming the surface. O my... what happened!!! I always do a little over 30% of a water change. Tank is a 55gallon, running two 350gph filters, temp is 80 degrees constant. I use prime after each water change. I've had this tank running for 5+ years. Never had this happen before. I use the same bucket to refill. All levels test normal. Even my elephant nose (he's small) is swimming mid level. I don't know what to do. Pull them into another tank??? There are no boiler alerts out. I have a15g snail tank available for them, 78 degrees, the water is tinted do to some new contorted filbert branches. please help.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Can you test your water paramenters and post those?? I had this happen to me one time and it was two things. The city water supply had bumped up the ammonia in the water and I also had inadvertently used a "bad" garden hose. If your water paramenters are checking out fine I can't imagine what it could be.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

nitrate 10
nitrite 0
gh 75
kh 180
ph 7.8


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Ammonia zero??


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I'm out of that test  in over 5 years i do this water change bout once every 1 to 2 weeks. never has this happened. can my tap water cause an ammonia spike?


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

only fish not effected are a couple of female guppies and crown tail female betas. the rubber nose pleco seems ok, but hard to tell. i tried moving two of the tetras cuz they were floating hoping the tinted water would help, they are still alive but fighting  the glass cats started swimming in tight circles. the tetras went to the surface nose up and would float down switching to their back


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

ReneeB said:


> I'm out of that test  in over 5 years i do this water change bout once every 1 to 2 weeks. never has this happened. can my tap water cause an ammonia spike?


This is EXACTLY what happened to me and I lost three adult Dennison barbs. The city tap water went from 0 to 1 ppm over night. I now have to dose Prime at three times the recommended dose when using my tap water for water changes. In your situtation ammonia poisoning is what it sounds like. 

I wish you were able to test your tap and your tank for ammonia.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I have more prime, should I does more? Should I move the remaining lives ones to the snail tank or will that be more stress. I did not do a water change there. I can pick up a test tonight, Petsmart is still open. I'm just not sure what to do to try an help them.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

I would add more prime then get a test for sure.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks for your help. Sorry I did not thank you sooner, kind of a shock seeing them all die so suddenly. I've done weekly and biweekly water changes for my 8 tanks for years. I wonder why now?

I went to Petsmart for a test. The ammonia is at zero. Could it maybe have been super high Chlorine or something? I'm going to take a sample up to a LFS I've been going to for years. He'll run more tests for me. 

I added a 2nd dose of Prime, but the elephant nose didn't seem to come around. I moved him into the 15g snail tank as a last resort. Finally he is swimming around and looking more normal. Back in the 55g two black khuli loaches came out of hiding and are swimming normally. I moved the guppies and female bettas as well, even thou they didn't seem bothered, I didn't want to take the chance. The tetras and glass cats where the first effected along with the elephant nose, then the khuli loaches (not black ones). When the glass cats died, they spun in tight circles. The tetras went to the surface, nose up, then floated back, eventually dieing on the ground.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I checked the gills of the fish, and none look abnormal. Their bodies do not have red spots either. No streaking in the fins, but it happened quickly. Within 15 minutes all the tetras were dead. 

I don't have kids to contaminate the bucket I use. I use one bucket per tank, and store it upside down under the tank. I siphon into it, rinse, the use it to fill. 

This tank is also planted with several java ferns, onion plants, and mircoswords. I have 3 large photos plants outside the tank on top, with their root systems going into the water. 

Chlorine is the only thing I can think of to cause them to swim like that  Poor fish.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

Wow, sorry to hear about your fish. Hope you get to the bottom of the problem and find out the reason.


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## m1aman (Apr 5, 2009)

ReneeB I am sorry this happened to you.

I want to throw this out there and I know most people disagree with this......

Personally I don't believe in big water changes. I usually only do 10 percent, 15 max when I do one. I feel it is bad for the fish to put them through such major changes as a 50 percent water change. Whether or not a smaller change would have helped you I don't know. I am not criticizing your method. But in my mind things like this reinforce my belief that small water changes are better.

Hope things work out well for you!


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## MukiTheFish (Aug 21, 2010)

the only experience I had with fish dying is such short time was temperature shock. Could it be that when u poured in the new water it was 10°C more or less then the one they were in? that could be the sole cause of the unfortunate event.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

ReneeB said:


> but it happened quickly. Within 15 minutes all the tetras were dead.
> 
> Chlorine is the only thing I can think of to cause them to swim like that  Poor fish.



I will go with the Chlorine theory as well ~ on my Discus board we would see this happen and quickly it did, immediately after a wc.

The city decided to change their water. Usually add more chlorine. And we had them contact the city and get the updated report. Sure enough ~ It became so prominent with some discus owners, they started aging their water or using well water. 

I am so sorry for you! But now you know ~ hopefully. You didn't add any new stock lately did you, like before the wc?


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## RCinAL (Nov 14, 2010)

MukiTheFish said:


> the only experience I had with fish dying is such short time was temperature shock. Could it be that when u poured in the new water it was 10°C more or less then the one they were in? that could be the sole cause of the unfortunate event.


This was going to be my question. If you are certain there was no temperature mishap then the city did something different to the water and will probably never admit it. From now on I would cut back to smaller water changes more often and maybe double up on the dechlorinator. 

Please let us know if you figure this one out. It would probably help somebody in the future.

