Water Change Killing Fish?

[Katreno101]

Hello there it's Katrina again. I was doing my routine 25 % water change in my 55 Gallon and afterwards my Bosemian Rainbow started swimming to the top and breathing heavily, pale in color. Well this morning he passed away.....

Well now 2 of my angels, who usually come right up to you are staying in the back and seem to be gasping for air and their skin looks rough. They aren't being bullied either. I filled the tank almost to the top because the people I live with don't want to hear the sound of the filter but I worry this through off the O2 cycle. My Nitrite is 0 ppm, ammonia .25 ppm and my Nitrate is a bit high at 20-40 ppm. Which is why I'm doing my water changes and I just started lowering my feeding in the tank down to once a week. My temps vary between 75 and 80 when the water heater goes through it's cycle. I need to get an apI ph kit cause the one I have that supposedly monitors it constantly same with Ammonia aren't seeming to work or be accurate. I took some of the water out and put an air stone and pump to circulate oxygen in the tank. I'm not sure why this water change would be any different than the last unless the city added something different. I used Stress Coat and Quick Start when I do these changed. And I use the same buckets I always use. This tank has been up since May. Please help, I will be heartbroken if my angels die, they have been with me since the beginning and one in particular loves to be pet for whatever reason, he's my favorite.

Update.

3 of my 4 angels have died and my rainbow fish have died since thursdays water change. all tests show good water conditions.

 

[bubblaroo]

Do stress coat and quick start remove chlorine and it's derivates? This might be hurting your fish.
Seachem prime is a really good alternative option, and it contains a little bit of stress coat too.

 

[Footballfanatic42]

Also you should do an ammonia test the levels may be high or to low for some random reason is had this once all good now

 

[Katreno101]

Also you should do an ammonia test the levels may be high or to low for some random reason is had this once all good now

I already did my parameters are in the original post. Be at stress coat removes chlorine.

 

[Footballfanatic42]

Maybe some disease is going around idk for sure sorry

 

[2211Nighthawk]

There could be a ph difference in your tap vs your tank. My ph is 7.2 in my tap and 8.4 in my tank. I’d also be a little worried about the temperature swings. That can’t be healthy.

 

[DarkOne]

You should feed them at least 3 times a week. Most feed 6 days and skip a day.

Are you mixing Stress Coat in the bucket to treat the water? Is the water the same temp as the tank? I would stop using Quick Start since your tank is already cycled, it's just a waste.

 

[Katreno101]

These are the sick angels. They are grouping together. The koi has a milky spot on the upper fin and some cotton stuff falling off his lower fins.

You should feed them at least 3 times a week. Most feed 6 days and skip a day.

Are you mixing Stress Coat in the bucket to treat the water? Is the water the same temp as the tank? I would stop using Quick Start since your tank is already cycled, it's just a waste.

should I up the feeding to every other day? I pour the stress coat in the tank before I add the new water. I'm going to buy a better water heater, the one I'm using is kind of old.

 

[Footballfanatic42]

Koi get cotton wool disease

 

[Katreno101]

Koi get cotton wool disease

What should I do to treat this? Could it be affecting y other angel? I inspected her a bit more and she's starting to show some white stuff on her body.

 

[DarkOne]

Ramp up the feeding slowly. Do twice a week for a week before going every other day. This helps your BB grow to keep up with the added ammonia your fish will expel.

If you're dosing the tank, how much are you putting in? You should dose for the whole tank, not just what you put in. If you treat the bucket, you only need to dose what's in the bucket.

How big is your tank and full list of stock?

 

[Katreno101]

Ramp up the feeding slowly. Do twice a week for a week before going every other day. This helps your BB grow to keep up with the added ammonia your fish will expel.

If you're dosing the tank, how much are you putting in? You should dose for the whole tank, not just what you put in. If you treat the bucket, you only need to dose what's in the bucket.

How big is your tank and full list of stock?

55 gallon.

