Deaths after W/C

Ok so this Friday started of bad.
Yesterday I did a water change on my 2FT,nothing funny jusr the normal procedure.
Added the same dechlor as always etc.
The filter is making a funny noise so I open it to check what is wrong but find nothing and put it back.
It was never really out of the water. Now the noise is even worse and I can't find the problem so
decided I will buy a new one. This one still working except for the noise.

Half a hour later and I see my kuhli loach acting funny. Swimming around rapidly and going up for air.
Thought it was funny and added more aeration to the tank.
He got even worse so I took him out and put him in a quarantine tank.
5 min later he is dead.

So now I worry and looked at the 2ft very closely but can't see something funny or
that the other 2 kuhlis is effected.

This morning I find the other 2 behaving the same and my endlers is starting
to drop dead too. Do a 30% water change and add a different dechlore.

Need a new test kid si kind test anything
Also added some zeolite just in case it is ammonia poisining.
The endlers look as if there lips is swelling up and then turning white.

Was called away for work so do not know what I will find when returning.

 

I lost 4 fish last friday with my W/C too. Also not sure. I suspected it was due to me being out of dechlor... but I'm beginning to think there may be another reason?

 

This is strange, I nearly lost some of my cardinals last night after the water change. I'm using Kent Dechlorinator. They're fine now, but they didn't look too healthy last night.

 

I've just done some water changes yesterday, and all my fish are healthy. However, at one stage I did notice a strong smell of sulphur (or at least something very similar) while filling up the water buckets.

Do you think maybe the water-people added some extra chemicals to the water?

 

I do believe the water in gauteng and immedietely surrounding areas is deteriorating due to the mines.

 

are you guys ageing the water before a water change ?

 

Sulphur would not be good! Would that create a look as if it is burning flesh?
I think it is burning or damaging the fishes gills and mouths.

 

Yeah that Carte Blanche episode was quite scary regarding the water in Gauteng. I don't think we've got those kind of problems here. Maybe Salmon is onto something... maybe the guys who add the chemicals to the water had a slip of the hand of sorts?

 

+1

I dont take anything directly from the tap anymore hell I dont put the stuff to my lips before it is boiled and filtered. I went to one of those plastic shops and bought me one of those plastic 90 liter washing basins fill it with water pop in a airstone and water treatment chemicals and leave it for 1/2 weeks check the ph and nitrates then use it in my tank. I also lengthened the period I do my water changes to accommodate the water changes.

Trace Elemental sulfur occurs naturally in nature either in the mud or the sand so a little wont harm the fish, but sulfur is one of the main components in acid rain so if that managed to find its way into the water table that could cause havoc with your fish. Maybe test the PH of the water strait out of the tap?

Also I have read that if water contains a lot of minerals like Aluminium ions (Al3+) it can kill the fish:

Source: http://www.lenntech.com/aquatic/acids-alkalis.htm

So if your water contains loads of minerals for some reason (maybe due to a leaking or burst water main pipe) that can also kill the fish, it can also be related to degrading water systems and the old pipes starting to degrade and releasing chemicals into the system. Hell it can even be raw sewage that is getting mixed up with the water hence the weird smell.

Some food for thought:

Source: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-04-29-report-reveals-rotten-state-of-sas-sewage-plants

 

Maybe that is why most water conditioners say "removes heavy metals"

 

Just a thought, use it dont use it the periodic table of metals heavy and none heavy metals is rather large so it would be interesting to note if water conditioners can remove all of them in one fowl swoop. Also would be interesting to note if they will remove man made metals that comes from degrading water pipes ect.

 

Well not much I can do about it.

 

would boiling the water first clear metals from it?

 

Vis i am sure if it did it will have some sort of impact on the tds of the water in question.

When ageing water with loads of aeration and movement you dont need to use a dechlorinator (if aged for 2 days or more). That is not the main benefit though, the main reason why i always age my water (even salt water) is to get all the parameters stable, like ph... this could also be the reason for people losing so many neons, i have never had problems keeping neons and thats because they get a very stable ph, even though the ph is sometimes 8+. If you you water straight from the tap your ph will vary and that is a killer to sensitive fish.

Only one thing that can do that, and that is an RO unit... No conditioner can do that. I have learnt to take everything a label on a product says with a pinch of salt, example the OA range, which promises alot and i have not seen any of the "promises" actually happen. That goes for almost all the "quick cycle" products which in my opinion is a waste of money.

 

I hear what you are saying and would have liked to age my water before using it.
Unfortunately I can't keep drums with water in my flat.
How does aeration effect the PH?

 

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html

 

About 2 years ago I lost My fish (pair of black anglefish) after a water change. I took a water sample to a mate of mine who was studying at UCT at the time. He found high traces of lead and arsenic in the water. The water works said that the reading was in exceptable levels for human consumption. Since then I only use ro water in My tank.

 

Yeah I also pretty much take what the water conditioners say with a pinch of salt sure at most they can take the ammonia, nitrates and de-chlorinate it at most but how do you break up heavy metals into something simpler and less harmful? Magic? And even if it did would that not me a very powerful chemical that could harm sensitive fish?

 

They do not break metals up, they bind them into harmless forms. The same effect charcoal have with meds and other harmfull chemical structures.