Help Me!!!!!

[snshn56]

I did a 50% water change on my 75 gallon tank this afternoon. Well, it ended up being a 50% change, cuz about 1/4th of it had evaporated. Anyways, what in the world did I do wrong. I lost 5 fish!! A demasoni, 2 bumblebees and 2 acei's! These fish have been through this same size of water change a couple of times before!

I don't get it! And am sooooo upset!

 

[Citrinellus]

Well if it evaporated 1/4 of your tank down does that mean you only do like one water change a month or so?! Do you put dechlorinator in the water in the bucket you do water changes with? Was the difference in temp with the new water and the tank water drastic?

 

[Retuks]

well if 1/4 the water evaporated, that must mean you waited way too long to do a water change and the fish were acclimated to that toxic water. then you changed 25% of the water. leaving half very toxic water. all of a sudden you dumped an equivalent of 100% of the remaining tank water in the tank and that cluster****ed the chemistry since it was pure fresh clean water thrown in a huge quantity right ontop of that toxic water and your fish couldn't acclimate. the temperature prolly went haywire too. sorry for your loss.

 

[swede]

Well if it evaporated 1/4 of your tank down does that mean you only do like one water change a month or so?! Do you put dechlorinator in the water in the bucket you do water changes with? Was the difference in temp with the new water and the tank water drastic?

thats exactly what i was wondering myself...... the other thing is you shock the tank if you go a long time without a water change and then do a 50% change. it can change the ph very rapidly

 

[snshn56]

I do a change once every 1 - 2 weeks. None of the fish in this 75 gallon tank are adults. I also have oscars and a midas.( Not in same tank) I know what a DIRTY tank looks like and when i was vacuuming this tank, there was hardly any mess. There was only i think 12-15 small fish in this comparatively large tank. No, didn't add water conditioner, never have. Our water is rated one of the 3 best in the midwest. Have never had a problem with any other fish, including the particular ones that passed. Water that i put into the tank was very, very close to what temp was already in tank.

I probably over exaggerated when i said that 1/4th had evaporated, cuz I never fill tank all the way up anyways. My glass tops don't completely cover the tank, so i figure that if i don't fill it all the way up there is less chance of anyone jumping.

Guess i will have to buy some water conditioner, but never in the last 5 -6 years have i ever used it. And no fatalities.

Can't figure what else could it have been? I still have a couple of demasonis, and bumblebees and aceis that came through it just fine. Clueless? Why would some and not the others?

 

[skools717]

i find it hard to beleive that about 20 gallons evaporated in 1-2 weeks

 

[Bderick67]

Do you have any information regarding the water parameters of your tank and/or tap water?

Is/was your tank heavily stocked?

 

[chesterthehero]

its farm season in the midwest... this means pesticides and fertilizers leaching into the groundwater... not saying thats for sure the reason but its something to think about

 

[Retuks]

its farm season in the midwest... this means pesticides and fertilizers leaching into the groundwater... not saying thats for sure the reason but its something to think about

i didn't know they used ground water in the taps. i thought they were on a gravity fed system through mountain springs/underground (inside the mountain) watertubes or high elevation parts.

 

[swede]

I do a change once every 1 - 2 weeks. None of the fish in this 75 gallon tank are adults. I also have oscars and a midas.( Not in same tank) I know what a DIRTY tank looks like and when i was vacuuming this tank, there was hardly any mess. There was only i think 12-15 small fish in this comparatively large tank. No, didn't add water conditioner, never have. Our water is rated one of the 3 best in the midwest. Have never had a problem with any other fish, including the particular ones that passed. Water that i put into the tank was very, very close to what temp was already in tank.

I probably over exaggerated when i said that 1/4th had evaporated, cuz I never fill tank all the way up anyways. My glass tops don't completely cover the tank, so i figure that if i don't fill it all the way up there is less chance of anyone jumping.

Guess i will have to buy some water conditioner, but never in the last 5 -6 years have i ever used it. And no fatalities.

Can't figure what else could it have been? I still have a couple of demasonis, and bumblebees and aceis that came through it just fine. Clueless? Why would some and not the others?

i don't see how you can go without treating the water and feel safe adding it to your tank. even with a well, there can always be ways that water can be polluted and contaminated. also, do you have well water or town water? it is possible that the chemicals used to treat the water(chlorine to chloramine) could've changed. also, the chlorine levels could be increased to overcompensate for issues with the water. if you are on town water, the levels can change all the time as far as additives to the water. buy a bottle of prime.... a small bottle is only about 5 bucks and will treat 1000 gallons since you only need 1 drop per gallon