What's Wrong With My Water!

[AstonN24vantage]

maybe is how long your keeping them in the bag

 

[Tolak]

I would start with a quar tank for the new purchases. This would eliminate any problems from tankmates or a situation if there is any with the tank itself. Plain tap with a good dechlorinator for the quar tank, basically an elimination of variables.

 

[Rynofasho]

When you say you are changing filter media regularly, what are you changing out?

 

[Youknowit]

I don't think I'm keeping them in the bag too long. The first batch that died I only acclimated them for about half and hour. In the past I have usually only acclimated fish for about that amount of time. When the first batch died my first theory was that I rushed them in too quickly so I checked around with some fish dealers and asked them how they acclimate their fish. The main fact that kept popping up was the longer and slower you acclimate them the better.

I change the Penguin cartridge every six or 8 weeks. I don't touch the bio-wheel and just clean any debris off the sponges from the Fluval.

I'm already setting up a quarantine. I just set up a 10 gallon I've had in my garage and I'm currently doing a fishless cycle.

 

[myrtle]

I would try adding some hardier fish and check at the shop what the pH etc is in their tanks and if they are in RO water. If the pH is massively different then that could be the problem. You certainly sound like you're doing everything right under normal circumstances but if the pH is hugely different then leaving it longer between adding your tank water to the bag could help.

This is all I can think of as like I said you definitely sound as if you're doing everything right at your end...

 

[Youknowit]

So I set up and cycled a quarantine tank and bought 5 Zebra Danio's. I put three in the quarantine tank and they all survived just fine. I put two of them in my big tank and within ten hours one of the Danio's was basically just sitting on the bottom of the tank and barely moving. It stayed like this for some time. The other Danio was still active. I then took the non-moving Danio and put it in the quarantine tank. When I first put the fish in the tank it just went to the bottom and stayed there. I turned off the lights and when I came back a few hours later it was completely revived and is doing just fine. Shortly afterwards I then took the other Danio out of the big tank and placed it in the quarantine, it seemed to be okay but I don't feel like experimenting on these fish anymore.

So what I am thinking is that the problem is not actually the water that I'm using but some contaminant that is in my large tank. I would guess that the fish that are still living in the tank were somehow gradually introduced to the contaminant and became tolerant of it. All I have in the tank is gravel, live plants, and driftwood. All of these decorations were bought at fish stores. Does anyone know if driftwood has a shelf life? Two of the pieces I have in the tank are at least 12 years old. Maybe they break down and release some toxin?

What I think needs to be done is to take out all of the decorations in the tank. Is it possible to take out all the decorations without completely stripping the tank down? I was thinking of taking all of the decorations out and replacing the gravel and driftwood, then doing a large water change. Doing it this way would save the bacteria in my filters and I wouldn't have to cycle the tank. I've read that bacteria will live for about a day without food before they die. I also don't have a place for the 11 fish that are currently living in the big tank. I don't want to overload a freshly cycled tank. Does that seem like an okay idea?

 

[myrtle]

Driftwood does eventually rot. Does it feel soft when you squeeze it? It'll feel a bit spongy but only on the surface 5mm or so. With mine that I got with a second hand tank I took a wire brush to it and scrubbed all the rotten parts away. It was surprising how much came off. It may be the best bet is just to get rid of the old wood and replace it as after 12 years it must be starting to decompose, particularly if it is driftood as oposed to bogwood which lasts much longer. This may not be the problem but it can't hurt!

 

[elisew]

Something that hasn`t been mentioned yet.......what test are you using, liquid I believe? What`s the date on the test?

 

[Youknowit]

Something that hasn`t been mentioned yet.......what test are you using, liquid I believe? What`s the date on the test?

What test are you refering to exactly?

 

[Jamepsss]

What I think needs to be done is to take out all of the decorations in the tank. Is it possible to take out all the decorations without completely stripping the tank down? I was thinking of taking all of the decorations out and replacing the gravel and driftwood, then doing a large water change. Doing it this way would save the bacteria in my filters and I wouldn't have to cycle the tank. I've read that bacteria will live for about a day without food before they die. I also don't have a place for the 11 fish that are currently living in the big tank. I don't want to overload a freshly cycled tank. Does that seem like an okay idea?

You could get a big plastic container from Poundland and syphon your water in to it and use it as a temporary home for your fish while you work on the tank. You could run the filter and heater on this container to avoid losing any of your nitrifying bacteria.

Then you could remove all your decor and gravel from the tank and give it one hell of a good clean without having to worry about stressing your fish.

Then add the new gravel/sand and decor and fill with fresh dechlorinated water.

 

[elisew]

Something that hasn`t been mentioned yet.......what test are you using, liquid I believe? What`s the date on the test?

What test are you refering to exactly?

The test that gave you the results you stated in your first post:

I have a 36x16x10 freshwater fish tank that and I am having problems adding new fish. Whenever I add new fish they are dead by the next morning.

The tank has a PH of about 6.8, has no ammonia or nitrites and the nitrate is about 10ppm

 

[Youknowit]

Something that hasn`t been mentioned yet.......what test are you using, liquid I believe? What`s the date on the test?

What test are you refering to exactly?

The test that gave you the results you stated in your first post:

I have a 36x16x10 freshwater fish tank that and I am having problems adding new fish. Whenever I add new fish they are dead by the next morning.

The tank has a PH of about 6.8, has no ammonia or nitrites and the nitrate is about 10ppm

They would have been taken around the time that I joined. Sometime in the second week of December.

 

[Amunet]

Are you absolutely positive that you have 0 ammonia? Are you using a liquid test or test strips?
We had this same exact problem.
We recently purchased 4 fish, about 5 hours later, they looked awful and almost dead. I didn't know what was wrong b/c the other fish in the tank looked fine.
I finally checked the ammonia, and sure enough there was some.
As soon as the new fish were moved to clean water, and eventually a stable tank, they perked right back up.

 

[elisew]

The test that gave you the results you stated in your first post:

I have a 36x16x10 freshwater fish tank that and I am having problems adding new fish. Whenever I add new fish they are dead by the next morning.

The tank has a PH of about 6.8, has no ammonia or nitrites and the nitrate is about 10ppm

They would have been taken around the time that I joined. Sometime in the second week of December.

I`m concerned about the results and I`m wondering which brand of test you`re using and whether or not it`s out of date

So you haven`t tested since the second of December? That`s over a month ago, is this the normal length of time that you normally leave between tests? How often do you do a water change?

 

[Youknowit]

The test that gave you the results you stated in your first post:

I have a 36x16x10 freshwater fish tank that and I am having problems adding new fish. Whenever I add new fish they are dead by the next morning.

The tank has a PH of about 6.8, has no ammonia or nitrites and the nitrate is about 10ppm

They would have been taken around the time that I joined. Sometime in the second week of December.

I`m concerned about the results and I`m wondering which brand of test you`re using and whether or not it`s out of date

So you haven`t tested since the second of December? That`s over a month ago, is this the normal length of time that you normally leave between tests? How often do you do a water change?

Look, I use API liquid tests for all my tanks. And yes, I bought the master test kit under two years ago so the kit is not out of date. I used the same test kits on the quarantine tank that I just cycled and I got positive results for ammonia and nitrite when I used them. The tests work. An established tank should never have ammonia or nitrite so I don't expect to see any in mine. I have also had my water tested at my LFS and their test said the water was fine. I do a water change once a month and do the water testing at that time.