Don't you love roadblocks in the hobby?

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ryansmith83

ryansmith83

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MFK Member
May 2, 2008
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Florida
I've hit a wall this week and I'm feeling pretty gutted. I'm sure you can all understand.

I've been having issues with my municipal water supply for a while now, but it seems to have gotten worse over the past month or so. I can't pinpoint exactly what's wrong, but I can tell you that 75% of the time my tap water comes out either bright yellow like Mountain Dew, or dark yellow and cloudy like urine. My water department claims it's "normal discoloration" and that it's perfectly safe, but my fish would beg to differ. I have watched all of my more sensitive species take a complete nosedive.

I had to put down my three year old male psittacus today. He hasn't eaten for weeks and he lost all his color, then started developing large pits in his head and gills. I'm having the same issues with Geos, Bolivian rams, Ivanacara adoketa -- basically all of my favorite fish. The only ones unaffected so far are my mouthbrooding severums (both the Atabapo pair and the Orinoco pair), my Heroina, and my male Sax pike. I guess it's good that I have some hardy, tolerant species in the house, too.

Now I am in the process of downsizing. I do not have the money for a whole-house water filter and RO would be totally impractical for the tank sizes and quantities I have. My water bill is already at $80 and RO would basically quadruple the amount of water I'm already using. I don't know what to do with the fish that have developed HITH -- they could probably be saved, but who would want to buy them? It's also embarrassing and sad to see them in this shape because as a hobbyist I've always taken pride in healthy and beautiful stock. I just feel helpless at this point and I have no idea what I can do.

I've decided to get rid of all the sensitive fish and try to manage a few sparsely stocked tanks for my favorites. I just got the Heroina and I refuse to part with them. Same goes for my Dicrossus foirni. I could probably manage RO on a few tanks, just not on the six or so large tanks I'm running.

I'd love for someone from my utility department to come over and see what's going on, then tell me that the water is "acceptable and safe."

Just venting. Thanks for listening.
 
wow Ryan, what a DRAG.
Really saddened me to hear of your psittacus. How awful
any way you can re-home the HITH victims to some members? maybe they'd bounce back with good water.

I saw a post recently about camp trailer water filters. can't recall the thread. it said they're very affordable, unlike whole house systems.

real sorry to hear of your misfortune.
 
Most of the larger fish will have to go to local people. It's expensive and nerve-wracking to ship multiple large fish. Most of the Geos are 6 - 9" and my severum pairs are quite a bit bigger still. I'm in the process of selling the smaller growouts and pairs.

fishman09 said:
ouch..sorry to hear that and espescially cause its not something you can control. have you had the water tested to find out the culprit? is all water that comes out of the tap like that? hot and cold? once again sorry man. thats a lot of money lost on rare and sensitive fish
Click to expand...

I originally thought I had some kind of issue with my water heater when I started getting discolored water. Then I checked my faucets outside and it was the same situation. The water also comes out of the tap really warm. :( I got on a local message board for my city and posted about it, and other people had the same issues. None of them are fish keepers though, so they all just said things like, "We just buy bottled water." No one seems to be upset or worried about it.

I called a few people about independent lab testing but most of them want $100 - 200 to run a full analysis on it. Some told me I could take it to the health department, but all they'll tell you is whether it's safe to drink. They told me they wouldn't give me any kind of break-down on what's in it. My city's website claims the discoloration is from "anti-corrosive agents added to maintain the transmission lines" but that it's perfectly safe. I certainly don't drink or cook with it.
 
i found the post. not sure if it'd be adequate, but worth looking into for water changes: post 10.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...-quot-Mistake!&highlight=camper+water+filters

"I normally change 40% per week and sometimes don't add conditioner. Fish are ok, but always made me nervous. Recently invested In a 2 stage filter that remove heavy metals and chlorine, chloride etc. You can buy similar units to purify water for RV's. Search RV or camper trailer water filter and you'll see what I mean. Works a treat and no more water conditioner...."
 
thats sucks i sometimes feel at that point when my tank gets sick and idk what else i can do after i tried a lot of things
 
the city should be pressured in to telling you exactly what is being put in the water, so you can figure out whether it can be filtered out to be safe for fish. They know darn well what it is, all they have to do is TELL you.
good grief.
 
I saw a member here post that he works at a city water company... you should post a more specific thread title and keep it bumped up. I'm sure someone like that could identify various treatment "agents" for you.
I just can't recall who he is, or the thread subject yet.... I'll try to find it & him. might take a while.
 
Man that sucks to hear.

Good luck with re-homing your fish as well as keeping your favorites. Maybe something like a carbon filter on your tap would be enough to keep up with water changes at the new smaller scale, after downsizing.
 
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