Never used an air stone... really? A bubbler? Not sure about that. Don't want excessive algae
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Strange behavior
- Thread starter DudaFish
- Start date
what's the temp of the added water when you do a water change. I've only seen this happen in my tank a long time ago when i added extremely warm water. It may be something simple as that.
To my knowledge, the chemistry involved with Prime treating water is permanent, it does not "revert" after 48 hours.
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You will feel good providing your fish 100% new clean water per week, youll know that you gave them the absolute best conditions possible and you will see a good healthy and active change in your fish and that is payment imo! Wc can be hard but if u have money buy a python or if your strapped like me but a 10$ garden hose @ace and snip the ends off and plug into shower!
Feel proud of the effort you put forth into your fish! Fk is more then just buying a fish and feeding it! Tank maintanence is 75% of my fk time, i even have a white board w/ all my wc and ph/nitrates before and it gives me a feeling of satisfaction and pride! Never had any problems with my fish using this method, prevention is a smart way of approaching fish keeping! GL and keep up the learning process!
#1 S. Vettel
Thanks for the info... I use cold tap water... I live in south Florida so that means my tap water is room temp at best
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Buy a python or something similar to help with your water changes. Once you use one of those setups to change out 30-50 gallons you'll find that it's much easier than changing out only 15g using a bucket. You'll also be able to match the temp of the new water to your tank temp much easier which will be less stressful on the fish.
Are you using a municipal water supply (city water) or well water?
Sometimes, especially in cold weather, the water will come out of the tap loaded with CO2. This means less oxygen in the new water, which causes breathing problems for the fish. As the CO2 off-gasses, it usually causes a swing in pH as well. I know people who've done large (50%+) water changes in the winter time with water right out of the tap and then noticed their fish gasping and struggling for air. Adding Prime or Amquel+ will get rid of the chlorine/chloramine in the water, but it will do nothing about CO2 levels. The CO2 has to off-gas. It will gradually do so on its own, but surface agitation from an airstone or powerhead will speed up the process.
I agree that you need to step up the water changes. You should try keeping your nitrates between 10 - 20ppm. If they stay high for too long, your fish will develop things like hole-in-the-head disease (HITH) and other health issues.
Sometimes, especially in cold weather, the water will come out of the tap loaded with CO2. This means less oxygen in the new water, which causes breathing problems for the fish. As the CO2 off-gasses, it usually causes a swing in pH as well. I know people who've done large (50%+) water changes in the winter time with water right out of the tap and then noticed their fish gasping and struggling for air. Adding Prime or Amquel+ will get rid of the chlorine/chloramine in the water, but it will do nothing about CO2 levels. The CO2 has to off-gas. It will gradually do so on its own, but surface agitation from an airstone or powerhead will speed up the process.
I agree that you need to step up the water changes. You should try keeping your nitrates between 10 - 20ppm. If they stay high for too long, your fish will develop things like hole-in-the-head disease (HITH) and other health issues.
I don't know much about Americans and your chemicals reguarding your water, cause we don't have any chlorine in our water up here, etc. But if i were you i wouldn't waste money on a bunch of different chemicals in an attempt to keep the water fish healthy, it's alot cheaper and a lot more effective to simply change 50% each week. (Obviously if you have chlorine in your water you have to get rid of it, i'm talking about chemicals to improve the quality of the water)
If you're using the old bucket method then i can understand your hesitation, cause i agree it sucks to do it like that, but if you decide to keep fish you also take on a responsibility to care for them as best as possible. I typically use a regular garden hose, connect it to my shower, pump in some water, turn off the water and pull the hose back off and it will run by itself & empty the tank. Then simply slap it back on and fill afterwards. It's painless.
Good on you to react in a positive way to everyone's advises, you will fit right in on this site.
If you're using the old bucket method then i can understand your hesitation, cause i agree it sucks to do it like that, but if you decide to keep fish you also take on a responsibility to care for them as best as possible. I typically use a regular garden hose, connect it to my shower, pump in some water, turn off the water and pull the hose back off and it will run by itself & empty the tank. Then simply slap it back on and fill afterwards. It's painless.
Good on you to react in a positive way to everyone's advises, you will fit right in on this site.
