ALWAYS test tap water before a water change!

K

k13k07

Feeder Fish
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Dec 15, 2014
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I've never had problems in the last few months (I just inherited a tank in September) or maybe I just got really lucky. Couple days ago I did a water change and my fish we acting a bit weird. Did my testing and the water from my tap had very large amounts of ammonia :( Right is from my tank, after the water change, didn't realize my dechloinator didn't do anything about ammonia - that's fixed now!
View attachment 1057093
Tested again today, ammonia is gone, yay! BUT Nitrites in my tank were a bit high, before the change they were at 0 so I test both annnnnd
IMG_4441.JPG
The test was supposed to sit for 5 minutes, I watched it turn deep purple in less then a minute
I'm afraid to use my tap water now :irked:

I've learned my lesson

IMG_4441.JPG
 
K

krichardson

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Wow,interesting.
 
P

Pschorr

Feeder Fish
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Jan 14, 2015
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Wow that is weird. I've used straight tap water for my tanks for 3-4 years now and I've never had a problem with any of it. I also never condition it besides using some API Stress-Coat occasionally. I've just assumed that my fish have adjusted to my water parameters. Also I've never actually tested my water so idk if it's just naturally good quality or not.
 
convict360

convict360

Potamotrygon
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Dec 9, 2013
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I would be major pissed if that happened to me.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
duanes

duanes

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All water suppliers are at the mercy of the source.
If your state, province or country has lax environmental regulations and laws, the ability of a water supplier to deal with some radical event is at best, limited. And that reaction must be to provide water that is fit for human consumption, which may be at times, and at odds with what fish require.
I was/am lucky, the source of my water is very stable.
But when I worked as chemist/microbiologist at my cities supplier, we treated up to almost 400 million gallons per day and even with a body of water as large and as stable as Lake Michigan, seasonal changes and turnovers were a major challenge.
We have 40 filters that process hundreds of thousands of gallons per minute, and luckily our storage facility could dilute any anomalies.
Without that kind of investment in infrastructure, even a small chemical or fuel spill, or weather event can wreck havoc with a system.
 
pops

pops

Alligator Gar
MFK Member
Nov 24, 2013
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you use seachem prime or seachem safe for water conditioning?
 
pops

pops

Alligator Gar
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Nov 24, 2013
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i am asking because they may have bombed your water source, making the usual dose in-adequate and compromising your bio filters. hence showing both nitrite and ammonia, you can dose with prime\safe up to 5 times the regular dose to compensate while you BB filters recover with out hurting your fish. I would def test tap water before water change and test tank before so you know where every thing is sitting in till all is stable. more than like have to up water changes until your bb catches back up.
 
pops

pops

Alligator Gar
MFK Member
Nov 24, 2013
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what does nitrates read?
 
K

k13k07

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2014
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It's a huge headache, right now I'm just glad I caught it and didn't lose anyone. I used bottled water for an emergency water change Sunday (drinking water, said it was carbon filtered, and having no experience with using it, tested the crap out of it and dechloinated (thankfully all was safe)).
And of course it had to happen at 7pm on Sunday night - all stores in my area close early on Sundays for some reason :irked: Thankfully the small bottle I have for my betta's water detoxifies ammonia (I am soooooooooooo glad I bought that) so I used that with the bottled water to stabilize them. Of course I ran out of work the next day and bought a huge bottle of prime and did another small change with double dose so I know I got it out :thumbsup:
Tap Nitrates yesterday were reading extremely low - about 5ppm, shows up a light orange on my test kit. Tank nitrates were a little hard to read, on my test kit it looked to be closer to 40 ppm (a reddish color, but looked more like the 40 then the 80). And tap ammonia levels were 0 yesterday - talk about a difference :screwy:
From the people I've talked to, my city tends to do a major flush in the beginning of the year, sometimes the end of the month, so God only knows what I'd find in the water :irked: I think my brother is scared to drink it now
Duanes - You are sooooooo lucky you have a stable water source.
I really think I just got lucky with my other water changes, or I just have crazy hardy fish :D
 
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