Did your town treat the water? I know my condo that do a spring and fall treatment with heavy(about 3x normal) chlorine. Gotta pay attention to a small notice when they are doing it
water change gone wrong?
- Thread starter johnny819
- Start date
I have had that happen with api water conditioner before. I lost an RTC because they are very sensitive to any spikes in ammonia (possibly from your tap water. I switched to Prime and have never had that problem (fish gasping for air at the top). Prime is able to neutralize the ammonia were as the api conditioner does not. Just a thought
Thanks everyone. All 18 tanks have been doing great until this last month. Three tanks (over 4 weeks) have done this with only 20 / 25% water changes. Yellow lab adults saved by removing from tank once fry instantly died. Red-top zebra cichlids qty 50, only saved 4. So when my Midas started gasping for air, I just freaked. My local water dept swears to me they only add chlorine and nothing else. I let my Fresh water sit at least 36 hours with air stone and heater. Triple checked temp it was less than 3\10's of 1degree dif. I should not need to add water conditioner, but apparently should. Other tank WC where fine. Could it be the colder outdoor temp keeping more chlorine in the water lines? That's the reason my water dept gave.
Will be on the lookout for that huge bottle of Safe.
Will be on the lookout for that huge bottle of Safe.
Quick story of my personal experience where I almost lost all my clown loaches....
I had drained 40% of my tank. I started refilling without first adding safe. About 15 minutes into the refill, I notice all my clown loaches swimming in circles, upside down (they looking like airplanes spiraling out of control). I added safe to the tank and pretty much immediately they started swimming normal/upright again (I can almost guarantee they were suffering from Chloramine poisoning). It scared the $%^& out of me. I learned my lesson; dose the tank with conditioner before adding the first drop of tap water. The conditioner works almost instantly, so you should always dose the tank first.
I had drained 40% of my tank. I started refilling without first adding safe. About 15 minutes into the refill, I notice all my clown loaches swimming in circles, upside down (they looking like airplanes spiraling out of control). I added safe to the tank and pretty much immediately they started swimming normal/upright again (I can almost guarantee they were suffering from Chloramine poisoning). It scared the $%^& out of me. I learned my lesson; dose the tank with conditioner before adding the first drop of tap water. The conditioner works almost instantly, so you should always dose the tank first.
