Messed Up Water Change?

[plecostomus-mad]

i just did a 10 litre water change in my 60 litire tank, i thought i matched the temp but upon putting it in the temp dropped from 79-81f to 75-77f also i forgot to treat the water

i added some anti chlorine in the tank in small bits untill i had put the required amount in.

have i maybe killed my fish? they seem active but im worried now. i was too keen and forgot the fundamentals! lesson well learnt and i have now wrote out instructions for myself above my tank

do you think ive harmed them in anyway?

 

[Littlemonkey]

You may have just got away with it. But keep a close eye on the fish, as it wasn't such a large water change I don't think you have done much harm.

 

[WILDER]

I agree you might just of got away with it.

Look out for signs of whitespot, swim bladder, columnaris.

If the fish are acting normal I wouldn't worry to much.

 

[MHunt]

I wouldn't worry about the drop in temp too much, It can actually be a good thing if you're trying to get certain species to breed.

Chlorine vents off pretty easily with water agitation so simply pouring the water into the tank or from the tap into the bucket would have dispersed much of that. The only issue you may have is if there was chloramine in the water, but you added the dechlor to the tank so you're probably ok. All you can do is keep an eye on your fish for any problems, but if they look healthy I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

thank you all for the fast response, i will be keeping a close eye on them there are only 4 black neon tetras in there at the moment.

 

[MHunt]

For such a small bioload any damage to the filter bacteria by the chlorine or chloramine will be negligable. I think you'll be fine.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i went out today and bought an api master test kit, it was on offer too 20 pounds!! also got some bog wood, cycle and some more water treatment ( anti clorine ) tests results soon

 

[plecostomus-mad]

here are the results:

ammonia: 1.0

ph:7.6

nitrite:0.25

nitrate: 0

is this good? bad?

 

[WILDER]

No water quality bad.
Immediate water change.

How long has the tank been set up?
How many fish and which type.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

tanks been set up 12 days, 4 black neon tetras have been in for 5 days.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Need to read up on the nitrogen cycle.

Keep doing water changes and increase aeration.
Add one tablespoon of salt to the tank water. Get a jug of tank water and add a tablespoon of salt,stir till the salt disolves. Then add to the tank.

 

[MHunt]

Again the full story comes out. You needed to be testing the water and doing water changes every day till the tank has cycled.

In short the nitrogen cycle is where fish waste (Ammonia which is harmful to the fish) is broken down by bacteria into Nitrite (which is still harmful to the fish) which is then broken down into Nitrate which the fish can tolerate, which you remove from the water by doing water changes with fresh water.

Unfortunately it takes time for your filter to colonise the bacteria which I've mentioned above, and till your filter is cycling (breaking down the harmful stuff above) you need to be testing the water daily, and doing a water change if it reads any Ammonia or Nitrite. The good news is that your filter is producing Nitrite so it's starting to cycle the tank, but it's not there yet.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

Again the full story comes out. You needed to be testing the water and doing water changes every day till the tank has cycled.

please explain what you mean by this and i am testing everyday since i bought the kit, and water changes are made everyday.

 

[shelaghfishface]

go and test again.. make sure you dont get mixed up with the nitrate and nitrite test results.. if the original ones are correct then yes, you need to do water changes day in day out ( well hourly infact) to get that nitrite out.. when youve done that.. do what the guys tell you and read up on the nitrogen cycle.. its not the end of the world, most of us have been in your situation, but it does need to be rectified fast, for the fishes health sakes
dont be afraid to ask any quaetions you need to were all here to help you along

shelagh xx

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i have started a test log in the tropical discussion section.