Help! Water change armageddon!!!

[TheLorax]

Okay, so I just did a 35% water change on my 135 gallon tank, like I do every week. Except this time, my fish went CRAZY. Most of them headed towards the edges and the top of the water line, then almost all of my fish sat completely still after the water change was done. Then, my black ghost knife, which spends 99% of his time in a hollow log, swam around the tank like crazy, hovered in strange positions breathing hard, and now went back to the log but is still breathing hard and looks like he's dying. My two boesmani rainbows freaked out and started doing barrel rolls, now they both look dead.

I will admit, I forgot to add the dechlorinator until right after the water change, usually I put some in right before adding the new water. The temperature seems fine, what happened!!!!!

BTW, my other fish are some heckellis, a couple severums, a JD, and a couple thorichthys maculippinis. They aren't acting quite as strange now but still don't look happy.

 

[TheHolyArachnid]

Forgot the conditioner until after the water change? that is the problem.
They should survive just make sure next time you don't forget to add conditioner FIRST!

 

[Gruff Master]

Forgot the conditioner until after the water change? that is the problem.
They should survive just make sure next time you don't forget to add conditioner FIRST!

I agree. The chlorine in the water was the problem. I add conditioner before, during, and afterward just to be certain. I know its overkill but I don't like losing fish. I need a setup like JK47. That would be the way to go.

 

[TheLorax]

Is there anything I can do to save my BGK? He's resting on a plant breathing very fast on his side. I'd hate to lose him, he's nearly 9 inches long.

As an interesting side story: My JD got internal parasites a couple weeks ago. After treating him in a hospital tank for a week, I put him back in the main tank, but he still didn't seem to be eating. Sadly, my boesmani rainbowfish both died, but I caught my JD eating one of their tails, does that mean he's better?

 

[TheHolyArachnid]

Is there anything I can do to save my BGK? He's resting on a plant breathing very fast on his side. I'd hate to lose him, he's nearly 9 inches long.

As an interesting side story: My JD got internal parasites a couple weeks ago. After treating him in a hospital tank for a week, I put him back in the main tank, but he still didn't seem to be eating. Sadly, my boesmani rainbowfish both died, but I caught my JD eating one of their tails, does that mean he's better?

Just sit, cross your fingers, and watch. Pulling the BGK out of the main tank would stress him out even more so just wait and see. Turn the lights off, it will help the stress levels to go down.

Yes, that means your dempsey is fine. I would consider feeding him more frequently or get him to eat or else he will go after the others. If he just recovered from internal parasites you need to give him more time. It is kind of like the stomach flu, you dont want to eat during the process or a little after..at all.

 

[F1 VET]

Id do another 50% change and add dechlor this time depending on ur brand u may wait it out since u put more concentration in the tank.

Hopefully that wasnt enough chlorine to kill ur BB, keep and eye out for a spike in ni/na/am.


Let this be a hard lesson to he learned, ive heard a few stories on here recently w/ smaller tanks and their fish died.

Tap water is toxic to fish

Try prime/safe

#1 S. Vettel

 

[TheLorax]

Yeah, I use Prime. The water in my area of Houston tastes gross, God knows what contaminants are in it....

 

[jim j]

That sounds normal to me,Ive always forgot to add dechlor and my fish are fine.

 

[smitty03281964]

They are bothered by the chlorine. That is why when I go to refill my tanks I do not do it all at once. I add 15-20 gallons and wait 30 minutes. I never have a problem and I use no chemicals.

 

[Gruff Master]

That sounds normal to me,Ive always forgot to add dechlor and my fish are fine.

It's not normal behavior for fish to dart around frantically or lie on the tank bottom struggling to breathe. Use dechlorinator or some other method of removing toxins from tap water when using it in aquariums. If your fish go through this with every water change, it is only a matter of time before you begin losing them.