I just did a 10% water change on my 29 gallon tank. Did everything correctly and now my fish are starting to die an hour later... tested the levels... the ph is low so trying to fix that and nitrites are a lil high but nothing out of the ordinary. HELP!
Fish Problems Emergency!
- Thread starter djprincessx
- Start date
Have you checked what they look like? Is the filter working heater working etc? Did you dechlorinate the water?
~Paige
I'll be here alot tonight so I can probably reply if you do.
~Paige
I'll be here alot tonight so I can probably reply if you do.
You said the nitrites are a little high but not out of the ordinary...
A tank should not have any nitrites. Nitrites are incredibly toxic to fish. Is this a new tank?
What is your pH specifically? What are your nitrates. Did you add declor?
What is in it?
I'd probably do another 25% water change immediately.
A tank should not have any nitrites. Nitrites are incredibly toxic to fish. Is this a new tank?
What is your pH specifically? What are your nitrates. Did you add declor?
What is in it?
I'd probably do another 25% water change immediately.
Since the fish started to die after the water change you need to test the water you're adding to your tank before doing another water change!
I suspect the problem lies in the low pH (depending on what they mean by "low") and nitrites. I'd check the pH and ammonia levels of tap water....but I assume that this is the same tap water they use all the time..?
sounds like a possible case of OTS ( Old Tank Syndrome) How long has the tank been set up, and how often have water changes been done on it?
OTS
is there such a thing as OTS? I didn't know qabout that. My stupid fiance... when i left him.. didn't clean that tank out the whole time... 4 months... so I think it might have been OTS... all i know is that they all started coming up for air and turning upside down. *YAY*
is there such a thing as OTS? I didn't know qabout that. My stupid fiance... when i left him.. didn't clean that tank out the whole time... 4 months... so I think it might have been OTS... all i know is that they all started coming up for air and turning upside down. *YAY*
OTS is very real for all tanks. Essentially, there are several aspects, For a breif summary, you have the concern of TDS buildup from evaporation and replacement of water without the removal of any of the solids. You also have a concern with your buffer being consumed by natural process and then a subsequent Ph drop in the tank. Lastly you have a buildup of pheremones and other chemicals from the livestock in the tank. The fish in the tank acclimate slowly as these changes take place, but adding new fish is usually deadly for the new guy, and doing water changes rapidly changes things in the system so your fish can't acclimate. a 10% shouldn't have made that significant of a difference but it may have so I wouldn't rule it out totally. Either way, very very frequent low volume water changes should bring back the tank parrameters without shocking the fish.
The thought on my mind is did you get any funny smells? Is it possible that aneroebic pockets formed and you released some nasty gas into the tank? 4 months without a cleaning could easily cause OTS, but could also allow pockets of some really nasty sutff to form in your substrate.
dave
The thought on my mind is did you get any funny smells? Is it possible that aneroebic pockets formed and you released some nasty gas into the tank? 4 months without a cleaning could easily cause OTS, but could also allow pockets of some really nasty sutff to form in your substrate.
dave