So, my wife and I were scheduled to go out of town for 5 days this upcoming weekend. I decided it was a good time to get my weekly water changes done this morning on our tanks prior to leaving tomorrow. The three tanks that I did the water changes on are a 75 gallon running 2 - Aquaclear 110s, a 40 gallon breeder running an Aquaclear 110, and a 55 running an Eheim canister filter. All three of these tanks have been up and running for at least 6 months. The last water change on these tanks were performed 6 days ago. I have tested these tanks in the past (about every 2 weeks) and the nitrates never get above 40ppm and ammonia is consistently 0.
The first water change took place on the 75 gallon Chocolate cichlid tank. We have a pair of mated Chocolate cichlids in the tank, along with some Emperor tetras and a small group of orange laser cories. I changed about 60% of the water using a Python and filled it from our utility sink in the basement. I use Seachem Safe as our city water has chlorine and chloramines in it. I dosed the tank with Safe prior to adding the new water. The new water was no more than a degree cooler than the tank water, as I leave my heater with probe on during the refilling process for each tank.
Next, I went straight to the 40 gallon breeder. This tank houses 10 Lemon tetras and 7 small bristlenose plecos. I did the water change on this tank nearly exactly like the 75 gallon tank.
Then, I moved over to the 55 gallon tank. It houses a Coryphaenoides Chocolate cichlid, 6 Red Head Tapajos, and 7 Emperor tetras. I was about 1/2 way done draining this tank, when my wife walked into the room. She yelled "The Lemon tetras are dying!" I looked over at the 40 gallon tank and sure enough, 4 out of the 10 Lemon tetras were upside down and moving in the current lifeless. I was absolutely floored and dumbfounded. We've been in the hobby for 16 years and have never experienced anything like this.
Immediately I thought I better check out the 75 gallon tank, where the mated Chocolate cichlid pair had been displaying to each other and lip locking immediately after the water change. The cories were on their sides and the Emperor tetras were at the surface of the water, huddled in a group. The Chocolates were pretty washed out and didn't look well at all. At that point, I remembered I was still draining water from the 55 gallon tank. So, I immediately pulled the siphon tube from the water. At this point, the water change was now going to be about 80% on the 55 gallon tank.
My focus was now on getting the fish out of the 75 gallon and testing the water. So, I scooped up all the Emperor tetras and cories and moved them over to our 300 gallon tank. My wife tested the water from the 75 and it read .5ppm ammonia. I know you can get a false positive on ammonia from the Safe converting chloramines over, so I wanted to test the tap water next. Sure enough, our tap water registered 1.0ppm ammonia. We immediately called our water provider and spoke to one of their chemists. Of course, he questioned everything we did when it came to water changes and keeping fish. He claimed that they hadn't added anything new to the water since Feb. On a side note, we have had 14 days straight with 90 degree temperatures.
Back to the 55 gallon tank. The one where I took almost 80% of the water out. The fish in there were acting perfectly normal. Remember that that tank has Emperor tetras in it, just like the 75 gallon. Three of those Emperors that were in the 75 originally and moved as an emergency into the 300 have since died. None of the tetras in the 55 tank have shown any ill signs whatsoever.
It has been a couple of hours since the water changes were complete, but we're still getting .5ppm ammonia on all three tanks. The Chocolates in the 75 have their color back and are acting somewhat normal, despite not having their dithers in the tank with them. The Lemon tetras and plecos are not fairing as well. They are breathing pretty heavily and are swimming in the upper parts of the aquarium. The 55 tank looks perfectly fine, even though it is still registering .5ppm ammonia. I do have an airstone running in all three of these tanks to aid with oxygenation.
Does anybody have a clue of what might be going on?
The first water change took place on the 75 gallon Chocolate cichlid tank. We have a pair of mated Chocolate cichlids in the tank, along with some Emperor tetras and a small group of orange laser cories. I changed about 60% of the water using a Python and filled it from our utility sink in the basement. I use Seachem Safe as our city water has chlorine and chloramines in it. I dosed the tank with Safe prior to adding the new water. The new water was no more than a degree cooler than the tank water, as I leave my heater with probe on during the refilling process for each tank.
Next, I went straight to the 40 gallon breeder. This tank houses 10 Lemon tetras and 7 small bristlenose plecos. I did the water change on this tank nearly exactly like the 75 gallon tank.
Then, I moved over to the 55 gallon tank. It houses a Coryphaenoides Chocolate cichlid, 6 Red Head Tapajos, and 7 Emperor tetras. I was about 1/2 way done draining this tank, when my wife walked into the room. She yelled "The Lemon tetras are dying!" I looked over at the 40 gallon tank and sure enough, 4 out of the 10 Lemon tetras were upside down and moving in the current lifeless. I was absolutely floored and dumbfounded. We've been in the hobby for 16 years and have never experienced anything like this.
Immediately I thought I better check out the 75 gallon tank, where the mated Chocolate cichlid pair had been displaying to each other and lip locking immediately after the water change. The cories were on their sides and the Emperor tetras were at the surface of the water, huddled in a group. The Chocolates were pretty washed out and didn't look well at all. At that point, I remembered I was still draining water from the 55 gallon tank. So, I immediately pulled the siphon tube from the water. At this point, the water change was now going to be about 80% on the 55 gallon tank.
My focus was now on getting the fish out of the 75 gallon and testing the water. So, I scooped up all the Emperor tetras and cories and moved them over to our 300 gallon tank. My wife tested the water from the 75 and it read .5ppm ammonia. I know you can get a false positive on ammonia from the Safe converting chloramines over, so I wanted to test the tap water next. Sure enough, our tap water registered 1.0ppm ammonia. We immediately called our water provider and spoke to one of their chemists. Of course, he questioned everything we did when it came to water changes and keeping fish. He claimed that they hadn't added anything new to the water since Feb. On a side note, we have had 14 days straight with 90 degree temperatures.
Back to the 55 gallon tank. The one where I took almost 80% of the water out. The fish in there were acting perfectly normal. Remember that that tank has Emperor tetras in it, just like the 75 gallon. Three of those Emperors that were in the 75 originally and moved as an emergency into the 300 have since died. None of the tetras in the 55 tank have shown any ill signs whatsoever.
It has been a couple of hours since the water changes were complete, but we're still getting .5ppm ammonia on all three tanks. The Chocolates in the 75 have their color back and are acting somewhat normal, despite not having their dithers in the tank with them. The Lemon tetras and plecos are not fairing as well. They are breathing pretty heavily and are swimming in the upper parts of the aquarium. The 55 tank looks perfectly fine, even though it is still registering .5ppm ammonia. I do have an airstone running in all three of these tanks to aid with oxygenation.
Does anybody have a clue of what might be going on?