4 angels
1 neon tetra (other got eaten)
1 Glow longtime tetra
1 gold ram
Had 3 rainbow fish , now 2
6 Danios
1 docile blue Acara
1 pleco

I'm also dosing the entire tank amount with stress coat

I'm really scared my angels are going to die. One came from my cousin and is about 2 or 3 years old. He is the friendliest fish baby. He likes to have the top of his pet nuzzled.

 

[DarkOne]

Hard to say but a water change won't kill fish unless you're doing something wrong. Is the water the same temp? If it's more than a few degrees, it could shock the fish. I've been doing lots of 50% water changes in my 20 gallon fry tank and they're all doing great. I dose the water in the bucket (using Stress Coat) and the temps are within 1°F.

They might just be getting old.

I can't help much with the disease. Maybe some fungal meds?

 

[Katreno101]

Hard to say but a water change won't kill fish unless you're doing something wrong. Is the water the same temp? If it's more than a few degrees, it could shock the fish. I've been doing lots of 50% water changes in my 20 gallon fry tank and they're all doing great. I dose the water in the bucket (using Stress Coat) and the temps are within 1°F.

They might just be getting old.

I can't help much with the disease. Maybe some fungal meds?

I bought some fungal stuff good At. I hope my Angels are still alive when I get home. I almost don't want to go home. I try to keep the temps as close as I can writhing 5 degrees.

 

[Katreno101]

My Nitrate, nitrite and ammonia are 0 ppm but my fish are all dying. All my angels have died, my ram has died and my rainbow fish have died. I have had this tank cycled since last May. They were fine before the water change I did. I did my water changes like I always do and I'm suspect the city added poison to the water or something. I'm devastated. I'm really upset and I almost feel like giving up after something so sudden.

 

[mattgirl]

I am so sorry to hear about your water pets.

Are you 100% sure that your bucket didn't get used for something other than filling your tank? Is it possible that someone else in the house used it without telling you? I am just throwing out possibilities. I know it will be hard for you to get past this loss and continue enjoying this hobby while fearing that it could possibly happen again when you don't know why it happened.

 

[Katreno101]

I am so sorry to hear about your water pets.

Are you 100% sure that your bucket didn't get used for something other than filling your tank? Is it possible that someone else in the house used it without telling you? I am just throwing out possibilities. I know it will be hard for you to get past this loss and continue enjoying this hobby while fearing that it could possibly happen again when you don't know why it happened.

As far as I know I'm the only one who uses the buckets. They stay in my bathroom. Maybe they got a fish flu or something. I called the water plant and they said they have not added anything

 

[david1978]

Its hard to say but some times a disease is introduced some how and wipe a whole tank out in a few days time. I learned the hard way about qting new fish. Lost a fully stocked 75 and a 55. Thanks to 3 new fish.

 

[Katreno101]

I need to start up a qt tank then.

 

[Sergeant Pepper]

Did you clean the filter media when you did the water change? How did you clean if when you did? I ask this because in the first post, you mentioned have trace amounts of ammonia. Now you're showing Zeros across the board. Both indicate an uncycled tank

 

[Katreno101]

So I tested everything after I did the water change and the apI tests show 0 ppm. Unless I'm reading them wrong? It's hard for me to see the difference in the colors. The lime green color looks like it's either the same color as the 0 ppm color or in between 0 and the next color up. And I just swoosh the filters back and forth in a bucket of the old water cause I don't know if the chlorine stays there. I'm trying really hard. Why would the tank not be cycled though? I had it set up for a while now. And I'm adding good bacteria. The marine land pouch

 

[mattgirl]

As far as I know I'm the only one who uses the buckets. They stay in my bathroom. Maybe they got a fish flu or something. I called the water plant and they said they have not added anything

Still just trying to figure this out....Do you use a spray type sir freshener in there? If the bucket is setting there right side up and not covered it is possible the bucket could have gotten contaminated if you use a spray in the air.

 

[david1978]

Now that sounds like the most feasible thing so far.

My wife put one of those automatic spray air fresheners by my tank. Luckily I caught it before it did too much harm.

 

[Katreno101]

My fiance may have sprayed Lysol that could do it. I have lids for them

 

[BReefer97]

If everything is reading 0,0,0 - then no. Unfortunately the tank isn't cycled. You should have at least SOME nitrates.

