Why my fish died....

[Barry Tetra]

Today i was doing 75% 2 times on swordtails tank because the gravel cleaner siphon is broken again.... and when I do water change 2 times one of the black chinese algae eater died.
In my province all of water from tap is well water (water from underground but its in the pipe). And ‘Barry’ name is cursed for some reason: my duck barry-died, golden chinese algae eater-died, black algae eater-died. @Colin_T

 

[Barry Tetra]

It died suddenly after add the water or is it because I stir the gravel and make it cloudy before I did water changes?

 

[Colin_T]

Stiring the gravel up and releasing a lot of dirt into the water can make fish sick but doesn't normally kill them unless the water smells of rotten eggs after stirring the gravel.

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You should only do a 75% water change once a day, if you are doing daily water changes. There is no need to do it 2 times in a row on the same day.

If the fish are dying after you add new water, there is something in the water that is affecting them.

You should check the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

If the well is on your property, make sure nothing has fallen in and contaminated it.

You can get water tested by an independent lab to see if there is any harmful chemicals that might have leached into the ground water.

Until that gets done, I would recommend putting the new well water into a large bucket and aerating it for 24 hours before adding it to the tanks. This will help get the dissolved gasses in the water back to normal levels.

If the fish still die after using aerated well water, you should add a carbon filter to the container of well water and leave the carbon filter running in the water for at least 24 hours. This will help to remove any chemicals or heavy metals that might have gotten into the well water.

If the fish still die after filtering the well water through carbon, and aerating it for 24 hours, you need to get the well water tested to make sure it is safe for you and the other animals and fish you keep.

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If you don't have a gravel cleaner because yours broke, don't gravel clean or stir up the substrate until you get a new gravel cleaner. I recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the tank once a week to help keep the tank clean. However, if the gravel cleaner breaks or you can't do a water change that week, it is normally fine to miss out on the water change or gravel clean for that week.

Doing the water change and gravel clean once a week helps keep the tank in great condition so you can miss a water change once in a while if you have to. Don't make a habit of missing water changes but missing one every now and then is not a big problem if you normally do them every week.

You can make a gravel cleaner out of a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle.
1) Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit away.
2) Remove the lid and plastic ring on the top of the bottle and throw those 2 bits away.
3) Put a garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door onto the lawn, and you have a gravel cleaner. If you don't want to use a garden hose, take the bottle to a hardware store and buy a couple of meters of clear plastic hose to go on it.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Stiring the gravel up and releasing a lot of dirt into the water can make fish sick but doesn't normally kill them unless the water smells of rotten eggs after stirring the gravel.

-----------------
You should only do a 75% water change once a day, if you are doing daily water changes. There is no need to do it 2 times in a row on the same day.

If the fish are dying after you add new water, there is something in the water that is affecting them.

You should check the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

If the well is on your property, make sure nothing has fallen in and contaminated it.

You can get water tested by an independent lab to see if there is any harmful chemicals that might have leached into the ground water.

Until that gets done, I would recommend putting the new well water into a large bucket and aerating it for 24 hours before adding it to the tanks. This will help get the dissolved gasses in the water back to normal levels.

If the fish still die after using aerated well water, you should add a carbon filter to the container of well water and leave the carbon filter running in the water for at least 24 hours. This will help to remove any chemicals or heavy metals that might have gotten into the well water.

If the fish still die after filtering the well water through carbon, and aerating it for 24 hours, you need to get the well water tested to make sure it is safe for you and the other animals and fish you keep.

-----------------
If you don't have a gravel cleaner because yours broke, don't gravel clean or stir up the substrate until you get a new gravel cleaner. I recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the tank once a week to help keep the tank clean. However, if the gravel cleaner breaks or you can't do a water change that week, it is normally fine to miss out on the water change or gravel clean for that week.

Doing the water change and gravel clean once a week helps keep the tank in great condition so you can miss a water change once in a while if you have to. Don't make a habit of missing water changes but missing one every now and then is not a big problem if you normally do them every week.

You can make a gravel cleaner out of a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle.
1) Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit away.
2) Remove the lid and plastic ring on the top of the bottle and throw those 2 bits away.
3) Put a garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door onto the lawn, and you have a gravel cleaner. If you don't want to use a garden hose, take the bottle to a hardware store and buy a couple of meters of clear plastic hose to go on it.

