Warning about 100% water changes

[WagglePets]

So I had to make 2 100% water changes in 2 weeks one of them was an emergency the other was because it looked better. I THOUGHT I did everything ok which I probably did the only factor was I did everything in the evening and fell asleep while the fish were in the bag keep in mind buttercup,opal AND dale (my friends goldfish and it’s temporary he was in my tank cuz hers leaked) were in one bag which was a mistake, well this morning dale was dead and I feel awful that I fell asleep but I woke up at 2 am cause I was so worried but the water wasn’t heated up yet. So just a warning it’s kind of at least a half a days worth of time not something you can do in an hour or 2. Just my little knowledge haha

 

[JuDom]

Awh poor Dale.
What was the reasoning for the 2nd 100% water change?
Changing the water can’t really hurt your fish but leaving 3 goldfish in one bag, I assume a gallon size ziploc..is not ideal. A bucket is a better option for WCs that take a long time.

Better yet, leave them in the tank during your maintenance. Barring an emergency, you shouldn’t ever have to change more than 50% and that leaves them enough space to swim around at least. What size is your tank?

 

[TClare]

That is a shame, when I have done a major rescape I have kept the fish in buckets, but otherwise they stay in for water changes. And when I have fish in bags (new ones or moving any to a different tank) I always put my phone alarm on so I don't forget! Though that would normally be unlikely...

 

[SotaAquatics]

Very sorry to hear about your troubles and Dale

Full water changes can be safely done and quickly with most fish as long as you are able to match water parameters and temperature to what they were previously in. Not easy unless you are set up to do this - like Discus breeders, but can be done.

Are you able to mix your hot/cold when filling up a tank? I can usually temperature match within a degree or two just by feeling the water temp. Adding Prime or another dechlorinator should make it safe in about 5 minutes. As long as you aren't doing a drastic drop in nitrates or something - like the previous tank hadn't been cleaned for a very long time, the fish should handle it ok.

A quicker way to temperature acclimate your fish as well - if you aren't able to get the water spot on by the tap is to start replacing the water in the bag with the colder tank water. Assuming its not super cold, you should be able to lower the gold fish bag temp to match the slowly rising tank temperature and cut down the time significantly. In my experience - moving a fish with a shorter acclimation period to colder water is much better than quickly moving a fish to warmer water as well.

 

[WagglePets]

Awh poor Dale.
What was the reasoning for the 2nd 100% water change?
Changing the water can’t really hurt your fish but leaving 3 goldfish in one bag, I assume a gallon size ziploc..is not ideal. A bucket is a better option for WCs that take a long time.

Better yet, leave them in the tank during your maintenance. Barring an emergency, you shouldn’t ever have to change more than 50% and that leaves them enough space to swim around at least. What size is your tank?

I had to move the tank cause we temporarily moved it cause water soaked in the carpet (we don’t know how) and my dad had to cut up the carpet etc and I was just moving it back but they were in a bucket but to acclimate I used a bag and I believe it was one of those big ikea ones
And I have to fill the tank with freezing cold water cause we have a water softener execpt on cold I don’t know why
So I had the heater going and of course was taking forever

 

[TClare]

Could you not boil water to mix with the cold?

 

[JuDom]

I had to move the tank cause we temporarily moved it cause water soaked in the carpet (we don’t know how) and my dad had to cut up the carpet etc and I was just moving it back but they were in a bucket but to acclimate I used a bag and I believe it was one of those big ikea ones
And I have to fill the tank with freezing cold water cause we have a water softener execpt on cold I don’t know why
So I had the heater going and of course was taking forever

Okay, understandable if you have to move the tank.
But as some other commenters suggested, mixing your tap with some water that you heat up on the stove could quicken that process in the future.
Did the tank get repaired?
I’d hate to see you have to go thru it leaking again

 

[WagglePets]

Could you not boil water to mix with the cold?

Honestly I never thought of that

Okay, understandable if you have to move the tank.
But as some other commenters suggested, mixing your tap with some water that you heat up on the stove could quicken that process in the future.
Did the tank get repaired?
I’d hate to see you have to go thru it leaking again

I think The tank is fine I just had too much media in my hob making it overflow I had some filter floss in there making the water level high

 

[JuDom]

Honestly I never thought of that

I think The tank is fine I just had too much media in my hob making it overflow I had some filter floss in there making the water level high

Oh that’s good to hear. How are the other two goldies doing now?

 

[WagglePets]

Oh that’s good to hear. How are the other two goldies doing now?

there perfect!

 

[WagglePets]

Well not trying to blame dale but I looked in my tank and I saw one big strand of white stringy poop and a little one and obviously this is a new issue ugh good thing I have meds on hand. Wish me good luck!
You can see his poop behind opal kind of

 

[JuDom]

Well not trying to blame dale but I looked in my tank and I saw one big strand of white stringy poop and a little one and obviously this is a new issue ugh good thing I have meds on hand. Wish me good luck!
You can see his poop behind opal kind of

Hi again!
Don’t panic and start dosing for illness.
White stringy poop is more often than not just a sign that your fish hasn’t eaten today and had a bowel movement with no food in it which leaves it white and stringy.
Unless the poop is moving itself around the tank..lol..then you have no need to worry! And certainly no need to medicate.

