Water Change Stress Fish?

[Striker2807]

I did a water change on my 60g tank about 4 hours ago and ever since my Bala Shark has been stressed by that I mean floating upside down breathing heavy. I also lost one of my Giant Danios shortly after finishing the water change. Same thing as my Bala Shark swimming fine until I did the water change.

This isn't my first time doing a water change either I have done many before without any problems. The only thing I did different was I didn't put in the water conditioner a little later then I usually do. I wouldn't think that it would make much of a difference because I didn't wait much longer then I usually do.

So my questions are could the water change have caused the stress? Is there anything I can do to help my Bala shark? I don't want to lose him too so I hope there is something I can do to help him.

 

[iapetus]

Floating upside down and breathing heavily sounds like more than stress.

How much water did you change out?

 

[Striker2807]

Floating upside down and breathing heavily sounds like more than stress.

How much water did you change out?

Well I might to do just 30%, but I got side tracked and ended up doing more of a 50% water change. Did I take out too much?

I would also like to add he will swim around normally for a little bit, but then go back to being upside down.

 

[iapetus]

Sounds to me as though you may well have waited too long to add the water conditioner, particulary if you swapped out 50% of the water. But, it's hard to be sure from the other side of a computer.

My tanks are small and I use buckets. Yeah, they're far less efficient than using a Python, but it also allows me to condition the water before it goes in the tank. Frankly, I'd be paranoid about putting water in the tank without having first conditioned it -- but that's just me.

Are the fish getting worse? If you've added enough conditioner, I'm not sure what else you can do other than to monitor their condition.

 

[Striker2807]

I put in enough conditioner to condition 30g of water and I am sure I put in a little bit more then that.

I guess I will just have to wait out and see if he makes it.

No the fish aren't getting worse in fact all my other fish are fine it is just my bala shark.

 

[iapetus]

Status report on your bala shark?

 

[Lotus]

The chlorine can burn fishes' gills, so it's a good idea to make sure the water is dechlorinated quickly. I'd guess this is what caused the problem.

 

[brian1973]

would chlorine affect them that quickly? And why only one fish?

 

[sombunya]

FWIW, I use one of those vacuum/water hose gadgets to vacuum gravel and fill the tank. I do 25% water changes once a week.

I know the store owner pretty good where I bought it. She assured me that is the way she does it; adds conditioner as she fills the tank, and she has around 140 of them in her store.

I was a little worried at first and used to treat the water before I added it. Now I add the conditioner as I fill the tank in the form of a stock solution. I mix the conditioner in a quart of water and slowly add it as I'm filling the tank. I test for chlorine after wards, negative.

 

[brian1973]

I personally test the tap, if its negative i dont add anything.

 

[Striker2807]

Status report on your bala shark?

Unfortunately the poor little guy didn't make it.

To ensure this doesn't happen again I have a few questions about water changes. The first one being I use a python to do my water changes so you can't really treat the water before it goes in. So when should I put in the water conditioner?

Second, how often should water changes be done and how much? I have heard people doing 10%, 25% water changes once a week should I start doing this because now I only do one once a month. My 60g tank only has 4 fish in it at the moment because I haven't had money to buy more fish to put in it and I want to finish decorating in first.

Third, and this goes along with my previous question I tested my water today at the pet store, which does it for free, but they use the strip type of test, which I know aren't as accurate and everything checked out except my ammonia that was slightly high. Not enough to be a problem, but I know it will become one quickly so should I start doing weekly water changes and how much to keep this under control.

 

[brian1973]

Well my recommendation is first buy yourself a test kit... I use an API Master kit (freshwater) they are reasonable in price..petsmart sell them for the mid 20's and you can get it offline for even less.

Yes you should be changing atleast 10% every week..I usually do anywhere from 30 to 50% a week..depending on my mood. I have never used a python yet but I added conditioner when needed as soon as i finished adding water.

I would say 10% to 20% to get your ammonia down.but without a test kit you arent going to know when to stop

 

[Lotus]

I add the dechlorinator before I turn on the faucet to fill with the Python. The aeration of the water by the Python will gass off some of the chlorine. If you have a lot of chlorine in your water, or the water treatment company uses chloramines, the Python will probably not off-gass enough.

A lot will depend on where you live, what water treatment is used, and even how close you are to the water treatment plant. Some people can get away with using no dechlorinator (in a few parts of the country).

I generally do 40% to 50% changes every week. I've done as much as a 90% change if the tank is overstocked or there is an emergency. I've never had a problem doing this, but I know we have a low level of chlorine in our water, and the temperature isn't usually too cold for the fish.

