bad water change

[ifixoldhouses]

I changed about 90% of water and refilled with tap charcoal filtered water and my 6 fry are all at the top, except for one who looks like its dying, I put some water conditioner and a little salt in, maybe a ph difference?

[ifixoldhouses]

Well the one died, man this learning curve is hell I'll be glad when I figure out wth I'm doing

[joanr]

You put in straight tap, no aging? Probably a combo of problems with doing that. PH, water can not get conditioned fast enough before it hits fragile fry. How old are they? Salt + fry, maybe just a tad too strong. Were they spawned in tap or a mixture of RO + tap?

[ifixoldhouses]

I have them in a 29 BB drip overflow system, I usually just let the drip fill it back up, but I took so much out I filled it halfway back up. Their about 2 months old I think 1.5-2 inch.

[ifixoldhouses]

should I change the water again to get out the salt? or leave it, the remaining 5 are just huddled near surface. looks like their losing slime.

[joanr]

First I'd test the tank, Water Temp, Ph, Ammo, Nitrite and then put in some Prime if you have it. Luckily they were not new fry. There must have been something in your tap water that soured the grapes. Changing water again at this point with even more tap would probably not be a good thing unless you do several small w/c's and let the overflow system fill it back up. Or if you have another empty tank ready with the usual water you use you could move them. I don't have any other ideas without more info on your water. The important thing is to stay calm and I'm sure you'll get some more ideas from the members.

[Jhhnn]

Several things could have gone wrong.

Some charcoal filters aren't very effective at high flow rates, and none of them, other than specialized chloramine filters, remove the ammonia component of chloramines. Your drip system is slow, so the carbon filter works as designed, and the biofilter can keep up with the ammonia when it's introduced slowly.

You may have dissolved CO2 issues w/ your tap water. You can check that by testing the pH immediately as it comes out of the tap, then test an aerated sample 24 hrs later. If the pH goes up significantly, that means you'll need to age the water before doing such a massive water change. With the drip system, that's overcome for the most part in normal operation, but the situation described isn't normal...

Here's hoping the rest of your lil' darlin's make it OK...

[ifixoldhouses]

Well I went ahead and filled it up, I figured they were used to the ph now, looks like their starting to go back down to the bottom again, It must have just been a ph or tds difference, hopefully they'll snap out of it. I don't understand the slime coat peeling off though, maybe the salt? I was thinking a little salt would help with the stress they were having.

[joanr]

I've never experienced PH shock first hand, but it seems that PH swing plus possible chloramines could have been the culprits. Happy to hear they are recovering somewhat, bet you'll never do that again!! I know when they first started dosing local water systems with chloramine a lot of people lost their fish and had no idea what hit them. You might call the local util company and talk with their water lab and ask if they have started adding the dreaded chloramine. Using salt is good for nitrite poisening and other uses, but may have been a tad irritating for the fry.

[Chad Hughes]

Carbon filters are great, but should not be relied upon for water that will travel straight to a tank. Reservoir yes, tank, never. I still use prime no matter how I filter the water. Both my RO and carbon filtered tap are treated with Prime.

Sorry to hear of your loss. You're right though. Learning curves.

Best wishes!

[terps]

Ph shock is quite possible. New carbon in a filter can raise the pH of your water quite fast causing problems for your fish.

[ifixoldhouses]

The remaining 5 made it through the night, there is always one that can't hang.
I'll be letting the drip fill em up from now on, and I'll be getting another bottle of Prime.

[Bill Maher]

Brian I also live in NC it rains enough here just use the rain water after a half hour off your roof and you will never have to worry about water again and your Discus will thrive. If you want to know how I do it give me a call 252-633-4439 and if you need new Discus I have many for sale

[Ibanez540r]

I changed about 90% of water and refilled with tap charcoal filtered water and my 6 fry are all at the top, except for one who looks like its dying, I put some water conditioner and a little salt in, maybe a ph difference?

Brian, I know you have a similar set-up as me and I've had absolutly no problems. Although I'm sure our water is differant, you may want to use a carbon block filter rather than charcoal / granulated carbon. Big difference in the filtering capabilities and flow. Here's some quick info I googled...

http://www.bestfilters.com/rovscarbon.html

Read the carbon block and charcoal section. You'll see charcoal isn't really made to eliminate chlorine, etc. Especially with high flow to refill a tank.

Good luck!