Something Spooky Is Happening In My Tank

[Noahs ark6]

Hi

I woke up this moring to a gourami and a rainbowfish dead. They both have black from their heads to their backs. My diffuser has filled up with a gas (don't know if its co2 or oxygen. I ant see how it could be co2 though?) on it's own. And i did a test which said i had high chlorine which i don't now how because i use the exact amount of dechlorinator stated on the bottle. Does anyone know whats going on, and how my fish ended up dead with black on them?

Thanks oin advance

 

[Noahs ark6]

Anyone? it's quite urgent

 

[DrRob]

If you have detectable chlorine levels then that's quit possibly your problem, albeit unusual.

The obvious questions spring to mind, what have you done recently including water changes and what are the rest of the tank parameters?

Also can you tell us about your co2 set up?

Finally how are you testing chlorine? It's not a common test kit.

 

[Noahs ark6]

I did a %40 water change yesterday. Parameters are
nitrate-10
nitrite-0
harness- 2od
carb hardness- 3od
PH-6.8
Chlorine-1.5

I use tetra 6 in 1 test strips. I know there not the best, so whenever i use them i use 2, and if there is varying results i'll do it a third time
Co2 is a tmc aquagro pressurized co2 with a fluval 20g diffuser which i find works better than the one my kit came with

 

[DrRob]

OK, then it would probably be something in the water change then.

I'm guessing there was either a surge of chlorine in the water supply (they mess with things occasionally to clear the pipes but not usually too drastically and there are maximum limits) or something else toxic.

I'm still concerned about the CO2 system, but suspect that it's a symptom, rather than a cause.

I'm also somewhat concerned about ammonia, especially if you've had a chlorine spike, you may have lost some filter bacteria and there's no test on those strips for that.

What dechlorinator are you using?

Overall, IMHO, you have something toxic in your tank, possibly a chlorine overload that's knocked your filter and you may have rising ammonia levels, which could well be what happened to your fish. I'd go for another large (90%) water change and get an ammonia test kit if you can, you need to dilute whatever is in there. Being the paranoid soul that I am I'd probably test the chlorine levels in the water before I put it in my tank, seeing as you have a test kit for it.

edit: just read your edit, and am less concerned about the CO2 now, unless it blew out lots of gas at once for some reason and crashed the pH, but you'd see that on your tests.

 

[Noahs ark6]

I use api stress coat. Should i use something else now? i will do a test in a min and post the chlorine levels of that water on here

 

[DrRob]

Nothing wrong with that dechlorinater. We all have our preferences, I personally use prime when I use tap water, but that's just my preference.

It's the ammonia level which is concerning me more than anything else.

 

[Noahs ark6]

Hi again. I'm going to buy an api master test kit today. I just tested some tap water that i dechlorinated with the right amount of dechlorinator but even that has got high levels of chlorine in. I use a mixture of hot and cold water, could this be why theres alot of chlorine?

 

[DrRob]

Don't forget to keep us posted.

Hope all is well.

 

[HayzH]

is your dechlor out of date? I would say the problem lies there tbh.

 

[Noahs ark6]

Just checked the bottle, it expires in 2014

 

[deftuch]

You say you do the exact amoynt. Your tap water could he extra high in your area! ??

 

[AshP1986]

Are you shaking it?

 

[Noahs ark6]

I'm not sure if my area has high levels of chlorine, is there a website or something that i can find out on? and no, i'm not shaking the bottle, i will shake it from now on