I recently just moved to a new area and lost a lot of my fish in the process. It seems that fish have a hard time surviving in 100% tap water that is dechlorinated, but they survive 50% water changes, although they are very stressed and gasp for a 10-20 mins after the water change. My upside down catfish floats around like its dead for 5 mins, but is then fine. I used cycled canisters from my previous place during the move and everything seems to test fine. The only thing is that the water comes out of the tap very cloudy and bubbly, but it settles out very quickly in the water. I'm going to try to do 25% water changes from now on and see if that makes a difference, but is there any thoughts on what this could be. The temperature also is the same and I add dechlorinator to the buckets before I add them to the tank.
Fish stressed/die after water change
- Thread starter davis101
- Start date
Where I live, water in late fall, winter and early spring is similar, cold water can come out of the tap at 40'F and even lower.
Because very cold water holds more oxygen than warm, it is often super saturated with oxygen, and can cause gas bubble embolism. The cloudy appearance, if put in a glass, and if it clears from the bottom up, is a dead give away
This is similar to what happens to humans when we get the bends scuba diving.
Cold water in pipes is under pressure, but when it hits the tank, the saturated gases are quickly released into the aquarium.
To remedy this, when I do water changes I never add water directly to the tank, but to the sump instead, that gives gases enough time to dissipate before it can affect the fish.
You can also put an air stone directly under where the new water flow enters the tank, run it into a HOB filter, or have it crash against rocks or some other objects.
Because very cold water holds more oxygen than warm, it is often super saturated with oxygen, and can cause gas bubble embolism. The cloudy appearance, if put in a glass, and if it clears from the bottom up, is a dead give away
This is similar to what happens to humans when we get the bends scuba diving.
Cold water in pipes is under pressure, but when it hits the tank, the saturated gases are quickly released into the aquarium.
To remedy this, when I do water changes I never add water directly to the tank, but to the sump instead, that gives gases enough time to dissipate before it can affect the fish.
You can also put an air stone directly under where the new water flow enters the tank, run it into a HOB filter, or have it crash against rocks or some other objects.
If water is saturated with gases, whether cold or not, it can be dangerous.
Putting it in a bucket first can help, and adding an air stone will hurry along the gas dissipation.
Putting it in a bucket first can help, and adding an air stone will hurry along the gas dissipation.
I have yet to see, or hear of a documented case of gas bubble embolism in an aquarium kept fish. I also happen to live where outside temps can reach -50F in the winter, so I deal with water that is super saturated with gas for 7-8 months of the year. Massive water changes, directly from the tap to the tanks, only issue I have ever experienced is that for some species, discus, and H. temporalis come to mind, the gas in the water will peel the slime coat off of the fish. Age the water & allow it to gass off, and no issue.
But actually kill the fish, with a 50% water change? Never.
davis - where in Canada are you located, and what brand of water conditioner are you using? My guess is something else is going on with your water supply.
Edmonton, Alberta. I moved to the city in August and have had this problem ever since. The tap water does come out with a ton of bubbles in it, but that's the only difference I can tell about it. I set up two tanks here, and both times I lost a lot of fish. They seem to have the same symptoms when I do water changes, which would be slowed movement and gasping for air, but only for a few minutes after the water change. I changed less water in the one tank today and it seemed to have less of an impact. I've never had a problem setting up a tank with tap water and adding fish the same day before.
I use nutrafin. I also have prime too if you think I should try it instead.
I use nutrafin. I also have prime too if you think I should try it instead.
I would use Prime. Were the fish that died catfish? I know they can be more sensitive than other fish to even trace amounts of ammonia...Prime will help neutralize any ammonia that may be present. I'm not sure if nutrafin has the same effect.
Fish often die in nature due to GBD (gas bubble disease.) I found at least one controlled study and the results indicate that mortality rates depend on at least 3 factors:
1) species
2) temperature
3) amount of saturation of nitrogen and oxygen.
Fwiw
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0043135479902100
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/tmdl/records/region_2/2008/ref2421.pdf
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/species/disease/pdfs/fishdiseases/gas_bubble_disease.pdf
Since we already know that nitrates and salt content for example, affect species differently to a wide degree, it's reasonable to assume that GBD does so as well until proven otherwise. Of course, that doesn't mean every fish will keel over in water with a few bubbles, but given the science, it's plausible that fish in one tank will be fine while fish in another will perish if factors 1-3 vary.
1) species
2) temperature
3) amount of saturation of nitrogen and oxygen.
Fwiw
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0043135479902100
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/tmdl/records/region_2/2008/ref2421.pdf
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/species/disease/pdfs/fishdiseases/gas_bubble_disease.pdf
Since we already know that nitrates and salt content for example, affect species differently to a wide degree, it's reasonable to assume that GBD does so as well until proven otherwise. Of course, that doesn't mean every fish will keel over in water with a few bubbles, but given the science, it's plausible that fish in one tank will be fine while fish in another will perish if factors 1-3 vary.