Can you recommended the brand of gravel cleaner, the cheap china one is not so good. The problem is I put the hose on the tap so I dont have to use a bucket, guess I have to change my habit.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Stiring the gravel up and releasing a lot of dirt into the water can make fish sick but doesn't normally kill them unless the water smells of rotten eggs after stirring the gravel.

-----------------
You should only do a 75% water change once a day, if you are doing daily water changes. There is no need to do it 2 times in a row on the same day.

If the fish are dying after you add new water, there is something in the water that is affecting them.

You should check the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

If the well is on your property, make sure nothing has fallen in and contaminated it.

You can get water tested by an independent lab to see if there is any harmful chemicals that might have leached into the ground water.

Until that gets done, I would recommend putting the new well water into a large bucket and aerating it for 24 hours before adding it to the tanks. This will help get the dissolved gasses in the water back to normal levels.

If the fish still die after using aerated well water, you should add a carbon filter to the container of well water and leave the carbon filter running in the water for at least 24 hours. This will help to remove any chemicals or heavy metals that might have gotten into the well water.

If the fish still die after filtering the well water through carbon, and aerating it for 24 hours, you need to get the well water tested to make sure it is safe for you and the other animals and fish you keep.

-----------------
If you don't have a gravel cleaner because yours broke, don't gravel clean or stir up the substrate until you get a new gravel cleaner. I recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the tank once a week to help keep the tank clean. However, if the gravel cleaner breaks or you can't do a water change that week, it is normally fine to miss out on the water change or gravel clean for that week.

Doing the water change and gravel clean once a week helps keep the tank in great condition so you can miss a water change once in a while if you have to. Don't make a habit of missing water changes but missing one every now and then is not a big problem if you normally do them every week.

You can make a gravel cleaner out of a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle.
1) Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit away.
2) Remove the lid and plastic ring on the top of the bottle and throw those 2 bits away.
3) Put a garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door onto the lawn, and you have a gravel cleaner. If you don't want to use a garden hose, take the bottle to a hardware store and buy a couple of meters of clear plastic hose to go on it.

This is our well @Colin_T

 

[Barry Tetra]

This is what I was using, The pvc pipes always leak

 

[Colin_T]

Can you recommended the brand of gravel cleaner, the cheap china one is not so good.

I haven't bought a gravel cleaner since the 80s, I just make them out of the plastic drink bottle.

I normally recommend a basic model gravel cleaner like the one at the following website.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

The gravel cleaner in the video is way too much. Just make a basic model one from a length of garden hose and a 1 litre plastic drink bottle. Gravel cleaners should be simple, not full of little bits and pieces.

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Your well looks secure but it could still get contaminated by chemicals soaking into the soil and getting into the ground water. This can happen anywhere and might be chemical runoff from a property 5 kilometres away.

Try aerating the well water for 24 hours before using it and see if that helps. Test the well water before you aerate it and after it has been aerated for 24 hours.

 

[Barry Tetra]

I haven't bought a gravel cleaner since the 80s, I just make them out of the plastic drink bottle.

I normally recommend a basic model gravel cleaner like the one at the following website.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

The gravel cleaner in the video is way too much. Just make a basic model one from a length of garden hose and a 1 litre plastic drink bottle. Gravel cleaners should be simple, not full of little bits and pieces.

-------------------
Your well looks secure but it could still get contaminated by chemicals soaking into the soil and getting into the ground water. This can happen anywhere and might be chemical runoff from a property 5 kilometres away.

Try aerating the well water for 24 hours before using it and see if that helps. Test the well water before you aerate it and after it has been aerated for 24 hours.

Before I use the water, I use the drinking water filter before adding to the tank and its seems like the water was fully cycled too, well water: ammonia 0.8 nitrite 0 nitrate about 5.

 

[Colin_T]

The fact there is ammonia and nitrate in the well water, means there is some chemical or nutrients leaching into the well water. If there is ammonia or nitrates getting into the water, there could be other chemicals getting in.

Pure clean well water should not have any ammonia or nitrates in.

 

[Barry Tetra]

The fact there is ammonia and nitrate in the well water, means there is some chemical or nutrients leaching into the well water. If there is ammonia or nitrates getting into the water, there could be other chemicals getting in.

Pure clean well water should not have any ammonia or nitrates in.

There is no way to get pure water here though.

 

[Colin_T]

You can put the well water into a tub and add some floating plants. The plants will use the ammonia and nitrate and when the water has no ammonia or nitrate left, use the water for the fish.

If you filter the water with carbon at the same time the plants are growing, you will get cleaner water.