Pink Water

[computerfile]

Hello everyone. I have a question that I cannot seem to find the answer to. I had my gold fish in a 28 gallon metaframe aquarium and they seem to have been getting sick from what I believe to be water quality. One was stuck floating at the top and had a red soar on its fin and the other seemed to have fin rot. What I did was set up a 10 gallon aquarium that I treated the water with Amquel and Novaqua as well as added API aquarium salts, the measured amount for 10 gallons required. I placed my gold fish in their and all seems fine. The one that was floating is no longer stuck at the top, but he may be stuck at the bottom now as he just hangs out there. Could be that the water is cold, I don't have a heater for the tank.

I have a Fluval 205 filter which I cleaned out to use on the 10 gallon aquarium as I want to leave the fish in their until I am sure that all is fine with them, I don't really want to setup my metaframe until I am sure that the fish will survive. Anyhow, after cleaning out my filter and hooking it up to the 10 gallon I plugged it in and the water in the tank turned pink immediately. It is clear but has a pink tint. The fish survived the night but I am at a loss as to what could have caused this. I didn't add any chemicals to the water filter after filling it that were not already in the water.

Anyone have any ideas or info would be great. Also I am not using any decorations or gravel in the tank at the moment.

 

[Kiara1125]

First off, goldfish are coldwater fish, therefore they don't need a heater. Did you dechlorinate the water as needed? Are you sure that there is absolutely nothing foreign in the filter?

 

[MdngtRain]

I was really hoping someone with more knowledge would come in, but since you only got one theory, I will throw out mine: 1) the meds you used have reacted with each other., speeding up the reaction when you started mixing the water with the filter action. 2) there was a chemical reaction between the meds and whatever you used to clean the filter with.
Either way, I would guess a water change would be in order. While I don't know that the pink water is harmful, I don't know that it its safe either. To be on the safe side, change the water and use only one med at a time. While changing the water, take the filter out and rinse it really, really well. Also, when putting out back in, make sure to remove the carbon while using meds. The carbon often reacts with the meds either losing efficacy or making them completely useless.
I hope your fish recover. Remember to test often to keep your parameters in check, and do frequent water changes (well, the water changes keep them in check, the testing monitors them)...
Also, kiara is right, goldfish are cold water fish. Unless you live where the ambient temp is always in the low 50' s, you should be ok.

 

[KcMopar]

How big are your goldfish? Most need tanks at least about 50G or so as they get pretty big and are fish that create a huge amount of waste so they require weekly LARGE water changes to keep up the quality of water. Also the 10G might need daily or bi-daily water changes to cope with the water quality issue of having two gold fish in such a small tank. Also note that the 10G might be going through a cycle as well and that can be hard on sick fish.

 

[computerfile]

Hey Mdngt. I am not using any meds at all, just API aquarium salt and Amquel and Novaqua to dechlorinate so I don't see a problem with the carbon. Also, I have used all of the same things together without the pink water result. I did clean the filter out very well and rinsed everything so I don't believe it to be something in the filter itself. My water tested fine and fish seem happier then they were. I will change out some of their water and work at getting them back into their original home.

I am aware that they are cold water but I tend to keep the house in the mid 60's and used to have a heater in the winter but when it broke and my fish didn't seem to mind and I noticed that the 3rd party life in my tank was inhibited by the colder water I decided to not replace it.

 

[computerfile]

How big are your goldfish? Most need tanks at least about 50G or so as they get pretty big and are fish that create a huge amount of waste so they require weekly LARGE water changes to keep up the quality of water. Also the 10G might need daily or bi-daily water changes to cope with the water quality issue of having two gold fish in such a small tank. Also note that the 10G might be going through a cycle as well and that can be hard on sick fish.

One is about 6 inches, I had it for about 6 years. The other is fairly young, only about an inch at this point. They are both Veiltails or Fantails. I usually keep them in a 28 gal, the 10 gallon is just temporary. Had a lot of tragedy and hardships as of late and fish water quality wasn't a major concern.