My fish are all dead!!! Damnit!

[Infiniplex Systems]

Well, tonight I decided to take out 20-30% of the water in my aquarium, its a 46 gallon tank. I used a huge plastic cup that was washed with hot water before. I emptied to where the plants were, then filled it back up, glass by glass of tap water. Did I do something wrong, I mean obviously, but what? I feel really bad right now, they were doing fine til I did this. It was 9 tiger barbs, they were in the tank the whole time I did it. The water wasnt COLD, it was straight from tap, was about 72-74 degrees, while water in the tank was 76-78. Did they go into shock and die?


***UPDATE***
Well, I took my fish ,and my water to petsmart, to figure out why they died. The had said my city put an assload of extra chlorine in the water, and that amonia was added. They tested the water, said the chlorine was fine, but my amonia levels were at the harmful level, but not the "top" level. They gave me a 1 oz bottle of Ammo Lock, told me to put the whole bottle in. That was this morning, told me then to take a sample back later this evening, test the amonia again, it was slightly lower, but the lady said, a bit risky still. She then told me to wait "WEEKS" before I add fish, but why? Why wait so long, shouldnt this ****** they sold me WORK? Or was it just a sell u this because you know nothing about what u are doing gig?

So you think I can throw in a few African Cichlids and a sucker fish?

 

[Sphexi]

Maybe your water is way off Ph wise?


Edit:

Tiger Barbs natively live in a tropical climate and prefer water with a 6.0?8.0 pH, a water hardness of 5?19 dGH, and a temperature range of 68?79 °F (20?26 °C).

That's what you want to be looking for. You can get pH strips at pool stores, Home Depot, pet shops, places like that. Hardness I wouldn't be overly concerned about, although it's still a possibility.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Tap water is for human consumption. Not for fishies. Chlorine and other additives aren't good for them.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Possibly, I am gonna go to petsmart tommorrow and have them test my water.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Tap water is for human consumption. Not for fishies. Chlorine and other additives aren't good for them.

So what do I need to do?

 

[ironcrotch]

Aren't you suppose to treat the tap water.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: ironcrotch
Aren't you suppose to treat the tap water.

Yep. You can't use plain tap water. Or since you are using it in a mixture with the original water, distilled water would have worked, so long as you didn't go out of range with the PH. It's probably best to go 10%, wait a while, then another 10%, and wait a while, and then another 10%. Gradually change out water.

 

[lavagirl669]

did you add Aquarisol or some type of PH/Chlorine balancing liquid to the water before adding it?

If not, that is why they died.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Well, ****** a brick, I cant belive this. Actually, I was getting tired of these tiger barbs, once I get the water right, what else do you think I should get?

 

[Bozono]

Originally posted by: Infiniplex Systems
Well, ****** a brick, I cant belive this. Actually, I was getting tired of these tiger barbs, once I get the water right, what else do you think I should get?

A dog.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Bozono

Originally posted by: Infiniplex Systems
Well, ****** a brick, I cant belive this. Actually, I was getting tired of these tiger barbs, once I get the water right, what else do you think I should get?

A dog.

I was thinking a plant. (think 28 Days)

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Please guys. I spent a good chunk of change on this setup, your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Okay. First, I would highly suggest this. Doing some reading up on the dos and don't will go along way to help prevent future little mistakes like the OP. As for specific fish, I have no clue. I've always preferred grabbing a bass and a catfish, and a few crawfish, and tossing them in and watching them fight as they get older. (Cat always ended up winning, until he got too big for the tank, so we ate him).

 

[Codewiz]

Next time just sit the water out for a couple of hours or you can buy a little bottle of water treater.

 

[Cooler]

RIP Fish

 

[brxndxn]

Originally posted by: Infiniplex Systems
Well, ****** a brick, I cant belive this. Actually, I was getting tired of these tiger barbs, once I get the water right, what else do you think I should get?

Well.. you could try killing a bunch of tetras next..

After that, maybe kill some fish in the 'aggressive' class..

Then, if it's getting expensive, just try killing a bunch of plain goldfish after that..

 

[CaptnKirk]

Death by Chlorination.

