Letting the water sit to gas off chlorine is fine except over 70% of districts if I recall use chloramines which are stable indefinately in water and need to be treated with a dechlorinator in order to be removed. These chloramines are just as damaging as chlorine.
Trouble with established tank
- Thread starter Isthan
- Start date
I have never heard of dechlor not working in an uncycled tank or water?? If I remeber right the clown loaches get to 1 foot in lengh and need a lot of swimming area. I am not sure if I totally understand but it sounds like you dont use any dechlor at all when doing water changes that is a bad thing IMO the fish are probably dieing from shock weather it be from ammonia or chlorine if I had to guess id say the ammonia is probably off the scale. If you put untreated water with chlorine/chloramines into your tank the bio filter is probably dead. You need to test for ammonia and nitrites and then do water changes to get them down to 0 to save the fish.
So it is my understanding that one week from the last time I siphoned, I should re attempt but add the AquaSafe to the jugs of water before refilling. Is this going to be enough to reestablish order into my tank?
Another thing I need to be exactly clear on is the "Biofilter" is the bags of carbon that lies before the spongy second filter in my filtration unit, correct? If so, then you are saying that adding the chlorinated water is disrupting the bacteria that grow on the filter and thus needs to be changed immediately?
I did not know that clowns can grow to lengths over a foot. The ones I have are very small, only about 2.5 inches or so. The larger ones that I saw in the fish store were about 4 inches long, so I figured that was their adult or young adult size.
As far as testing, I have a Nitrite (NO2-) tester, is it also neccisary to test for Nitrate (NO3-) and Ammonia (NH3-) at the same time even though they are all a part of the same cycle? I would just assume that the levels of nitrite spiked after my water change because I had just removed the ammonia from the gravel.
Also, if anyone with experience with Gouramis could help me with my Dwarf that has recently developed a bulge on one side of his body. The description I could give is that it looks like other fish I've researched with Dropsy but the scales are not frayed like a pinecone and the rest of the scales are normal. Simply looks like the fish is full. The scales in the affected area are smooth around the swelled organ. The swelling is just behind the left pectoral fin rather where I would expect the stomach and vital organs to be.
Thanks for the tips and advice thus far! Hopefully I'll gain as much general knowledge as you all. I thought I knew a thing or two about fish care, having kept various fish for 6 years or so, but its obvious to me now that me and this post belong in the newbie forum.
Another thing I need to be exactly clear on is the "Biofilter" is the bags of carbon that lies before the spongy second filter in my filtration unit, correct? If so, then you are saying that adding the chlorinated water is disrupting the bacteria that grow on the filter and thus needs to be changed immediately?
I did not know that clowns can grow to lengths over a foot. The ones I have are very small, only about 2.5 inches or so. The larger ones that I saw in the fish store were about 4 inches long, so I figured that was their adult or young adult size.
As far as testing, I have a Nitrite (NO2-) tester, is it also neccisary to test for Nitrate (NO3-) and Ammonia (NH3-) at the same time even though they are all a part of the same cycle? I would just assume that the levels of nitrite spiked after my water change because I had just removed the ammonia from the gravel.
Also, if anyone with experience with Gouramis could help me with my Dwarf that has recently developed a bulge on one side of his body. The description I could give is that it looks like other fish I've researched with Dropsy but the scales are not frayed like a pinecone and the rest of the scales are normal. Simply looks like the fish is full. The scales in the affected area are smooth around the swelled organ. The swelling is just behind the left pectoral fin rather where I would expect the stomach and vital organs to be.
Thanks for the tips and advice thus far! Hopefully I'll gain as much general knowledge as you all. I thought I knew a thing or two about fish care, having kept various fish for 6 years or so, but its obvious to me now that me and this post belong in the newbie forum.
Search this forum for threads on "cycling" and "nitrification". Basically ammonia will spike first until the ammonia consuming bacteria grows and convert the ammonia to nitrite which causes nitrite to spike. Nitrite consuming bacteria will form and convert the nitrite to nitrAte. Nitrate is consumed by algae and can be reduced through water changes.Isthan said:
It's important to test for all three so you can know which state your biological filtration is in.
Peace...
