My fish are all dead!!! Damnit!

[SagaLore]

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?

- Cycle bacteria
- Doc Williams Aquarium Salt
- Plants. I have found the ferns to do better than anything else. You can also pick up a cheap pack of water bulbs at Walmart (at least my walmart sell them).

 

[ahurtt]

Way to go, Killer! Did you do any research at all before deciding to be an aquarium owner? Everybody knows you don't put tap water in your aquarium with out letting it sit out overnight or treating it with some neutralizing chemical (well not everybody obviously). Or both. Tap water contains chlorine! Not a lot to you or me, but imagine you are about the size of a goldfish and have the same amount of chlorine in your body. If you have a dog or cat, please don't use your microwave oven to dry it off after a bath.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: 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.

No, he is in a very suburban area with city water. I'd guess that there is at least another 30 miles of city water lines. that go away from him.

 

[shilala]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: 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.

No, he is in a very suburban area with city water. I'd guess that there is at least another 30 miles of city water lines. that go away from him.

It'd be neat to see if there's any chlorine left once it gets to him.
Chlorine is super expensive, so it's doubtful.
I live in a very rural part of PA and have a lot of experience with the doings of the municipalities' water treatment systems, but I don't know how it's done in large cities.
For all I know, they may use an entirely different method of treating their water.

What I do know is that a very small whiff of chlorine from a treatment system will knock you out. A little more and you're dead.
One of the guys I work with took a whiff at a leaking tank and hit the dirt like a ton of bricks.
I imagine a very small concentration will kill a fish.

Combine a very minimum concentration, chlorine's volatility, and the way your Dad is putting the water in his pond, and it's reasonable that the fish are getting very little to no chlorine.
If he does it on a day when the water authority is cleaning their clear well (where they store finished water) the result may be deadly for the little fishies. That's when the dose is the highest.

 

[Accipiter22]

awww poor fish

I think everyone here already covered what happened..

 

[jadinolf]

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.

Oh nooooooooooooooooooo.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I think they use that water aging stuff... Comes in a small botlte. You're supposed to put x number of drops per so many gallons of water to treat the chlorine and floride, etc...

 

[mercanucaribe]

You spent a lot of money, and put water in before, but didn't know what you were doing this time?

 

[davew0670]

at least you killed some cheap freshwater fish instead of a thousand dollars worth of saltwater fish. Consider this a cheap lesson learned.

 

[Nitemare]

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

QFT

Distilled water or ultra filtered tap water that has been sitting out for 24-48 hours...


I had a goldfish that I won in the state fair that lived for over 5 years and 3 moves so I know what I'm talking about. The sucker lived his last month with only one fin and swimming sideways. He was like a Frankenfish or something.

 

[Atomicus]

I use to have a 50 gallon tank with angel fish, tiger barbs, zebras, and those boggle-eyed goldfish. Changed the water like every 3 months. Took the fish out into a bucket of water, , gave the insides a quick rinse and scrub, drained out the tank completely and refilled it with the garden hose.

But I live in NYC, so the only thing in the water is fluorine. pH may be your problem. As for dissolved chlorine, it probably won't evaporate since it is highly attractive to the polarized molecules of water.

 

[Hannover]

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?

Start with something like this.

 

[Basilisk6]

For everyone suggesting just letting the water sit out overnight, or for 24 hours, that won't necessarily work.

Many municipaities don't treat their water using chlorine any more for the very reason that it evaporates too quickly; thus, bacteria have time to grow before the water gets to your house. Many have moved to using Chloramine, a chemical compound made of chlorine and ammonia, which is not as strong as chlorine, but doesn't evaporate as easily. I would imagine a major city such as Dallas would be using this chemical, so I would definitely suggest using a dechlorinator specifically meant for fish tanks. Make sure to get one that specifically treats for Ammonia as well, though, such as Ammonia Detox from Kent, or Seachem Prime, or else the dechlorinator will remove the chlorine, and then your fish will die from Ammonia poisoning.

 

[shilala]

Originally posted by: Basilisk6
For everyone suggesting just letting the water sit out overnight, or for 24 hours, that won't necessarily work.

Many municipaities don't treat their water using chlorine any more for the very reason that it evaporates too quickly; thus, bacteria have time to grow before the water gets to your house. Many have moved to using Chloramine, a chemical compound made of chlorine and ammonia, which is not as strong as chlorine, but doesn't evaporate as easily. I would imagine a major city such as Dallas would be using this chemical, so I would definitely suggest using a dechlorinator specifically meant for fish tanks. Make sure to get one that specifically treats for Ammonia as well, though, such as Ammonia Detox from Kent, or Seachem Prime, or else the dechlorinator will remove the chlorine, and then your fish will die from Ammonia poisoning.

That's super good shyt.
Thanks Basilisk!

 

[salt9876]

Tap water has too much chlorine in it to just put it straight into your tank. What i do with my fish tank is after each time i replace the water, I fill up a big jug of tap water and let it sit out for a week or two. After that time, the water is treated and is safe for the fishies.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

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?

 

[HyTekJosh]

murderer

heh...yeah...you are not supposed to use straight tap water. you have to treat it.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Buy bottled water for your fish next time.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Buy bottled water for your fish next time.

u cant be serious

 

[littleprince]

I would start by going to about.com and learning about keeping fishes. If petsmart in your area is anything like the ones in my area, I would also stop going there. The people who work there are generally clueless.
I wish I would help more, but I'm tired. And I know how to do a water change and care for beginner fish like tiger barbs is well documented on the net.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Well, all the tests, other than the amonia were PERFECT. She said the ph level was a tad bit high, but nothing to worry about, as barbs or cichlids have a high tolerance. However, the ammonia was a bit high, will fish survive if I put them in now, or what can I do? I dont want to add anymore chemicals to this water, it has enough in it.

 

[dawnbug]

I've always heard not to change more than 10% of your tank's water at a time, too.

I've got a fish tank bucket, where I put the water that I suction out of the tank, and then I dump the water out, put tap water in the bucket, treat the tap water (the stuff that I use is supposed to work in seconds to get rid of the harmful chemicals) and then put the clean water in. I haven't lost any fish in awhile, except for the 3 year old catfish who died recently.

 

[Infiniplex Systems]

Originally posted by: LadyBuggy
I've always heard not to change more than 10% of your tank's water at a time, too.

I've got a fish tank bucket, where I put the water that I suction out of the tank, and then I dump the water out, put tap water in the bucket, treat the tap water (the stuff that I use is supposed to work in seconds to get rid of the harmful chemicals) and then put the clean water in. I haven't lost any fish in awhile, except for the 3 year old catfish who died recently.

When can I put fish in mine, given what I know now?

 

[Tea Bag]

I live in the city too, and since setting 30-40 gallons of water out for 24 hours really isn't practical, I use Start Right every time I do a water change. It protects the slime coat on the outside of the fish (which can be lost during a water change or times of stress, leading to flaking of the scales, not to mention disease). It also removes chlorine and does a really good job of it, becuase I usually check my Ph and ammonia levels after a water change.

Also, invest in a Ph, ammonia and chlorine detecting kit if you are going to try it again, becuause you can tell right away if your water is off after a change. all of products to test this stuff, along with the start right and products for elevated ammonia are at your pet store.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: jadinolf

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.

Oh nooooooooooooooooooo.

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