 

[Katreno101]

I

If everything is reading 0,0,0 - then no. Unfortunately the tank isn't cycled. You should have at least SOME nitrates.

will do another water test and I'll post the photos of the tests here. I'm having a hard time reading the tests the colors all look the same to me.

 

[BReefer97]

I

will do another water test and I'll post the photos of the tests here. I'm having a hard time reading the tests the colors all look the same to me.

Sounds good. Make sure you shake it a LOT because sometimes people get wrong readings from not shaking it enough.

 

[mattgirl]

Now that sounds like the most feasible thing so far.

My wife put one of those automatic spray air fresheners by my tank. Luckily I caught it before it did too much harm.

I have 3 buckets. A 2 gallon, a 4 gallon and a 5 gallon. They have never been used for anything other than taking care of my tank. I keep them right beside my aquarium and in a room that never gets sprayed with anything and even then I still wash the 2 smaller ones each time before I use them. The 5 gallon is only used for dirty tank water so I don't have to be as careful with it.

My greatest fear is always the fear that some kinda airborn contaminate will get in there thus the need to clean the buckets before each use even though I am sure they are already clean. I fear even the smallest amount of contaminate will be deadly to my fish friends.

My fiance may have sprayed Lysol that could do it. I have lids for them

Yes, if lysol accidentally got in there that could very well be what happened.

 

[Katreno101]

I will start keeping lids on the buckets. I bought them at lowes new. They have never been used for anything. I'll will upload my new tests tomorrow. I put fungal medicine which has a green tint to it.

 

[mattgirl]

I will start keeping lids on the buckets. I bought them at lowes new. They have never been used for anything. I'll will upload my new tests tomorrow. I put fungal medicine which has a green tint to it.

Lids are a great idea or just turn them up side down and even then it might not be a bad idea to rinse them out with fresh water before each use. We don't know for sure what happened but it is always good to err on the safe side when it comes to our water pets.

 

[Katreno101]

Ok I shook everything really vigorously and here are my results. I having a rad time reading the Nitrate cause the reds all look the same to me.

 

[BReefer97]

Ok I shook everything really vigorously and here are my results. I having a rad time reading the Nitrate cause the reds all look the same to me.

I would read that as 0,0,40

 

[Katreno101]

Is it ok for Nitrates to be that high?

 

[BReefer97]

Is it ok for Nitrates to be that high?

It's a little bit high, I've definitely seen much higher. A little more frequent water changes should lower it for you. Do it slowly and over a few weeks as to not shock the fish, and in small amounts.

 

[Katreno101]

I'll start with 10% water changes. Thank you guys so much

 

[Alaina Leigh]

This happened to me before and it WAS the city water, because the fish in both tanks died on that same day after the water change. When there is a major fluctuation I usually get a notice in the mail weeks later that on such and such a date the water parameters were unsafe.

I'm so sorry that happened. In over 10 years that's only happened that one time. I hope you do not give up this hobby you obviously love so much. I'm very sorry for your loss. ☹️

 

[Katreno101]

I actually just got a call back saying every January and July they flush the water with Ammonia and I asked why it didn't show up and they said it dissipates quickly apparently.

 

[Alaina Leigh]

I'm sorry.

 

[BBnL]

My tap water just had ammonia , too. Luckily I caught it and lost noone, but others did loose fish. Haven't gotten any response from city, Philadelphia.
So very sorry for your losses, esp that friendly angel.

 

[llrhodes]

My tap also has ammonia in it...espically high amounts after the hurricane, as I live in central Florida..I also was having a problems with fish dieing as doing water changes..this was a very sad feeling because I love my fish and I did not want to get rid of them...the best thing I have seemed to notice is dosing your water with seachem prime should help...right before you're putting the water in if you're using a filling hose from the spicket or added to the water before you put it in the tank...

 

[Racing1113]

The white stuff you described on the bodies sound like columnaris. Even if you had ammonia in the water, they shouldn’t have white patches on them. With ammonia you would have seen signs of ammonia poisoning before death.

 

[Slaphammer]

This doesn't happen with every water change, but far too frequently I end up with one or more dead fish when I do a water change.

It always happens at the very end of the water change, after I've already added the new water. The fish are fine while I'm vacuuming water out and they're fine when I remove the scenery to scrub it a little, as well as when I add the scenery back in. But after I fill the tank back up, suddenly I'll find that some fish are swimming erratically, spinning around as if they have swim bladder disease. Sometimes they recover, but usually they are dead within about 5 minutes of this starting. When this happens, it is usually only 1 or 2 fish, but one time I had 6 or 7 die! They all seemed to start the erratic swimming at the exact same time.

This is what I do after water is added to the tank:
1) Add Tetra Aquasafe.
2) Usually replace the carbon filter. This can sometimes cause some of the filter material to spray into the tank like a powder -- I've resolved to rinse it first next time, which I haven't been doing because I forget about the stuff that initially gets distributed into the tank.
3) Often I change the supplemental filter material which is the last step in my filter -- usually it's an ammonia filter but sometimes I use phosphate. Anyway, these can also release some small particles into the water initially.

That's all I can think of that happens after adding water. I guess the most obvious possibility might be that the gunk that initially comes out of new filter material might be what is killing them. I can't remember offhand if their erratic behavior happens before or after I add new filter material, though. I'll make a note of it next time, although I intend to rinse them first so hopefully there won't be any gunk to begin with.

Any other ideas why this might be happening? We're tired of getting attached to fish and then losing them! Our Siamese Algae Eaters seem to be the most effected by this; not sure if they are not as hardy as some of the livebreeders and others we have in the tank. But really this can happen to any fish; in the one big die-off of 6 or 7 fish we lost some Red Eye Tetra, for example. We've also lost a few BoesemanI Rainbow this way, and others as well.

 

[Lorekeeper]

First off, you shouldn't be changing your filter media. That's where all the bacteria that keep your nitrogen cycle going live.

Are you matching the temperature of the water?

Is your tank cycled?

 

[WTFish?]

Agree with above, never change your filter, it’s killing your bacteria which you need. Also you’re adding tap water and then conditioner? You should do that before you put water into the tank. And yes make sure temps are the same as well.

 

[Algonquin]

It sounds like you are adding straight tap water to your tank... and then adding the conditioner to the tank. If that's the case, the chlorine in your tap water is likely what is harming your fish. The conditioner is a dechlorinator.

 

[Galathiel]

I have a 46 gallon for which I use a python water changer to do water changes. I can't pretreat the water before adding it to the tank with Prime, so I add my dechlorinator to the tank first (at 1.5-2 times the strength), THEN I reverse my python and refill my aquarium.

 

[Fishaholic58]

Are you adding the water then putting the conditioner in afterwards??? You should mix the conditioner in with the water before. It kills off the chlorine in the tap water because chlorine is harmful to fish. That is most likely why the fish are dying.

 

[Keith83]

You can add the conditioner into the tank when you start filling, however you must treat the entire volume of the tank, not the amount of the new water. I do 60 percent water changes ywice a week and haven't lost a single fish....and as suggested above, don't change the filter media and if you rinse, rinse it in the old tank water, not sink water. Also match the temperature as pointed out. You might also try only alternating doing one side on one water change and the other side the next one. I think that will cut down in the stress. Anyway, that works for me.

 

[Rtessy]

Most likely it's the chlorine/chloramines, but the only other thing it could be is your pipes being flushed. If you received any notice about the lines being flushed or cleaned, that's the culprit. It releases heavy metal deposits which are lethal to the fish.
That being said, sounds like chlorine

 

[jdhef]

Have you tested the pH of the water in your tank just before the water change, and the tested the pH of the water you are about to put back in the tank? I'm wondering if possibly you have water with a low KH and your pH is dropping between the time you refilled the tank and your next water change. Then you do a water change and the pH of the water you are adding back in is at the high level leading to pH shock.

Water with a low KH is very susceptible to a pH drop. KH works as a buffer to resist pH change.