Ralph


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks everyone. There was no new stock. My blue tertas had been looking so good too. Their color was amazing, even fading to purple into the fins from the blue streak. Today I fed the tank realizing so many of my lil buddies were not coming out. Poor guys.

I tested my tank water after treatment. I took the water left over in my bucket (tap from the night) and tap from the following morning up to my LFS. Ammonia from the night prior was at .06. The chlorine was also high. We've had a run of -20 degree windchill,not sure what is going on with the city. In all the years I've had tanks, never had this happened before. All I can think of doing now is using a large rubber made, with heater, letting it sit with treatment and air for 24/48 hours (not exceeding 15/20% changed out at a time). Then pumping it into the tank. I never want to watch my fish die like that again. My fault was I'd get siphoning the sand and cleaning it up, then by the time I was done it was down to 30 - 40%. To think how many times I did that in the past, even with fry tanks. Tough lesson


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

I am so sorry you lost your guys. I know how you feel because a few years back I did a water change and I unplugged the heater because I was afraid to let the water go below the water line on the heater then I went out of town for a business trip for a week and when I came home first thing I went to look at my tank and noticed there was a dead gourami I got the net to get him out and when I touched the water I was shocked by how cold it was then I looked at the themometer and the tank was about 60 degrees. I then relized I had not plugges the heater back up I lost 6 of my favorite fish because of my stupid mistake. I felt awful for a long time afterwards. It might not of been so bad if it had been summer but it was the middle of winter.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I almost did the same to my gs puffers. The tank heater came unplugged and I didn't notice. My red Doberman, Saya, alerted me to the tank. She has made friends with many of the fish, including the koi in the basement pond. Saya's fishy friends  She didn't stop staring at the tank. When I noticed the gsp were not chasing her nose like usual I started investigating. 

I added some of my grow out guppies to the 55 gallon so hopefully she don't notice so many are gone. On a happy note, It's cute when my 7 month old goofy male Dobe, chases them, then runs into the hallway looking to see where the went


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

LOL thats so funny you should video it and post it. You could add a goofy voice to it saying something like," Were did they go mom, were did they go." LOL


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I'll keep my camera handy 

I just noticed my elephant nose's skin seems to be pealing??? His fins look a little ragged too  Is it left over from some type of "burn"  You can kind of see in the pic, it's on the top and bottom of him. Yesterday I noticed he had some blueish like blotches in the same area. He did not have this prior to the water change. 

I tried to get a good shot. It is not normal for him to be out of one of his caves in the day light. I turned off the tank light, so only the light from the windows in the room is available in the tank. 

What can I do for him?


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

My elephant nose is now dieing  He stopped swimming around, went into one of his caves. He's now on his back barely breathing. I'm doubting there is anything I can do at this point. My poor fish


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Oh man, your poor fish. I'm so sorry. :-(


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks.
I feel so bad for him. He is still alive as of now. I helped him upright, and he's remained there not swimming, but still breathing. I still don't expect him to make it, but I have very very slight hope, I can't put him in the freezer. I don't want to lose him, but he is clearly not in a good way. Is there anything I can do to help him, and/or his skin feel better? Is that from ammonia burns?


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

I don't know what you could do to help the poor guy but I did have an idea what if you removed some of the water and replace it with bottled water that way you could get rid of the chlorine/ammonia that way.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

For me, there are 3 things I always do when wierd symptoms show up.

1. Add an extra dose of dechlorinator that also reduces ammonia. (or dechlorinator)
2. Do a 40% water change. (with bottled water in your case. Actually, since the ph might be different, I'd do 20% twice.)
3. Add an airstone. Oxygenation helps fish recover.

Good luck.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Redchigh's advice is good, it does look like similar to ammonia burn.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks.
He is still breathing this morning, but his skin has gone yellowish. He is in such bad shape 

I purchased AmQuel+ the morning I got the test at the LFS. I tested the water and it tests clear. I didn't add him back in till I knew it was safe. Should I still do a water change today?

These burns are over so much of his body, I don't expect him to make it. To remain breathing all night, he is a fighter. The yellowing is mostly where you see the skin starting to flake in the photo on the top of his body. I still have the lights off today, even thou he is in a cave. Not sure what I should do with him. There don't appear to be any infections, just the skin burn.


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

He has gone to that big river in the sky. 

I don't know if I'm even going to re-stock the tank after this. I originally set it up to grow out my fist Koi as they were so tiny. The tank is in my office, and watching them was such a great stress relief (I'm a web n software developer). They moved on to the pond when they were big enough. The tank don't have the same stress relief qualities any more.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

ReneeB said:


> He has gone to that big river in the sky.
> 
> I don't know if I'm even going to re-stock the tank after this. I originally set it up to grow out my fist Koi as they were so tiny. The tank is in my office, and watching them was such a great stress relief (I'm a web n software developer). They moved on to the pond when they were big enough. The tank don't have the same stress relief qualities any more.


Oh no I am so sorry he didn't make it. Please rethink not restocking the tank it would be a shame not to. Sometimes live is painful but then we move on and it gets better.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## xdaCostax (Jan 15, 2011)

Hey sorry about your loss  So in the end it was an amonia spike?


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## ReneeB (Oct 10, 2010)

I pry will. I have some females betas and guppies in there now. Saya was not happy with the tank empty. I still feed catching myself looking for elle to stick his nose out. The betas I have are "tub rescues" so least I'm able to help them out. 

Yes, my tap water was quite high, and the prime didn't pull enough ammonia and chlorine out. Most died within 15 minutes.


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