please help! water quality crisis

[madgardener007]

24 hours ago my gsp died R.I.P. suddenly his decline was rapid. His breathing was labored and he got very sluggish he didn't eat dinner that night and was dead by morning(see my post in the hospital my puffer wont eat) His decline from normal crazy self to dead was about 12 hours. I have had this 29 gal brackish water tank set up for 5 or 6 years. I have black sand as a sub straight, those rocks that leach minerals, some plastic plants and a bog log. I have a submerged heater and two filters(bio wheel mini, top fin 40 ) I also have had a bit of a battle with brown algae. Living in this tank peacefully together has been my gsp 3" my brackish water eel 12" and a black night Gobi 3-4". I have not really ever had much of a problem with my tank or these fish until now. I guess since I have really never had much of a problem in the 3 years these fish have been living together I have gotten very slack with my water changes and testing. The last time I tested my waster was last Summer and the nitrates were about 160 and I seriously panicked. I started doing water changes many times over the next couple of weeks and started feeding them less to reduce waste. Since then I have done a water change once or twice a month. When puffer got sick the other day I tested the water again, the salinity was at 1.014(normal), the Nitrates were very high at 80 and to my shock the pH was low at 7 and the kh had rocketed to over 40dkh( I couldn't get it to change over to blue) So I did a 20% water changer quickly before I ran off to work(late), and added some buffer to raise the pH(slowly).

When I got home from work I tested the water again salinity was the same, the pH was 7.6 and the kh was 0dkh...yes zero...I tested it 4 times to be sure. I was very worried and stunned..I know rapid water quality changes and pH changes can be fatal to fish. AND I have no idea how just a 20% water change can do that. So next I tested my tap water, which I have tested at least 20 times in the 3 years I have lived here(pH 7.4)....and it was zerokh and pH8.2!!!!!!!! out of the tap, which explained the dramatic rise in pH but not the dramatic decline in kh. SO did I screw up the first test?..I followed all the directions and i made sure the test tube was super clean....It made me feel a Little better that I might not have let the kh get so out of control...but mostly am confused.

This sets up a serious dilemma for me ..so I know that i need my pH to be around 7.8 or so...and my tank pH currently is at 7.4.....How did it get that low when the tap waster is so much higher???? and how do I do water changes without stressing out the fish...I think it takes a while for the pH lowering stuff to work..I guess I could try to lower the pH of the tap water before I add it......and then let it sit out overnight to make sure its adjusted before I add it...but that seems long and complicated I should have never just assumed the water in my tap would remain the same just cuz it always had been...and did it change all the time I just happened to catch it at 7.4 every time??? Today I will get new ammonia and nitrite tests. so I will post that when I can. The only other weird thing that happened was about 2 weeks ago My cats knocked the plug out of the wall and turned off my fish tank for several hours...when I got home the tank was cold and my eel was not realy moving.....I added some warm water to replace what had eveporated and turned everythign back on....the fish all recovered fine.

I still don't know why exactly my puffer died so rapidly, in my first brackish tank I had water quality issues, and my fish were unhappy and very dark in color for a long time while I tried to fixed them....but never died like that, with such good color.... I want to do more water changes to get the nitrates down but am scared to try it without knowing first how to address the pH issues. I want the two remaining fish to live and be happy. I am also still quite upset at the loss of my beloved puffer fish....he was my buddy, Puffer fish are the reason I even, started brackish tanks, I saw one swimming in a pet store and it was love at first sight. I am scared to get another puffer till i know why this one died, I don't want to risk another fishies life. Oh and when my puffer died he had a little bubble bump on his tummy.....I thought about dissecting him, but don't have a sharp enough knife.....and really what would I be able to tell anyhow.......Please help if you can, Thank You

[Bred]

There's something weird going on. See if you can pick up a new KH test kit while you're at it.

The thing NOT to do is start adding buffers willy-nilly. We need reliable test results before deciding what to do next.

What salinity do you keep this tank at?

[crazyforpuffs]

Well, to address some of your concerns - IMO you can not do too many water changes. Many of us do 50% per week. When our fish are sick, or or water quality is suspicious, we have been known to do daily water changes, until the readings are within the correct parameters.

I am not certain a 20% water change was the reason for your puffers untimely demise. I think being in poor quality water for a length of time finally took its toll...and just coincided with your water change.

I would think the rather high nitrates are the culprite rather than the ph and kh...puffers need high quality water. I would worry more about getting those nitrates down. Only thing that will do that is water changes, water changes, water changes.

I cannot comment on your PH and kH issues, as I do not test for those things in my tanks.

[madgardener007]

Sorry I was not clear on that, The 20%water change I did was AFTER my puffer passed away, so it did not contribute to his death. I noticed he was sick, late at night before I went to bed, by morning he was dead. I agree with bred, there is probably something wrong with my kh test kit. The store did not have any tests in stock so I will have to wait for a more accurate test. The rocks I have in my tank SHOULD be taking care of the kh so I don't have to worry about it....... I tested today my ammonia was at .5ppm and nitrites were at .12ppm. I added some stuff I bought at the fish store today to help cycle the tank in case the temp drop spurred bacteria death. I am concerned that the temp drop may have also spurred an ich outbreak and perhaps that is what killed puffer, Ich in his gills. I can't tell if my other fish are acting sluggish because they are both chilled out nocturnal fish that don't do that much. I am not sure but I think when you have water quality problems that lead to puffer death they take longer than 8-12 hours to kill them....they tend to look pretty bad for at least a day or two before they die... I keep my salinity at 1.014

another side note, I don't think this has ANYTHING to do with it but my stupid cat jumps at the fish tank all the time...I heard tapping on the tank is bad for the fish......and he leaps at it, it shakes the whole tank...he is so dumb. I tried every thing to deter him, there is nothing I can do to keep him away from it except to lock him in the bathroom , and I wont do that all day.

[Pufferpunk]

Hmmm... I wonder what hapened to my post on this?

The fact that your tap water's pH is 8.2 & your tank is/was 7 & the high nitrAtes, means that you are definately not doing enough water changes. Especially with the 12" eel in there (it must be producing a lot of waste in a tank that size). What kind of eel is it? Truthfully, you really shouldn't have a fish that size in a 29g.

Start out doing daily 20% water changes for 5-7 days & continue with 50% weekly water changes on your tank. This is what most of do weekly here on our tanks. If you can commit to that, you should be able to keep another puffer nice & healthy & long-lived (w/o the eel though...)

[madgardener007]

the eel is really skinny he is long but less than a half an inch around just bearly bigger than a pencil. I have found pictures of him on the Internet, however all had different names..He is a moray brackish water eel who according to the info I found is almost full grown. From what I found He just like the puffer is also often sold as freshwater by uninformed pet stores. I understand that when my puffer got larger I was going to have to get a bigger tank for the 3 of them. I am definitely going to do more water changes....but I am concerned about adding the high pH water from the tap.

[Pufferpunk]

I added some stuff I bought at the fish store today to help cycle the tank

Unless you bought Bio-Spira, don't use it (probably Cycle?). B-S is the only product that contains live bacteria, everything else contains dead bacteria=waste.

I am definitely going to do more water changes....but I am concerned about adding the high pH water from the tap.

I repeat what crazyforpuffs said: "you cannot do too many water changes". I said 20% daily, to slowly get your pH where it should be for BW, around 8. If you continue w/50% weekly, it should stay around 8 at all times. Most of us use crushed coral or aragonite as a substrate, to keep the pH around a steady 8.

[RTR]

You tap water pH reading is not likely to be accurate, but reflects the increased dissolved gas load from the pressure. If you want more accurate tap water figures, leave water out on the counter in a shallow bowl overnight to 24 hours, or aerate vigorously for 30-60 minutes. This will allow the water to warm to room temperature at least, and to off-gas.

The tap pH may also be affected by short-term (usually phosphate) buffers added by the utility to protect home pipe networks. Those generally last no more than 24-48 hours in tanks, after which the water will revert to its KH-determined pH.

Beyond that I agree strongly with PP's post on current and future handling.