Hard Water Woes- Which fish work best?

1.) When you say "acclimate" are you refering to the exact method I release them into the tank?
When I bring them home I stick them in a 10 gallon intro tank for two weeks to make sure they don't have any weird diseases. I set the bag in the water for 15 minutes and then I let them swim out of the bag. To be honest, sometimes I pull up on the bag and make them come out.
2.) Is there a better method, am I being to hard on them?
I did sort of cheat on allowing the intro tank to cycle. I took a handful of gravel from the cycled tank and stuck it in the intro tank. So really I didn't wait the full 28 days or what have you, it was more like 4.
3.) Do you think this also might be part of the problem?
Thanks.
 
I have cycled almost all of my tanks with gravel or media from other healthy tanks they cycle usually in less than a week so that is not the problem as far as the way you are introducing them it sounds like you are doing it correctly maybe they are just over stressed and weaker before you bring them home. I assume you are using a stress reducer when you are introducing them like stress coat or fritz zyme or something like that.
 
the quarantine tank is a good idea. i wouldn't add water from the store tanks, though, into any of my aquaria because they often contain diseases or other nasties. i pour out the bag contents into a bucket, and catch the fish in a net. i then release them in the tank from the net.

also, you should be adding a little bit of your tank water into the bag every few minutes to get the fish used to any changes in water chemistry (pH, hardness, etc.). floating is good, but it only makes temperature the same. it takes me at least an hour to acclimate my new fish. then i do the net thing.
 
Indeed I am. That's why I thought it might be the hard water that was killing them. I have a few different theories. One more question for you though. How do you go about sterilizing a quarentine tank after the fish kicks it? I have read that somes fungal spores can survive for weeks on even dry surfaces? And how do you go about steralizing surfaces of the aquarium if your not suppose to use bleach?
 
you can use bleach on empty aquariums. just dilute bleach with water (1/10 or 1/20 bleach works well for most people). apply to tank and scrub. Then rinse it out really well until the bleach smell is gone. It also doesn't hurt to do a final rinse with extra dechlorinator in the water. Dechlorinator will remove bleach because it is a concentrated chlorine compound.

I actually use bleach solution to clean my non-porous (wood would just absorb bleach, so bad) ornaments whenever they get too covered in algae. I put them right back in the tank with fish and shrimps and plants, after rinsing as above. I just squirt a little extra tap water conditioner into the tank after that. Everybody's doing fine, no ill effects at all. Activated carbon in your filter will also help remove bleach.
 
Bleach is fine in aquariums. You just rinse the tank thoroughly and fill it again with about a quadruple dose of dechlorinator and let sit. When I fill mine again and prepare it for fish I also add extra dechlorinator the first time. Bleach is just chlorine, so the dechlor neutralizes any that isn't rinsed off. Also, if you let the tank dry completely after you wash and rinse it, bleach will evaporate as well. So the combination of all of the above make it perfectly same to use a small dose of bleach (1:10 ratio or so), a little goes a long way with bleach.
 
We still haven't explained why your fish died in the quarantine tank. My guess is that the QT wasn't cycled, and there was ammonia in it. It's hard to keep QT's cycled without constantly having fish in it, so many people use snails and keep it set up (e.g. with water in it, filter running) all the time.

Do you know ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels in any of your tanks? Those are more often than not the cause of fish dying, and not hard water.
 
Well actually I had tested the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate levels, they were doing fine. I know that there was some benificial bacteria present because the ammonia level had gone down and there was some nitrate present. If it wasn't the hard water issue, I'm left to assume I didn't clean out the tank well enough after I used it as a quarentine tank for my Mollys who had the body fungus. As for the catfish, I think he developed ick secondary to not eating properly. (I did provide him with a cave to hide in but he hardly ever ate the algae wafers I dropped in for him)
Thanks for all your help though! I wasn't aware that bleach was actually just a form of chlorine! I will definately be using it on empty tanks to clean them out! and I won't be mixing in the petstore water into my tank anymore! I wish I would have used this forum months ago!
One more thing, has anyone really used polyurithane to spray drift wood. I know it is a sealing agent, but I find it hard to believe that it doesn't harm the fish over time.
 
Last edited:
hard water?

If you live here, you will know the TRUE meaning of hard water, and highly medicated with all kinds of chemicals (our water kills plants, fish, etc etc etc......surprising it hasnt killed our grass outside yet!). What I do with my tank, is do a mixture of 50/50 with tap water (which is treated with a conditioner, to make it safe), and distilled water. I know, people always tell me not to use distilled water, cause there is nothing in it. But, I find that is what absolutely works for me. I tried straight tap water (with the water conditioner) a few weeks ago, and have since lost 3 fish, and possibly 2 more soon (they are in the hospital tank, and not doing the greatest).

Its just my 2 cents, you can take it to the store and spend it, or put it in your pocket for a keepsake! :girl:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom