Fish loss problems.

[Fancyfish]

nice list, the burning you are reffering to may well be from nitrite / ammonia from poor filtration. that still doenst explain crashing low pH though does it?

no, and it doesn't explain why a natural set up tank running for a year + all of a sudden crashes. :( I wish I could remember if I had done anything to it, like massive water change or topped it off (I'd let it get so low the filter would stop running) but really all I remember is the tank was fine and then it was dying. And it was at a time when I was feeding maybe once or twice a week in the fish room.

[Bedlamer]

Sorry to hear of your fish problems. Could you give us more details of the "water filter" you are using? I'm thinking that if you have been in the hobby for years--and your filter is using a medium like charcoal that can gradually get used up--maybe it’s time to change your media? Other thoughts are, there has been a recent thread on here with issues with tap water. I'll go look for it and link it in a bit.

To the best of my understanding here is the condensed version...

Some water supplies in Houston have been switching from chlorine to chloramines. Regular carbon bottles and snakes remove the chlorine but not so much the chloramines. People running full RO/DI systems (for let’s say salt water tanks) have to add a special type of carbon filter to handle the chloramines. The water system sometimes gets shocked with increased amounts of treatment, especially after heavy rain storms. Sometimes it is enough for some people to clearly smell the difference. People are using various combinations of water filters and de-chlorinator additives to combat that. Sometimes dosing at twice the usually recommended levels. Prime and AmQuel+Plus seem to be local favorites.

To the best of your recollection is there any correlation between doing recent water changes and fish mortality in your affected tanks?

[aquabee]

Hm. A sudden crash could be due to the gas pockets or the chloramines, as previously suggested. A nitrate spike could've been caused by something dead in the tank. Did you notice any missing inhabitants?

[Fancyfish]

Hm. A sudden crash could be due to the gas pockets or the chloramines, as previously suggested. A nitrate spike could've been caused by something dead in the tank. Did you notice any missing inhabitants?

In the 75, no but it had a huge java fern/java moss bundle as well as lots of water sprite so fish could die and not be noticed. there is no gravel to speak of so I would not think a gas spike likely.

[Fancyfish]

To the best of your recollection is there any correlation between doing recent water changes and fish mortality in your affected tanks?

Well one of the 2 tanks I just lost fish in had a 90% water change. the other did not. Both have whisper 2's running and I just changed the filter cartridges when I did the water changes.

[Bedlamer]

Here is the first thread of someone else’s recent fish problems. No idea if it is relevant to your situation but it won’t hurt to read through.

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/showthread.php?49213-Fish-died-and-2-more-about-to-!-!&highlight=tunedis95

A thread I started on de-chlorinators

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/showthread.php?49246-De-Chlorinator-of-Choice-and-Why-and-then-Which-Test-Kit

Here is a link to an article on old tank syndrome I read last week. It has some good information.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article55.html

[Fancyfish]

[QUOTE=Bedlamer;599763]
To the best of my understanding here is the condensed version...

Some water supplies in Houston have been switching from chlorine to chloramines. Regular carbon bottles and snakes remove the chlorine but not so much the chloramines. People running full RO/DI systems (for let’s say salt water tanks) have to add a special type of carbon filter to handle the chloramines. The water system sometimes gets shocked with increased amounts of treatment, especially after heavy rain storms. Sometimes it is enough for some people to clearly smell the difference. People are using various combinations of water filters and de-chlorinator additives to combat that. Sometimes dosing at twice the usually recommended levels. Prime and AmQuel+Plus seem to be local favorites.
QUOTE]

does chlorine test kits also show chloramines or is there a test kit for that?

[Bedlamer]

I've never used the Whisper 2s. Is the carbon component of the replaceable filter cartridge separate from the rest of the media, or when you change the cartridges, do you have to throw away all the media?

[Totenkampf]

i cant see it being chloramines but maybe the water company shocked the water. wesley mentioned that the other day and thats why he makes his own super dechlorinator drops. the OTS article looks promising too. i will say that i had a planted aquarium set up for ten years with no changes and it did fine until ike.

[Fancyfish]

I've never used the Whisper 2s. Is the carbon component of the replaceable filter cartridge separate from the rest of the media, or when you change the cartridges, do you have to throw away all the media?

these are the old whisper 2 so you pour carbon into the floss sleeve. and yes, I throw away both the floss and carbon when I change the filter.

[Fancyfish]

i cant see it being chloramines but maybe the water company shocked the water. wesley mentioned that the other day and thats why he makes his own super dechlorinator drops. the OTS article looks promising too. i will say that i had a planted aquarium set up for ten years with no changes and it did fine until ike.

We've not had significant rain in the last couple weeks. So I wouldn't think that. And one tank the water was changed the other it was not. yet both tanks fish died. The one with old water lost the fish fast(hour or 2) the one with new water was fine for 5 days. So possibly the one with new water had cycling problems.

[Fancyfish]

hmmmm. they are doing work on Sims bayou which is just behind my house. And about 2 years ago the project reached my area and they widdend the bayou(took down our fence) and now they are replacing the bridge on the road next to the house. We can see the water towers from the house, they are very close. Does anyone think that work on the bayou might affect the water? (it is city water, not well.)

[mnemenoi]

I have an idea, will have to follow me a bit though.

1. Older running tanks with low filtration. - Large amounts of detritus can build up in these tanks and actually chemically alter your Ph down, thus dropping your Ph. Ammonia is far less dangerous at these levels and the fish can survive without any signs of water issues. The huge issue with these tanks are either top offs or water changes. Once the new water (high Ph Houston water) is added it is no longer buffered and will swing up sharply. The ammonia can become deadly very quickly, but it could take a day or so as the water naturally buffers up again and at a higher Ph it is at a deadly level, thus causing the tank crash. Here is a great site and charts showing the effects of Ammonia at different Ph levels....

[Totenkampf]

That may be something Roy. Does serious decomp actually lower pH? I would think that because nitrates are converted by anaerobic bacteria which consume co2 that they would affect the pH in the opposite range? Just a guess tho

[mnemenoi]

The same processes that reduce ammonia to nitrite to nitrate also produce an abundance of hydrogen ions, which, if left to their own accord, acidify the water. In water from some sources that contain few "buffers" (ions that help stabilize pH by combining with excess hydrogen or hydroxyl ions), pH will tend to decline steadily just as the nitrate increases, and again regular pH testing may help alert the aquarist to impending trouble. However, in more heavily buffered water, an interesting but more threatening phenomenon occurs. As hydrogen ions are produced, they are immediately tied up by the buffer ion, and the pH remains roughly the same - until all the buffer ions are used up. At this point, the pH drops rapidly, and this sudden "pH crash" can be very damaging to fish. If this process is allowed to continue (and a few, very hardy fish survive), another interesting biochemical phenomena occurs. At a pH of about 5.5 or less, the bacteria that usually convert ammonia to nitrite are inhibited, so ammonia levels begin to rise. Strangely, though, the low pH actually protects the remaining fish by keeping the ammonia in the non-toxic ammonia (molecular) form instead of the very toxic ammonium (ionic) form! It is not uncommon to see an old, neglected tank with a pH reading off the bottom of the chart, ammonia and nitrate off the top, and a couple of old-timer fish still swimming about.

(Taken from the linked websites)