With the ammonia level, first check your tapwater after it has been dechlorinated, to make sure that isn't a source of ammonia. If the ammonia is coming from your tank, then it's still cycling. Keep the ammonia levels under 1.0 ppm (less than 0.5 ppm is better) to keep your fish healthy and alive.

 

[Striker2807]

Well my recommendation is first buy yourself a test kit... I use an API Master kit (freshwater) they are reasonable in price..petsmart sell them for the mid 20's and you can get it offline for even less.

Yes you should be changing atleast 10% every week..I usually do anywhere from 30 to 50% a week..depending on my mood. I have never used a python yet but I added conditioner when needed as soon as i finished adding water.

I would say 10% to 20% to get your ammonia down.but without a test kit you arent going to know when to stop

I plan on buying the exact test kit you have recommended probably Friday. I have been putting it off and putting it off, but it appears I can't put it off any longer.

Lotus,

So it is alright to add the water conditioner right before I start filling my tank? I was always worried that doing this wouldn't dechlorinate the water I was adding.

I never realized that ammonia could come from your tap water I will definitely be sure to test it out when I get my test kit tomorrow.

 

[brian1973]

The API doesnt come with chlorine test, atleats mine didnt, so you have to buy that seperate if you want to test for it.

 

[iapetus]

Unfortunately the poor little guy didn't make it.

I'm sorry to hear it.

The API doesnt come with chlorine test, atleats mine didnt, so you have to buy that seperate if you want to test for it.

Yeah, that's why I've got strips in addition to my API test kit. The strips also test for KH. Does API sell chlorine or KH test kits?

 

[Striker2807]

OK I have a bunch more questions coming your way and instead of making a ton of different threads I will post them all and hope I get some responses!*twirlysmi

I bought an API test kit and here are the results I got:

PH - 7.6
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - 0 (Both in tank and out of the tap)
Nitrates - 10

So all is well with that! I didn't buy anything to test the chlorine so one of my questions is should I buy something to test the chlorine? It is looking like this is what killed my 2 fish during my last water change.

Second question, is in regard to oxygen levels and my salt levels. Should I be concerned about testing these? I am always afraid that I have added too much of the aquarium salt and it is going to do something to my fish. As for the oxygen in the water I am just afraid there is not enough because I don't have any type of air hose or anything just my filter.

These might be stupid newbie questions, but I figured I mine as well ask them and get them out of the way.

 

[iapetus]

I bought an API test kit and here are the results I got:

PH - 7.6
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - 0 (Both in tank and out of the tap)
Nitrates - 10

So all is well with that!

Yep! Looks good. *thumbsups

I didn't buy anything to test the chlorine so one of my questions is should I buy something to test the chlorine? It is looking like this is what killed my 2 fish during my last water change.

I don't ever really test for chlorine. I just de-chlorinate the water coming out of my tap before I add it to the tank. Sounds to me as though it's safe to add the de-chlorination products to the tank before you add the tap water, though, if you're using a Python or some other such device to do your water changes.

I guess that my strips test for chlorine, though. All I ever notice when I use them is that the chlorine registers zero. (The strips are nice for a quick and dirty test, I find.)

Second question, is in regard to oxygen levels and my salt levels. Should I be concerned about testing these? I am always afraid that I have added too much of the aquarium salt and it is going to do something to my fish. As for the oxygen in the water I am just afraid there is not enough because I don't have any type of air hose or anything just my filter.

I don't aerate any of my tanks; the fish do just fine. Of course, I also have plants in my tanks, which help supply the fish with O2.

As for the aquarium salt, I guess I'm wondering why you add it. And, if you're adding it, are you exceeding the amount recommended on the package? If not, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Of course, I'm not sure that aquarium salt is really needed. Because I fear it will harm my cories and emerald catfish, I never add it anymore.

 

[Striker2807]

As for the aquarium salt, I guess I'm wondering why you add it. And, if you're adding it, are you exceeding the amount recommended on the package? If not, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Of course, I'm not sure that aquarium salt is really needed. Because I fear it will harm my cories and emerald catfish, I never add it anymore.

I have been told by MANY people that aquarium salt is a great addition to helping to keep your fish healthy by reducing stress and reducing pathogens in the water.

I don't know maybe I don't need this? Does anyone else use it?

 

[Rayneuki]

Aquarium salt... Well it's just something the LFS tells you that they use it and reccomend it because it makes you buy it.
If anything when I used Aquarium salt it's when I had the most fish-deaths. So I'm not very trusting of it.
If you still have a lot of it, I reccomend using it to clean the aquarium decorations and new decorations...

:]