Help!

[nukeonekitty]

Okay so I did a 50% water change in my mbuna tank this morning, cleaned out my Aquaclear 70 and in and outs of my Rena XP3. I went up to the tank tonight and all the fish are staying down at the bottom of the tank and breathing heavy. My first thought was test the water and nothing came up (pH 7.5 (normal) ammonia 0, nitrite 0). Do you think I got something in the water when I did my water change? I cleaned the glass (the outside) with windex and cleaned off my hoods with vinegar and cleaned the top part of the hood with plastic cleaner for cars. What should I do?

 

[adambrum]

Im not great on fish health things but it does sound as if something has happened.

I would do another big water change again to try and dilute whatever could be in there and keep an eye on water stats.

Also try posting on other forums and in the health section.

 

[kribensis12]

I am guessing that the windex got in the tank, or your fish are just stressed out from the water change.

 

[nynex]

Why such a huge water change? Was your tank that dirty? You should be
doing 10% to 15% water changes monthly unless you have something go
wrong and need to get as much of the water out as possible. Sounds like
there is no oxygen in the water and that the fish are serverly stressed.
Also, when cleaning your aqua clear, did you rinse the bio media
off? You dont want to do that, you washing all of the needed bacteria
off of the bio media. As I said in another post. Seachem make a
product called Stability. It adds needed bacteria to the tank. Its way
better then cycle. I would get stability and add that for atleast 7 days.

Also what kind of water did you use. I always use 12 stage filtered
RO water. I know this is not always avaliable to everyone. You can
get a 5 stage RO system for around $200. I seen a seller on ebay
with them.

 

[denis coghlan]

name='nynex' date='Dec 19 2006, 02:26 PM'
Why such a huge water change? Was your tank that dirty? You should be
doing 10% to 15% water changes monthly unless you have something go
wrong and need to get as much of the water out as possible.

I have to disagree with you nynex, IMO that to sustain a healthy tank and get the best out of your fish you should undertake at least some sort of water change weekly.

I am aware (for salt water systems anyway) that if you are using a trickle filter that you can eliminate nearly all of the generated nitrates in a tank and therefore you can reduce the need for water changes. But in a salt water system you will most likely also be using a skimmer which will remove all suspended organics in the water that reduce water clarity. Since skimmers don't work in freshwater systems but trickle filters do, you will not have a problem with nitrates but your water clarity will be reduced (severely so after a month). Carbon will help reduce some of the excess tannins and discolouration in the water but it is in no way as effective as water changes. Also most people have closed filtration systems i.e. externals, internals and not trickle filters. This coupled with the high stocking usually associated with African cichlid tanks makes water changes weekly of bi weekly nearly essential.

IMHO Nukeonekitty, keep doing your weekly water changes. I do 30% weekly and I stand by it.

Seachem make a product called Stability. It adds needed bacteria to the tank. Its way
better then cycle. I would get stability and add that for at least 7 days

There is no proof that cycling your tank with chemical additives is better than using the natural method of fishless cycling. Granted it is faster but you still have to pay for the product!

 

[nynex]

Stability is benificial Bacteria which your tank needs. Ive never done weekly water
changes ever. I have a 75 gallon African Cichlid tank. I use 12 stage filtered RO water
and my tank is crystal clear. A monthly water change of 15% should keep your
tank healthy. The guy who started this post said he did a 50% water change. I was
just telling him it probably wouldnt hurt to add some Stability to his tank after such a
huge water change.


tanks a lot said: There is no proof that cycling your tank with chemical additives is better than using the natural method of fishless cycling. Granted it is faster but you still have to pay for the product!

I dont think $9.99 is a bad price to pay, to help add needed bacteria to your tank...lol

 

[jayjay]

probably wouldnt hurt to add some Stability

Do you sell this stuff or something? You seem to have mentioned it in all the posts I've seen by you. Personally I wouldn't add it, there's no need. Why would he need to add it? Bacteria in the filter can 'split' so often there is no need, they can recover from 'dents' in their numbers quite easily.

Also on the large water changes I do anywhere up too two 75% water changes a week. These water changes remove the organic build up and replace minerals used. Show me how doing monthly changes is better than weekly.

 

[nynex]

I think 75% water changes weekly is a little excessive.

Well ive always done monthly and my 10 gallon, 75 gallon and
125 gallon reef tank all do fine.... granted the reef has a a wet/dry
and a protein skimmer. plus one awesome cleaning crew...
Plus all my tanks have 12 stage flitered RO water which is
perfect water.

By the way jayjay , I only mentioned Stability in 2 of my 10 posts..
Both on the subject of bacteria. Not to mention I like seachem products..
so sue me...lol....geezzz

 

[DarkEntity]

It could be as simple as you cleaned far too much now the fish are suffering. Check your water stats. Could be you put too big a dent in the bacterial colony and its mini cycling.

 

[jayjay]

If 1 person does it, it does no necessarily mean it's right. I do large water changes as do many other people, it has it's benefits.

What media are you using in your wet/dry by the way?

 

[rixy]

hi nukeonekitty,i'd do another 50% water change straight away.i only use water(tank) to clean the hood and outside glass.my main tank is 2 years old and looks brand new.i then wipe the tank with paper towels to get any water marks off.the glass is like new.no marks what so ever.keep an eye on the fish.their behaviour will tell you if they are ok or if you should take further action.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Just update. Fish are doing great. I think it was a temperature shock and I am watching for parasites.

The reason I do such large water changes is because that just is how much water I extract from vaccing the bottom. I just like my tank clean because there is much less chance of illness.

Thanks for all the post guys!

 

[adambrum]

Good to hear its on the mend, If your worried about parasites and such you could add some antibacterial agent to the water to be the safe side.

 

[nukeonekitty]

That won't kill off beneficial bacteria?

 

[adambrum]

No not at all most meds wont, i think esha is a common one and melafix, I always keep a bottle of melafix handy just in case.

You may have to remove the carbon for a while though as it removes the meds.