Death by Waterchange

[HarleyK]

but water conditioner don't go bad

That's what I thought ... but my Altos didn't think so ...

 

[fishnutham]

That's smart! Hard lesson to learn, though. If I remember correctly, you lost your plecos!? Or was that yet another poor soul who had problems with a water change?

HarleyK

that was me i lost count of the numbers but it took almost all of them

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

I have an update: The Corys recovered completely and are eating. Besides the A. compressiceps, no fish died. However, my vallisneria died off completely. The fact that plants are affected makes me (and fellows whom I consulted) think that the conditioner 's capacity to neutralize chlorination products had failed. It was not poisoning by the conditioner, but the lack of protection due to old age. When I performed the second water change and used new conditioner, it was up to the task and neutralized everything. In that regard, I want to say that FishHeadSoup's approach of just adding new conditioner would have done the trick. Since I did not have all facts at the time (i.e. plants also die), it would have been a gamble, though. Retrospectively, the second water change was unnecessary, but the safest way to go.

HarleyK

 

[FishHeadSoup]

thanks for the update and sharing HK

 

[bentank1]

Howdy,

This weekend was not good: I lost my Altolamprologus compressiceps during a waterchange, and it must have been poisoning by expired water conditioner:

Story:
I changed 40% on my 220 gal and 60 % on my goldfish tank. The Altos had a history of acting up when I changed water, I always thought it was the temperature difference. This time, they ended up drifting on the bottom of the tank. Therefore, I fished them out and put them in a bucket with warmer water, extra conditioner (anti-stress) and an airpump.

About 30 min after changing the water in the goldfish tank, I checked on my goldies and they were also at the bottom and secreted heavily - the slime was floating off their backs. At that moment I knew it was not the temperature that bothered my Altos. By this time, the Altos were dead.

I hurried to get new water conditioner and immediately performed 90% water changes in both tanks. I drained my 220 gal with two garden hoses! The goldies were close to death. My Corys floated on the surface, unable to return to the bottom. It must have affected their air bladder.

My Blue gouramis, Swordtails, Pantodons and Ancistrus were doing okay, however, they were all extremely passive.

About 5 h later, the goldies had recovered. The Corys are still not doing great, but I have not lost one, yet. They also returned back to the bottom of the tank. This is 16 h after the last water change.



Background:
My water conditioner was almost 6 yrs old. I had bought it in big bulk, always stored at room temperature and in the dark. It did not smell funny.
No work was done on our water pipes, thus, I can rule out copper poisoning. Also, the fish recovered after the second water change. The only difference was the water conditioner, which consequently must have been the culprit.


Lesson:
Only buy what you can use up in a year. Even if it's cheaper by the gallon, it will cost you more when fish die ...


HarleyK

man that stinks