Water quality
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
-
Thing1Thing2
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:42 pm
- Location (country): USA
Water quality
I am having all sorts of water trouble in my tanks. 3 of the tanks I'm not worried about as I have them under treatment. I got some mysterious illness. Anyways my big tanks crashed and then like a week later my shrimp tank then my puffer tank crashed. So I put the puffers and shrimp together to try and put both filters with what was left of good bacteria together. It's not working it seems. The ph is just now creeping up to 6.2 and everything else is 0. Even the tank water is staying ugly and cloudy and it stinks. I did over 50% water change yesterday. Didn't do one today as there was no ammonia or nitrite. Any advice?
Re: Water quality
Keep doing large water changes. Have you tested your tap water? Sprayed any chemicals in your house?
It is absurd to talk of one animal being higher than another. We consider those, when the cerebral structure/intellectual faculties most developed, as highest. A bee doubtless would when the instincts were.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
-
warlord238
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:36 pm
- My Puffers: figure 8 named puffy
2 more un named figure 8s
un named arrowhead - Location (country): new jersey
Re: Water quality
something similar happened to me and it turned out being one of my plants causing the problem...i cant for the life of me remember what kind it was but once i took the plant out the water was completely clear within 2 days and the rest of the stuff such as ph etc. went back to normal over about a 1 week time frame
-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Water quality
Sounds like you may not have the alkalinity to support your bacteria. What is your tank and tap KH? If it's really low, you can add aragonite to your filter, and you can add baking soda to your exchange water. http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp
-
Thing1Thing2
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:42 pm
- Location (country): USA
Re: Water quality
I have crushed coral mixed in with the gravel. Thought I had enough in the tank already but I guess most of it has disintegrated. My tap KH is extremely low and so I have to have crushed coral in all my tanks or they super crash. Although normally by now the coral should have raised the PH to 7.6-7.8 and it hasn't yet
-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Water quality
Crushed coral may not be sufficient, try adding the dissolved baking soda according to that link. It's what I have to do, it's safe and effective.
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32975
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Water quality
"UP to" 50%? We all do 50% weekly here.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
LilGreenPuffer
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 5301
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:26 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Dwarf puffer - Thumbelina (only mine in my heart now; she lives in CT with my friend)
RIP Inigo Montoya, Fezzik, and Vizinni.
RIP James Bond. - Location (country): United States
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Water quality
I'd imagine it depends on the tank's stocking. Under 50% may have been fine for her up till now. I don't think insufficient water changes are going to cause something like this, though... I feel like something else is up...
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him or her. Will she gain anything by it? Will it restore her to a control over her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
-
Thing1Thing2
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:42 pm
- Location (country): USA
Re: Water quality
I think my tap water went quack on me as it crashed all my tanks one by one and gave my angelfish nitrates burns and now they have some odd parasite. I'm going to go out and buy some RO water to change the puffers tank
-
LilGreenPuffer
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 5301
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:26 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Dwarf puffer - Thumbelina (only mine in my heart now; she lives in CT with my friend)
RIP Inigo Montoya, Fezzik, and Vizinni.
RIP James Bond. - Location (country): United States
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Water quality
Wow, your nitrates must have been HIGH - what were they?
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him or her. Will she gain anything by it? Will it restore her to a control over her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
-
Thing1Thing2
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:42 pm
- Location (country): USA
Re: Water quality
over 160 and that's with weekly 50% water changes
-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Water quality
RO/DI water has no alkalinity and hardness, you'll have to add bicarbonates, magnesium, calcium, so on. That soft of water isn't appropriate for puffers. And with zero KH, the bacteria needs KH to function.
Re: Water quality
Are you on a well or something? Nitrates so high are not safe for drinking. If you're on city water then they need to do something about that. Do you have a friend with better water that you can get some from?
At home we have a well and I guess due to fertilizer abuse our nitrates went from 0-5 (consistently for years) to about 80. Now we have to get water from somewhere else to drink/cook. Really sucks because after 23 years there our water is no longer drinkable and we have no control over what the surrounding farmers do to their fields. Apparently that's my rant for the day
At home we have a well and I guess due to fertilizer abuse our nitrates went from 0-5 (consistently for years) to about 80. Now we have to get water from somewhere else to drink/cook. Really sucks because after 23 years there our water is no longer drinkable and we have no control over what the surrounding farmers do to their fields. Apparently that's my rant for the day
It is absurd to talk of one animal being higher than another. We consider those, when the cerebral structure/intellectual faculties most developed, as highest. A bee doubtless would when the instincts were.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
-
RTR
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
Re: Water quality
All of this discussion is pretty pointless without any water parameters other than nitrate.
The high nitrate level is characteristic of Old Tank Syndrome (OTS). It is corrected by repeated water changes but may also be a sign of overstocking and/or overfeeding along with insufficient water changes. There is no way to tell without more info on the water parameters and tank stocking and handling.
The high nitrate level is characteristic of Old Tank Syndrome (OTS). It is corrected by repeated water changes but may also be a sign of overstocking and/or overfeeding along with insufficient water changes. There is no way to tell without more info on the water parameters and tank stocking and handling.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
-
LilGreenPuffer
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 5301
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:26 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Dwarf puffer - Thumbelina (only mine in my heart now; she lives in CT with my friend)
RIP Inigo Montoya, Fezzik, and Vizinni.
RIP James Bond. - Location (country): United States
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Water quality
I'm going to move this to Hospital. Thing1Thing2, when you next open the thread, you'll see a big red block above the thread with red text - read and answer the questions.
For everyone else, more info on the situation: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=29075
For everyone else, more info on the situation: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=29075
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him or her. Will she gain anything by it? Will it restore her to a control over her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!