Major Fish Kill

[smdnh]

I have had a very stable tank for a year now and just experienced a major fish kill; probably due to some sort of chemistry problem. I have always had low pH and unless I add Seachem buffer with the weekly water change it will gradually fall below 6.0. A few weeks ago I noted a spike in ammonia to about 1 ppm. In spite of daily water changes for approx 2 weeks, the pH fell off the scale and the ammonia stayed high. My tap water is disinfected with cloramines and ranges from 0.5 to 1 ppm ammonia. So.... in trying to rebuild the tank and prevent this disaster in the future I am looking for guidance.

Why would the neutral tap water become acidic in the tank? I took out some driftwood a few months ago in case it was leaching tannins, with no efffect.

What can I do about the ammonia in the tap water? The dechlor agents only break the chloramine bonds still leaving ammonia. I know people don't like to use additives like ammo-lock or zeolite, but perhaps its appropriate in my case. Any other suggestions?

Thanks.
Bill

20 gal tank, moderately planted with a pre-mortality census of: 1 yoyo loach, 2 otos, 1 candystripe plec, 3 cherry barbs, 3 neons, and 3 danios.

 

[blue acara]

You shouldn't have ammonia in your water, I would contact your water supplier and ask them about it-it really shouldn't be there.
If there is ammonia in your tap water the only thing I can think of doing is to get a RO unit, which will remove everything from the water.(you will need to add buffer and hardness back to the water)

What is your tap waters KH? If is very low (0-3) then this is why your water is acidic. Baking soda will raise the kh making the ph stable.

 

[smdnh]

You shouldn't have ammonia in your water, I would contact your water supplier and ask them about it-it really shouldn't be there.
If there is ammonia in your tap water the only thing I can think of doing is to get a RO unit, which will remove everything from the water.(you will need to add buffer and hardness back to the water)

What is your tap waters KH? If is very low (0-3) then this is why your water is acidic. Baking soda will raise the kh making the ph stable.

Thanks for the reply. I have a call into the water quality unit and am looking forward to their response. I have no idea about the KH since my LFS doesn't sell those test kits. In my readings though, the Seachem buffers should replentish the minerals necessary to keep the hardness ok.

 

[Iron Man]

Even you've been leaving behind ammonia after using a dechloraminater your tank should be equipped with the bacteria to handle this leftover ammonia. There must have been a spike of the use of chemicals in your water. Was this just after a hard/long rain? They dump more chemicals into the water after that, and well water isn't that wonderful after it either (it stinks).

If you're having this problem maybe it is best to invest in some zeolite product. I can tell you from experience that zeolite DOES work. I used it in a 55 gallon tank that I didn't want to wait to cycle before I dumped the whole community of fish in it. They did fine, and every month that I changed the zeolite out, I put just a little less back in the filter. Eventually the tank was cycled with no problems and I didn't need to use the zeolite anymore.

Had I not used that stuff though, I can tell you those fish woulda been dead.

 

[n3ont3tra]

I would buy an RO unit and then you don't have to worry about any contaminants in your tap water.

 

[Mikaila31]

Prime should get rid of the ammonia and chloramines from the tap water

 

[Iron Man]

I completely forgot about Prime! There ya go! I used that for a long time with great results. It has a smell to it but as long as you don't overdose its fine. GET SOME PRIME!