dear water company...

[inkyjenn]

thanks so much for not closely monitoring your water parameters.

did a water change and 3 dead congo tetras, 1 sickly congo tetra, 1 dead oto and an almost dead L239 pleco later...

i checked the water parameters from the tap and from the 55. the 55 showed a sudden spike of .25ppm ammonia and the tap showed 1.0. weve tested the tap in the past, and ive never seen ammonia in my tap water before. coincidentally, my stomach also hurts today; im the only one who drinks the tap water at my house. im wondering if this could be the issue.

so needless to say, we cant do any more water changes until we get bottled water. im so mad!

 

[jpappy789]

Do you use prime?

 

[inkyjenn]

i do use prime. we add it before adding the water to the tanks

 

[Coler]

That's awful - get in a supply of Prime and it will detox the water for the tank (not for you guys unfortunately)

 

[jm1212]

ammonia in your water can make you sick, especially that much.

 

[inkyjenn]

apparently not. its what weve used as a dechlorinator for some time now. just a whole bunch of fish abruptly went belly up. pH is the same, no nitrites, nitrates are 20ppm out of the tap, but its been that way since we started keeping tanks. we dont add salt, we havent changed filtration. we do 35-40 water changes once a week. temp is at 78 degrees. i dunno what else would do this

 

[Blueiz]

Perhaps something else in the water, did the company up the level of chorine or chloramines in the water? If so this may require you to use more water conditioner. The amt of chlorine and chloramine a dose of water conditioner treats should be listed on the bottle, for prime i think its 3ppm of chlorine per dose. Ammonia is not your prob, it would not kill fish that fast and prime detoxifies it.

 

[inkyjenn]

i have no idea what the water company has added to the water recently. i dont pay the water bill at my house. id call, but its sunday and their customer service office is closed with the exception of emergencies (i know this doesnt qualify as one).

we pulled more water back out of the 55 and added water from the 75. we also added some more prime. the ailing congo appears to be perking back up, but everyone is breathing harder than they should still. the little pleco we moved entirely into a different tank (the shrimp tank) where he is still touch and go

 

[jpappy789]

I would suspect something else with the water as well. Prime should detoxify any ammonia and your bacteria colony would eventually convert it.

 

[Mokomon]

I'm so sorry for your loss

I feel you; we have a well & our water reads 2.0 ammonia right out of the tap.
Thank God my husband & I never drank it.



The only good thing about it was when I set up my 55, I planted it quite heavily & used my water, and it cycled in 3 days :lipssealedsmilie: