I am a fish murderer :(

0.05 Nitrites won't kill most fish although less is better.

Don't replace all water w/ RO unless you're adding other stuff to maintain some alkalinity, trace minerals, salts etc. Too little of that Will kill fish (osmotic pressure outta wack, gas solubility issues etc.)

Get some prime & biospira &/or seed gravel from an established tank (and some tougher starter fish?). Then you'll be OK.


Keep testing!
 
star_rider said:
a little carification please.

you mention the pH was 7 from the source? correct?

call you water supplier and find out what amount og chlorine they put in the water.



what de-chlor are you using?

nitrites in general are very bad for your fish..prolonged exposure to these nitrites will ost likely cause damage to the fish.

where did you get the fish and how close are they to you?

they probaby don't use RO..and if you do you will need to add back some buffers as pure RO is not good for the fish.

unless you add bio-spira you will be going thru a cyce in this tank...(Nitrogen Cycle) please read up on this or you will be in for more fish deaths.
typically you will see ammonia, nitrites and then nitrates.

I would not suggest cycing a tank with a pleco or cories.

why not do a fishess cycle(you can read up on this at thia forum)
Click to expand...

The PH is maintained by using a chemical additive prior to adding in new water. I only change about 2 gallons of water in a 55 gallon tank, basically on a daily basis, and always add in Seachem Neutral Regulator to make the PH stay at 7.0. It also removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. It also contains phosphate buffers and conditioning salts. As for the initial water conditioner, I used Tetra Aqua AQUASAFE.

I don't want to use tap water to replace wate in my tank since the water at my house has 6 ppm chlorine in it, and everage is only supposed to be like 3. We live very close to the water treatment plant (like 5 miles) so we get really high chlorine values, but VERY little sediment in the water. Hence why I am using the RO water. I was told that the Neuttral Regulator is adding enough minerals and salts back to the RO water that the fish should be fine.
 
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as long as you are adding 'salts' /buffers you should be fine.
I would still contact your water facility to find out what level the chlorine is at.

but you do know that you can add more de-chor(my choice is prime)
to counter act the chlorine.
 
The water here at my house is at 6 ppm for chlorine, twice that which is normally found of 3 ppm. I went out to the LFS this evening and got some bio-spira, chlorine tester and RO replenishment for fresh water. It contains no phosphates, but has salt and minerals and hardens the water slightly. Added all of that to my tank this evening. The chlorine in the tank is 0, as is the water coming out of the RO. I was concerned that maybe the RO filter was already breaking down due to the high content of chlorine in the tap water, but this was not the case. I think the original reason I had so many problems was that after we got back from the LFS Saturday afternoon, I went to the restroom and the wife and kids dumped the fish right into the tank without the acclimatization process normally done, so they may have gone into shock from it. One of the sword tails survived and is no longer listless in the tank, but is swimming around and exploring the new territory. That is honestly the only thing I can think of that would kill off 7 fish in a 30 hour period with 0 ammonia and nitrates and only 0.05 nitrites in the tank. But yea, I went ahead and did the bio-spira thing to ensure the tank is indeed cycled. Can't hurt anyway.
 
Since your chlorine is so high, I would suggest putting tap water in a bucket and aerate it using an airstone for 24-48 hours. Then add some dechlorinator to remove any chlorine (if any chlorine remains).
 
you may want to use RO and place it in a storage unit. small garbage can add a small power head for circulation and balance the water in the storage unit with your RO replenisher.. use it to slowly replace the water..it would seem easier than trying to balance the chemistry at the time of the water change.

I know a lot of breeders who use this system and large storage tanks as they change a ton of water daily.

the guy I talk to has 30 40 gallon grow out tanks he uses 2 100 gallon garbage tanks that way he can use one tank for water changes while setting up the water in the 'other' tank.
he uses a small submersible pump with pvc pipes feeding his tanks.

he also has a hose made of clear tubing 3/4"(similar to python) attached to a pump .
 
Well, I don't think I need to go that excessive. The RO I have only makes about 2 gallons of water per 2 hours, which is all I really change out in a day. So just get everything in a 5 or 10 gallon bucket balanced out and I should be fine with a once per week water cycle. And here I thought getting an RO system would make my life a little easier!! lol

Thanks for all of the replies and the helpful tips. Looks like I need to go and buy a bucket and a small pump now.
 
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