16 replies to this topic

[highlucks]

Hey guys'n'gals, I called in at home today on my way back from a job to find my Tang community tank in a very bad way. Lots of dead fish

9 C. Lepto
1 E. Kilesa
2 C. pleurospilus
2. N Multis

And every one else in the tank struggling majorly. After testing my water and talking to Paul from Morley on the phone for a while we came to the conclusion that it was most likely bad tap water all of my parameters were within range of where they should have been.

PH 8
Nitrate 5
Ammo. 0.125
Nitrite 0
Carbonate hardness 4 Meq/L

I was doing water changes on 5 tanks. But this was the first of them to be refilled and copped the bad water that was in the line. The local shire must have recently been doing some heavy chemical dosing or road works which made the water toxic. Paul had said that this can be quite common with our water supplies and has happen to him and his staff at the shop.

After my discussion with Paul I did a further 200L water change (after making sure to clear the hose of around 100L) and all seems to be fine. I now have activated carbon hanging in front of a powerhead to soak up the last of the contaminant.

I hope my experience can serve as a warning to others even if you think you are doing every thing right with the right conditioners and additives things can still go wrong. Unfortunately I am not in a position to age water before water changes but if I was it is something I would definitely be doing.

[Cawdor]

I'm very sorry to hear about your fish
I don't think local governments have any influence on the water, I think the Water Corp has the say here. Any chemicals that are added, to my knowledge, are only chlorine and for water going to country areas they add chloramine. Both of which should have been taken care of by the water conditioner.

That leaves only other sources of contamination. Road works may indeed shake free contaminants that have built up in the pipes. I don't know if lead pipes are still in use in the older areas and if that could be the source of the poison. I don't know how fast lead affects fish though.

If you want to replace the 2 multies I can give you two if you like

[highlucks]

Thanks Tim I might take you up on that. What size are the multies you have available.

[Cawdor]

Ranges from 2 - 2.5cm I'd say. Maybe 3, it's hard to tell!

[Krystal]

Sorry to hear Cam....

Just out of interest, what water conditioner were you using after doing your water changes?

[highlucks]

Seachem prime. with seachem salts and Tang buffer.

[Krystal]

PM Sent

[STEVEGREEN]

that sucks mate , i removed 13 fish from my large tank over the weekend and decided to leave all the rock work out for a few days and clean one of my filters , came home today to 1 dead X.sp "kilesa" male and fish seem to be mouthing a lot ( could be stress as there is no hiding spots ) wacked another air pump on with 2 air stones.

one of my B.tricoti boy has scratched his eye when i was netting fish ( you should have seen them , not good , hitting cover glasses at full speed in panic ) so i will continue melafix'n for the next few days , but my last big boy died from what started a simple scratch of the eye

i only did about a 15% water change as i only vacumed the poo off the tank floor then topped up with water .

i have 20 odd C.foae eggs in a tumbler and 2 turned bad today also.

it's funny cause i didnt add any conditioner either , have done now , with trace and stability will check in the morning.

lets hope the death stops here Cam

Cheers
Steve Green

[highlucks]

Lets hope so mate, my tank is now back to normal thankfully.

I hit 5 Sponsor LFS on the week end and do you think I could find any fish to replace them with

[Dazza]

Hmm thats unlucky mate. Im also in forrestfield but i didnt have any dramas...still good to know, il keep an eye on the fish

[Link2Hell]

Never a good feeling to come home to
Ring the water board and check if they have been doing maintenance
or adding chemicals as you may be able to claim loses if they have
without notification ......... worth lodging a claim anyway

[STEVEGREEN]

lost another X.sp"kilesa" male today , nothing else effected , fish arent mouthing so heavily today , wondering if i have disturbed the substrate to the point were i have released something toxic as these guys always moving sand .

not good , one more death and i'm ringing the fish doctor.

slapped the X in the freezer just in case , no visible sign's of anything , looks good and healthy........just dead.

will keep ya posted

Cheers
Steve Green

[Warby]

Damn sorry to hear Steve & Cam ....

[highlucks]

lost another X.sp"kilesa" male today , nothing else effected , fish arent mouthing so heavily today , wondering if i have disturbed the substrate to the point were i have released something toxic as these guys always moving sand .

not good , one more death and i'm ringing the fish doctor.

slapped the X in the freezer just in case , no visible sign's of anything , looks good and healthy........just dead.

will keep ya posted

Cheers
Steve Green

That sucks man, I am not sure of this but your frozen E. kilesa may be no good to him, from memory thy usually need a live fish that you are willing to sacrifice. But I really cant see you dropping a couple of green backs on the table for the doc to chop up.

Good luck finding out what is going on. It maybe worth your while to have a chat to Paul at morley his advice helped heaps when I had the bad water.

I did get myself some replacement fish today though i got a colony of 10 Lepidiolamprologus attenuatis ranging from 3-4" Really cool looking fish and amazing to watch them swim. When they pause in the water they tip their nose down and sit still at an angle. The brichardi's don't like them though. So the Brichs may have to go.

[STEVEGREEN]

i couldnt believe how good looking the dead X is lol. i do have a bent mouthed male that i will sacrifice if i have to , lucky for me i have 20 odd fry growing up in my 65L

moved the 20 odd C.foae "magara" fry to the 65L too , so absolute worst case i'm up for another $2500 for 10 more B.tricoti lol.

did a 40% water change tonight , but one more death and i will try the services of the FISH VET.

$200 already flushed.

Cheers
Steve Green

[highlucks]

ouch, how are the tricoti looking.

[STEVEGREEN]

ouch, how are the tricoti looking.

yeah good mate , two males are a bit battered and bruised , they fully freak when they see a net , one has scraped its eye but hopefully melafix fixes that , but over all , all fish look perfect

i chucked one big cave back in last night for some cover , but now very reluctant to add more rocks till i know everything is fine

Cheers
Steve Green