agsansoo

I hope we didn't confuse her too much. Thanks Shawnie !

sirdarksol

Cerianthus: As I said, aeration will only remove CO2 from the water if the levels are much higher than they are in the atmosphere around it. Unless CO2 levels are a lot higher in the water than they are in the atmosphere, this won't precipitate a major pH shift.

Kati: What this means is that I agree with Andy (agsansoo). Aeration is a good thing at this point.

Cerianthus: As I said, we're looking at the positives/negatives of conditioner. High quality conditioner detoxifies ammonia. The thickening of the water from the addition of a drop or two of Prime is negligible, but that could drastically reduce effective ammonia concentration. A small risk for a large gain, presuming we have an ammonia buildup, which I think is likely given the situation we're looking at.
In particular, such an addition may allow Kati to bypass the ammonia toxicity worries, thus making the whole "more CO2 means less toxic ammonia" thing moot.

Kati: What this means is that I agree with Andy, presuming the water you've got has ammonia in it, and it's at a lower pH. If it doesn't, then don't worry about it yet.

Cerianthus: Thanks for the confirmation about the SW/FW ammonia test. Do they have the same color chart? (I know that some of the reagents react a bit differently in the presence of salt)

Ninja'd by Andy a couple of times.

cerianthus

Forget it. I give up!

As far as color chart, should be same from yellow to green for 2 reagents test kit.

Hope all goes well for you, Kati!

kati_v123

having problems with my wee one.. its now 2:42am so came down to check this... wow alot of comments. Thanks. Checked on stripey fish. One dead, so carried him out the bag other looked nearly dead, put him in another tank with a little more water, seams alot better now, put radiators on n put him beside one.. Should i use normal salt as Cieran says? i was tempted. I have no testing things at the moment as i wasnt expecting the fish... Feel awful.

Oh and he's in the dark.

sirdarksol

Okay...
As Andy said, breathe.
We need some information to get an idea of how best to deal with this.

Don't keep the tank too close to the radiators. If you've got an extra thermometer, keep that in the tank and keep an eye on the temp. If the temperature jumps by more than a degree or two, it will be worse for the fish than a low temp will.

How big of a tank do you have him in? How much water was he already in? How much water did you have to add? The problem with adding water to the tank is that this drops the salinity, which will further stress an already stressed fish.

If you have non-iodized salt (non-iodized sea salt would be even better), that may be helpful, but don't add anything until we've figured out if it's necessary and how much to add.

Your sig says you have tropical tanks. Do you have a test kit for them? If so, you should have an ammonia test that will work. According to Cerianthus, it should have the same color chart (yellow to green) and everything.

Edit: Hope the young'un's doing okay.

kati_v123

he was in about a cup full of water in the bag... both of them. the guy that i bought the tank off of brought fish too... the tank that i bought holds 190litres, 50 of them was his original salt water, the rest plain cold tap water.. i was goin to put him in there but then i have the problem that somethings wrong with the heater or filter.
The tank he's in at the moment is tiny, only a plastic goldfish one. He has been floating in my tropical tank till now so at least he isnt cold (which is why he's beside the radiator)

Edit: wee one finally asleep but now im not, i added a little bit of tropical water, some off his orginal water mixed with tap water.. only a few cups.. not too much didnt want him not havin enough salt..

kati_v123

the guy didnt tell me what kind of fish they were but said they were hardy ones GH is 180 KH between 180 and 200 PH 6.5 - 7.0
NO2 0.5 and NO3 40

sirdarksol

No Ammonia (NH3) test? nitrite (NO2) and nitrate (NO3) are toxic in the long-run, but not all that bad for short durations. If not, that's fine. It can't be helped now.

kati_v123

had a look online he is a 3 striped damsel

kati_v123

Nope no ammonia test only a 5 in 1 didnt have any other test kits in the shop when i bought them

agsansoo

Just watch his breathing. Make sure it's not too heavy. Do you have an air stone and air pump
?

kati_v123

nope i dont, i have a very powerful filter & air pump far too big for the little plastic box he's in... he was swimming around a few minutes ago and looked like nothing was going on, which i guess is a good sign

sirdarksol

Since Andy's still paying attention, I'm going to bow out for now. I hope your fish makes it until you can get salinity/equipment sorted out.
Have a good night (okay, morning where you are).

kati_v123

thanks for your help sirdarksol.. appreciated, hope he makes it through as im turning in to bed shortly..

agsansoo

He should be fine. Can you get to the LFS tomorrow ? Do you have live rock in your display tank ? If so how much ?

MrEMeat

If you haven't figured out the source of the smell yet, check the impeller on the filter. If it gets clogged and stopped or slowed down, it turns into an induction heater. I just cleaned the sponge in my filter today and it wouldn't start when I plugged it back in. It took me a while to think of checking the impeller and when I did, I found it was clogged and extremely hot...

Good luck with your fish! I hope it all works out for you in the end!

kati_v123

no live rock, have live sand though.. and i cant get to LFS... he's still alive just now... thank god, and wizzing round his tank when i go near him

kati_v123

and just had a good poke around the fish tank, heater is not broken... and doesnt smell... filter is stinking... what do i do?? is it the sand? and how do i get in to check the impeller also does that mean that the fish is ok to be put into that water or should i change it? If all it is, is hot sand :S