Advice On Correcting Water Conditions Would Be Much Appreciated

[coldcazzie]

By the way everyone (sorry to keep on posting questions in here, hopefully this will be the last one I need to ask) just wondered if anybody knew exactly how to diagnose water poisoning damage to fish (caused by Ammonia, Nitrate etc) and if so if they might also know the best way to go about treating it - other than through bottled products.

Many thanks again for reading!

In terms of ammonia or nitrite causing damage to the fishes health, as far as I am aware there are not really any outward signs, except that the fish wont live as long, and their immunity may be compromised. So they might look fine for the next couple of years, and then suddenly drop dead for no apparent reason, or when something usually innocuous comes into the tank.
There are immediate indications that something isn't right - for exmaple, high nitrite levels usually result in the fish gasping at the surface, because nitrite has the same effect as carbon monoxide does on people, so they find it difficult to breathe. But once that's gone, you wont be able to visibly see any damage. I think the exception to this is that high ammonia levels can literally burn the gills so they can appear red (someone may correct me if I'm wrong), but once that has healed then any long term damage will be invisible.
The problem is that many people seem to think that an invisible problem is a non-existant problem. It's not the case with people (you can't see an abdominal tumour, but that doesn't mean it isn't there!), or other animals, so I don't quite follow why the rules suddenly change for fish, but then I don't understand a lot of "common" beliefs!
At this stage, all you can do is try to make the best of the situation you've found yourself in, and try to take care of the fish as best you can, which you are clearly doing, so well done

 

[the biffster]

have you test your tap water
using the test kit you just got
to check what is in your tap water
the only real thing you need is a good
dechlorinator to eliminate chlorine
not unless your tap water is of that poor quality
please post the findings from your testing of your
tap water

 

[EmmaNic286]

In terms of ammonia or nitrite causing damage to the fishes health, as far as I am aware there are not really any outward signs, except that the fish wont live as long, and their immunity may be compromised. So they might look fine for the next couple of years, and then suddenly drop dead for no apparent reason, or when something usually innocuous comes into the tank.
There are immediate indications that something isn't right - for exmaple, high nitrite levels usually result in the fish gasping at the surface, because nitrite has the same effect as carbon monoxide does on people, so they find it difficult to breathe. But once that's gone, you wont be able to visibly see any damage. I think the exception to this is that high ammonia levels can literally burn the gills so they can appear red (someone may correct me if I'm wrong), but once that has healed then any long term damage will be invisible.
The problem is that many people seem to think that an invisible problem is a non-existant problem. It's not the case with people (you can't see an abdominal tumour, but that doesn't mean it isn't there!), or other animals, so I don't quite follow why the rules suddenly change for fish, but then I don't understand a lot of "common" beliefs!
At this stage, all you can do is try to make the best of the situation you've found yourself in, and try to take care of the fish as best you can, which you are clearly doing, so well done

Again, that's extremely helpful cold cazzie - thanks again for taking the time to include all that information there and for the positive thoughts too. Will be sure to keep a mental note of all that!

have you test your tap water
using the test kit you just got
to check what is in your tap water
the only real thing you need is a good
dechlorinator to eliminate chlorine
not unless your tap water is of that poor quality
please post the findings from your testing of your
tap water

Hey there

With the strip test kit my parents got, I recently tested the tapwater. Which showed high levels of water hardness and Nitrate. Though admittedly I haven't used the master kit yet for this - and realise it would best to do so. Thanks for the reminder!