Why has it all gone horribly wrong?

[ajhainey]

Um, I dont de-chlorinate the water before putting it in. How can that be done realistically?
I mean I take out roughly two buckets (about 9 litres), so I'm not sure how I can get the chlorine out before adding it to the tank.
I treat the water as soon as I add the water for chlorine. I was advised that this would be OK.

I'm confused? What makes you say you can't treat the water before you put it in? Do you use a hose straight from the tap maybe? (clutching at straws here) How do you treat the water for chlorine after its in the tank? Why can't you treat it while its in the bucket instead?

Anyway normal procedure IMO (1 bucket change) runs like this
1) Fill bucket1 with cold water from the tap (if large % water change may also add hot, probably by heating in pan/kettle rather than from tap)
2) Add relevant number of drops of dechorinator into the bucket - swirl
3) Leave that while you go siphon out the relevant amount of water from the tank into bucket2
4) Get bucket1 and siphon back into the tank from the treated bucket.

If doing multiple bucket change - repeat! (p.s if anyon things the above is worng - let me know - I'm new too ) If you only have one bucket you siphon out first - rinse then fill, treat, siphon into tank

I don't know if you can 'add chlorinated water to tank then add dechlorinator to tank' but I'm sure someone else does...

aj xx

 

[skippyroo]

I wouldn't add de-chlorinator directly to the tank it will not do much good at getting rid of the chlroine as it will become too diluted. If you are not treating your water at all before putting it back in?! You are probably killing a lot of your de-nitrifying bacteria each water change. Chlorine is toxic to these bacteria and will kill your colony hence reducing their number and messing with the natural nitrogen cycle within your tank.


If you are killing these bacteria at every water change it is no wonder the fish are stressed but it seems funny that if you have been doing the same thing all along that it would only effect the fish now! I guess you are de-chlorinating in some way otherwise your ammonia and nitrite readings should be playing up.

Are there plenty of places for your fish to hide in the tank? All species whether they are naturally "aggressive" will require a certain type of habitat which they are used to in the wild. If your tank is too bare it could be the fish are becoming stressed from having no-where they feel safe. The more stressed the fish are the more likely they are to develop other problems/diseases as their immune systems become weakened.

I hope you stick with the fish I am sure with all the great advice you get from this forum you shoud overcome your problems and get back to enjoying watching these beautiful creatures!

Good Luck with it all and stick with it

 

[Eebie]

Well I have to say things are settling down a bit over the past few days. There appears to be less stress and my remaining fish seem to be getting over there lethargy and illness.

I have taken on the advice I've been given here and I think I will be changing a few habits.
I will certainly be attempting to de-chlorinate the water before adding to the tank.
I have always automatically done a water change each week, but I would like to maybe change that to fortnightly or maybe monthly. I will check water levels etc and adjust accordingly.
I really want to get my fish to settle down and try and eliminate the stress.

I'm going to get a background for the tank and a nitrate test kit also as suggested in earlier posts.

Thanks to everyone for their help these past few days.

 

[Bol]

I treat the water as soon as I add the water for chlorine. I was advised that this would be OK.

It can be safe (I do it, as do a lot of people).

But, your wording above is a little ambiguous. Just to be clear, I'd strongly suggest adding the dechlorinator to your tank BEFORE adding the new water.

 

[Eebie]

OK, well I went out and got a Nitrate Test Kit, and it appears that my Nitrates are a little higher than I would like.

Now, how do I reduce Nitrate? Do I need to do water changes?
If so, doesn't the water I add contain Nitrate?

 

[Bol]

Water changes are the way to reduce nitrates (in fact, reducing nitrates is one of the main reasons we do regular water changes).

Most people's tap water will not contain nitrates -- in some areas, it will, though. Just test your tap water (or whatever you use as a water source) to see.