This is a problem in itself, but I don't think it is what caused the immediate deaths (unless they were shock related due to significantly different water).
I also do not test my tanks for hardness and rarely for pH, but I test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate regularly because these give a good indication of the health of the system as a whole, as well as information about how beneficial or harmful the water might be.
I also do not test my tanks for hardness and rarely for pH, but I test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate regularly because these give a good indication of the health of the system as a whole, as well as information about how beneficial or harmful the water might be.
Water temperature is very important. If you have them in your tank that is a certain temperature, take them out and put them into another container and the temperature is not the same it can severly shock them.
You really need to leave the fish in the tank to do the water change, and the water added back in needs to be the same as the tank
Having said that, however, I don't think temperature is the problem. All the other fish are still ok?
I agree with melody completely, it is actually much less stressful to leave them in their 10 gal and use a gravel vacuum to suck out the debris and then pour conditioned water back into the aquarium. I still have a nagging feeling though that something didn't go right with conditioning the water. If you removed all or most of the water, refilled and put the fish back in, it doesn't seem likely that the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate could have been in any great concentration, which makes me think it was chlorine or chloramine.
Does your water conditioner detoxify both chlorine and chloramine?
It's more stressful to take them out. They will dart around while you do it and look stressed out, but they get used to it, really, and it really is less stressful if you leave them in.
What is the product you used to remove the chlorine and chloramine? If it is chlorine poisoning, or nitrite poisoning, we can offer a suggested emergency treatment, but please, let us know ASAP. We need to know your water parameters. What's your ammonia, nitrite. Those are the two most dangerous chemicals in a new tank. And, if the water was not fully dechlorinated, this too, is very serious.