You have to treat the water, and let it stabilize to eliminate the chlorine before putting it into a fish tank.

Have you considered getting plastic fish ?

Maybe this is your destiny

 

[quakefiend420]

pics?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

another reason turtles > fish

the advice to let the water sit is good, chlorine evaporates quite quickly

 

[lobadobadingdong]

visit your local pet store and talk with them.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Last Resort

 

[shilala]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Death by Chlorination.

You have to treat the water, and let it stabilize to eliminate the chlorine before putting it into a fish tank.

Have you considered getting plastic fish ?

Maybe this is your destiny

This is heading you in the right direction.
Chlorine in water is very volatile and readily evaporates.
Treated (city) water has chlorine in it, non-municipal well water does not.

When I change water in my tanks, I use perfectly clean 5 gallon buckets that are used only for that purpose. It makes sure I don't contaminate the water.
I sit the water out the night before and use it the next day.

You can use an additive that removes chlorine and stabilizes the water in your fresh water tank, you cannot with saltwater tanks. Well, actually you can, but the protein skimmer overflows and makes a hell of a mess.

Someone mentioned distilled water.
Super bad idea.
Fish need the minerals and so forth from their water. It must also have enough life to support bacteria. Distilled water is pure and creates a non-living vacuum for your fish.

Folks who run saltwater reef tanks use RO (reverse osmosis) treated water that is very pure.
The reason they can is because they use additives that simulate/replace all the things in salt water. It gives them a much greater control over the formulation of their water, thus increasing the survival of their expensive fish.

Two last things...
The temperature of the water you add has to be very close to the temperature of the water in your tank. Letting the water sit out for 24 hours will accomplish this.
Temperature shock will also kill your fish.
Ph has been mentioned.
Neons are very susceptible to ph that is not neutral. Barbs and Goldfish are not.
If you don't have goofy things in your tank like I do (fossilized limestone, driftwood, logs) then your ph should always stay very close to neutral by simply using tapwater.

Hope this helps!!!

/Mr. Wizard

 

[SagaLore]

Tiger barbs are very hardy, when I had some they outlived every other fish I had, and even then when I decided I didn't want them anymore I gave them back to the fish store because the little buggers wouldn't die.

When you add new water, there are about three things you need to do.

- Let it sit out for 24 hours, and add chlorine neutralizer if the chlorine in your tap is very high
- Check the PH, if it is +/- 0.5 compared to the tank water, fix it first with a buffer.
- Make sure that adding the water doesn't lower the total temperature in the tank by more than a degree. When I'm topping off the tank to make up for evaporation, room temperature water is fine. But if you're changing 1/3 of the water, then be careful or you'll shock the fix. You can take the jug of water you have sit overnight and treated, and sit in a sink/tub of hot water for a few minutes to water it up. I'd recommend refilling the tank only a few gallons at a time, which will give the fish a chance to reacclimate as the ph/temp changes.

 

[iamwiz82]

My Dad has a 4-5,000 gallon pond in his backyard which he drains a cleans fairly regularly in the summer. He goes to about 2-3 inches of water (enough that some of the fish are on their sides for a short time) and then fills it back up with water right out of the hose. None of the fish ever die, though.

Is that common with trout, perch, goldfish, and minnows? Is the chlorine disappearing that quickly because of the large surface area?

 

[shilala]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
My Dad has a 4-5,000 gallon pond in his backyard which he drains a cleans fairly regularly in the summer. He goes to about 2-3 inches of water (enough that some of the fish are on their sides for a short time) and then fills it back up with water right out of the hose. None of the fish ever die, though.

Is that common with trout, perch, goldfish, and minnows? Is the chlorine disappearing that quickly because of the large surface area?

It might be. Either that or he has well water.
In many municipalities, the added chlorine is purposely adjusted so that it is either gone or nearly non-existant by the time it hits the end of the purveying system.
Your Dad may just live at the end of the waterline, or his purveyor uses a very minimal amount of chlorine.
We live in the sticks and although we are at the very end of the public waterline, we sometimes get a huge dose of chlorine so much that you'd think it's all bleach.