I don't think sodium thiosulfate is working

[DRteugelsi]

Hello; been following this thread to add to my education. I may be wrong but the quoted comment from RD's post may be worth consideration. If indeed you added a massive dose (overdose) the Oxygen in the water may have ben reduced?

Very possible and im definitely not rolling this out. I guess sticking to fish keeping and not trying to be a chemist would be my best bet lol

Ill just stick to what's been working for me to keep my fish happy and healthy. My wife was almost in tears when she saw the fish not doing well... and i cant afford a mess up like this.

 

[RD.]

Water conditioners do NOT really remove heavy metals, other than trace amounts (in the ppb range) and what would typically be found in municipal drinking water. In other words, it's a bit of a gimmick when companies state that they remove heavy metals because in the case of a large heavy metal spike, say from a repair on a broken water line, your fish would not be protected from that large spike. The typical heavy metal ranges found in the vast majority of drinking water supplies is no different than what is typically found in nature. (lakes/rivers) There are exceptions of course.

I have a sticky on water conditioners in this folder, you might want to read it.

BTW - sodium thiosulfate is not the same chemical make up as the formulas that make up Seachem Prime/Safe - but from what I have read sodium thiosulfate also reduces 02 levels in the same manner as the Seachem products. Duane would be the one to chime in on that if I am mistaken.

I still suspect an overdose of the product, easy enough to do with reducing agents, especially if the 02 levels in the tank were already borderline low. As an example, I know a gal who once lost a tank full of adult cichlids because the air bubble wand in the tank quit in the night. I have never used an air bubble anything, but I also understock all of my tanks - her tank was heavily stocked, so much so that the loss of 02 exchange from that air bubble device, cause the death of all of her prized African cichlids while she was sleeping.

 

[DRteugelsi]

Yeah right now everything in the tank are juveniles and pretty small. The tank is fairly understocked imo. So hopefully i dont have anything to worry about now that I've figured this out.

But, I'll read up on that sticky so i can gain more knowledge on the subject to avoid any further mess ups like this

 

[RD.]

From what I can gather from google, 1/2 grain - 1 GRAIN of sodium thiosulfate can be used to effectively neutralize the chlorine in 1 gallon of tap water. So in 60 gallons of water (your entire tank volume) you probably used hundreds of grains in that 1/2 teaspoon that you used. So it would most definitely be a massive overdose. You also stated that you added the water conditioner after the fact, always best to add to the tank before or during, not after. Chlorine and free ammonia are both toxic, and even in small amounts can do damage to tissue.

Good luck, hope some of this info helps.

 

[Hendre]

I use 1 tablespoon in a mixture for WC on 100 gallons of tanks to clear 3ppm of chlorine, it lasts 3+ months. pretty overdose there!

 

[DRteugelsi]

From what I can gather from google, 1/2 grain - 1 GRAIN of sodium thiosulfate can be used to effectively neutralize the chlorine in 1 gallon of tap water. So in 60 gallons of water (your entire tank volume) you probably used hundreds of grains in that 1/2 teaspoon that you used. So it would most definitely be a massive overdose. You also stated that you added the water conditioner after the fact, always best to add to the tank before or during, not after. Chlorine and free ammonia are both toxic, and even in small amounts can do damage to tissue.

Good luck, hope some of this info helps.

Your info has been extremely helpful. You're one of the many brilliant minds in this forum and I know i can trust your input.

I usually do add the water conditioner during the water changes. I just used the conditioner after the fact in this case because I didnt think the sodium thiosulfate worked.

 

[robham777]

According to the dosing instructions I pulled up .5 tsp should be enough sodium thiosulfate to treat approx 960 gallons with 1 ppm chlorine. Up to100 ppm sodium thiosulfate should be safe for fish, but it looks like it should be mixed as a stock solution prior to use as the pentair brand instructions warn against adding it directly to water containing fish. It is recommended to treat a volume of water first and test for ammonia before use. It will not bind ammonia so as others have stated it would be ill advised to use with chloramine treated water especially if PH is above 7.0. This is based off the information found at http://www.jonahsaquarium.com/JonahSite/dechlor.htm, and my less than impressive math skills (so feel free to check it). DRteugelsi I am very glad you posted your experience, hopefully someone else considering switching to sodium thiosulfate will see this and avoid dosing issues resulting in losses. I had seen references to using it as a cheap alternative water conditioner, but I think I will stick with what I am using.