# Toxic water



## Cichlidmom (Jan 21, 2008)

Hi, some of you may have already been reading about my new tank...but I'll provide some info just in case..
I adopted a 33 Gallon tank from someone who was moving.....we did the move sunday am. We used about 30 - 35 % of the old water....same filters and rocks and such to keep the tank levels as much as the same as we could. 
The fish have been doing fine, and look happy as can be " the only thing I have noticed is that my cichlids color was leaving BUT I was reading that it can happen do to stress from a move because otherwise they seem to be acting fine. 
I added cycle and the next day " yesterday " had my water tested.....I didn't realize at the time she didn't have enough water to test for everything " another story " but I guess she just tested the ph levels and something else..
Soooo that bring us to today ...Ahhhh my favorite fish my pleco died... maybe overnight but it would have been between 4 - 9 am and he looked FINE last night !! Sooo despite all the snow coming down I rushed my tank water down to be tested and it was toxic. So we added Fluval " clearmax " to the system and I just hope my other fish don't die..does anyone know how long it will take for the clearmax to fix the problem and do you think my other fish will survive ? Also, do you think that's why my fish were loosing color ?
I'm using a clearmax 300 on my 33 Gallon ...

I'll add that I don't know the test levels..I don't have kits...I'm taking my water to the pet store and having it checked..he said everything was fine except the my water being toxic.


----------



## Cichlidmom (Jan 21, 2008)

I know, alot of questions but I might as well get this out there was well...

From now on....

I know they say to clean tank once a week ? So that means take about 25 % of the old water out and replace it with new...should a person use tape water or bottled water ? and will the tank levels go out of wack every week you do the clean ? I know the packet I added to my filter says good for 6 - 8 weeks I think so does that mean despite changing water the water should remain toxic free ??

Ahh Thanks


----------



## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

I'm not sure exactly what your LFS meant by toxic, as far as I know 'toxic' is just a term for the levels being off in your tank- be it ammonia, nitrates, etc. When I read about the product your were given it said it "absorbs and traps phosphate, nitrates, and nitrites".

When you added more water after moving the fish tank to your house, what sort of water did you add? If you just added tap water, that would explain any sort of problems you might be having, chlorine will kill your fish!

Changing the water in your tank will not throw it "out of wack" a 20-25% water change will remove the buildup of harmful toxins and help your tank stay in balance. Tap water is just fine, but make sure you use a water conditioner, there are plenty on the market.

I would recommend doing a 20% water change right now, and continuing to do so daily until your water levels stabilize. I would also recommend getting a home test kit (liquid is much more accurate than test strips) and testing the water yourself to see what exactly is wrong. It would be very helpful if you could post your water parameters, temperature, etc. Here's a link to the information that's helpful to post: http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=882


----------



## Cichlidmom (Jan 21, 2008)

Thank You !!

It was the nitrate levels and all seem to be great now...Thanks again !!


----------