 

[mattgirl]

good thing I have meds on hand

STOP and think about everything you have put these fish through lately. Give them time to get settled down before you even consider medicating them.

 

[Dunk2]

STOP and think about everything you have put these fish through lately. Give them time to get settled down before you even consider medicating them.

And know exactly what you are medicating for before you medicate.

 

[coralbandit]

A proper water change of any percent matches tank temp as closely as possible .
I did 90%w/c X2 a week and all it got me was a boat load of GBR ..
It is not the water change but how it was preformed that merits a warning .

 

[JuDom]

A proper water change of any percent matches tank temp as closely as possible .
I did 90%w/c X2 a week and all it got me was a boat load of GBR ..
It is not the water change but how it was preformed that merits a warning .

Yes, agreed.
What’s the reasoning for your 90% changes? Just curious.
I’ve only ever done 100% water changes when either moving a tank or doing a complete rescape.
I’ve never felt the need to do more than 75% even with fish-in cycles.

 

[WagglePets]

STOP and think about everything you have put these fish through lately. Give them time to get settled down before you even consider medicating them.

Good thinking. I didn’t medicate them yet

 

[JuDom]

Good thinking. I didn’t medicate them yet

*sigh of relief*
Give them time.
Both your fish and you have been through a lot lately.
They’ll perk back up.

 

[coralbandit]

What’s the reasoning for your 90% changes? Just curious.

It is how to encourage breeding and grow healthy fry .
Besides the LFS most get their fish from they did once upon a time live in clean water ??
A successfully run aquarium still can not manage to emulate nature well enough .
Public aquariums and quality breeders change water 24/7 for the most part through continuous drip systems .
95% of keepers issue come from buying absolutely poor stock [ often on purpose via 'rescue' ] or water quality .

 

[JuDom]

It is how to encourage breeding and grow healthy fry .
Besides the LFS most get their fish from they did once upon a time live in clean water ??
A successfully run aquarium still can not manage to emulate nature well enough .
Public aquariums and quality breeders change water 24/7 for the most part through continuous drip systems .
95% of keepers issue come from buying absolutely poor stock [ often on purpose via 'rescue' ] or water quality .

Great info! Thanks for your reply

 

[Norwayfoxx]

A proper water change of any percent matches tank temp as closely as possible .
I did 90%w/c X2 a week and all it got me was a boat load of GBR ..
It is not the water change but how it was preformed that merits a warning .

Quick question..when u change 90% of your water 2x a week is this specifically for your particular breed of fish? I thought that changing so much water that much wasnt good because you loose so much beneficial bacteria. I know with guppies and their fry a 50% water change is recommended a couple x a week, but I have been doing 25% 1 to 2x a week and the water parameters are great, tank is clean and fish are healthy.

 

[mattgirl]

I thought that changing so much water that much wasnt good because you loose so much beneficial bacteria.

The bacteria is growing on the filter media and on every surface in our tanks. Little to none of it is free floating in the water so water changes are not removing bacteria. Fresh clean water is the very best thing we can give our fish. Although not normally needed even big water changes done daily would not be changing too much water.

 

[coralbandit]

I never tested my water once I was up and running .
It takes less time to just do the water change then do the test for many.
I also strongly believe we don't test for stuff we don't know about and we don't know about a lot it often turns out .
Fry produce Growth Inhibiting Hormones [GHI] that will keep other fry from growing to their potential .No test for that ..
I learned long ago to change as much water as possible as often as possible .
When doing larger wc [ over 50%] it is much more important to do the wc properly.
I store and let water settle out [degas] along with having a 'mixing station' to get my new clean water exactly the temp I want ..

 

[Lucy]

I have also done 80, 90 or 100% water changes without issues.
IMO, most issues I have faced have been of my own making by not changing the water..0

Edit to add:
It's the way we would do such a large water change needs to be taken into account. Obviously water temp etc would play a part.
We couldn't take a fish from a nice warm tank and plop it into unheated water.
Also a severely weakened fish may not tolerate additional stress.

 

[WagglePets]

Not trying to change the subject I appreciate everyone’s comments but they are only sometimes having stringy white poop but the rest of the time it’s like casts. I don’t get it they eat like 2-3 times a day. i hate to medicate but is there any other options?
I’ll wait for responses before I do anything

 

[Blacksheep1]

Are you seeing any other symptoms at all ? If not I’d still not medicate. Unless you can see a worm of some sort I’d wait longer , it’s only been a week since your first post so still settling down I should think. They’ve likely been stressed by being taken out and moved twice and acclimating. But let’s see what others have to chime in to say as I’m really not an expert on goldfish.

However I commend your dedication your lovely goldies

 

[WagglePets]

Are you seeing any other symptoms at all ? If not I’d still not medicate. Unless you can see a worm of some sort I’d wait longer , it’s only been a week since your first post so still settling down I should think. They’ve likely been stressed by being taken out and moved twice and acclimating. But let’s see what others have to chime in to say as I’m really not an expert on goldfish.

However I commend your dedication your lovely goldies

Ok thankyou !