The Puffer Forum

If you are one of those who either don't have clorine in the water, or is airating the clorine out before pumping the water into the tank, remember it's springtime again. Here it happens every spring: I don't use a water conditioner, as there's no clorine in the water here. But at springtime there's something else (I don't know what). After a water change, my cories started itching like they were insane. I always keep a bottle of water conditioner, just in case, and it solved the problem (as always). There's very often something nasty in the water when there's a lot of snow melting or a lot of water around (like after weeks of raining). So a little reminder: be prepared for this when it's spring! Even though you usually don't use a water conditioner, have a bottle ready for those days. One day you suddenly need it! And keep a close eye on how the fishes react on the water change, when you know there's a chance for the water not being perfect. I haven't seen any of my puffers react on it, probably because my cories react all at once, and then I go and give water conditioner for all the tanks I've been doing water changes in. So if your fishes starts to act weirdly, you may have the answer there: use a water conditioner.

thank you!

I'd definitely ask at the water supplier if anything was added or if any measured parameter changed.

Corvus wrote:I'd definitely ask at the water supplier if anything was added or if any measured parameter changed.

I haven't asked them this year, but I have done it earlier springs. They claim they don't add anything. I guess it's something in the water that comes from all the snow melting, or something like that. There are a lot of people experiencing this during the spring, all over the country.

To be honest, I don't believe them at not adding clorine. There have been times (not this year though) I have smelled clorine from the water. They claim it's only clorin building up in pockets, that sometimes gets released. But if they don't add any, where does the clorine come from in the first place? BTW, I know there usually isn't any clorine (as they say), as I've actually tested it several times, until my test kit got out of date. It's fewer and fewer places that uses clorine in the water now. They use UV-filtration and filtration over marble (I really don't get how this last one works, but they do it). This last one is really messing up the water parameters. The tap water is usually KH 2, GH 3-4 and PH 8.6-8.8. I've even seen higher PH that this too. What it's now in the spring, I am not sure of, as my test kit doesn't go that high, and I don't trust my lousy PH meter. I should be a bit lower at this time of the year, but I see no change in the PH in my tanks. (where on earth did I have my brain when I bought that test kit that only goes from 6.0 og 7.6? I rarely have use for it as the tap water has higher PH, and the tanks where I struggle with keeping the PH stable, very often has a lower PH Stupid, stupid me!)

you're on city water or well water?

City would explain the low KH & GH

J-P wrote:you're on city water or well water?

City would explain the low KH & GH

It's city water. And they get the water from the longest river in Norway. We are at the lower end of the river, 30-40 km from the sea, so I guess the water has a loong time to add all the nasty stuff. Yes, the low KH & GH AND the high PH all comes from the way they treat the water. Low KH and high PH together really is a PITA, as the low KH can give unstable PH, and I need to lower the PH to get it right for all my South American fishes. And many products for lowering PH also lowers the KH. Using oak bark extract works fine though.

hrmmmmm

My PH goes up and down a bit but the KH ang GH are fairly stable. I have a feeling it is phosphates that are screwing up the equation, but I am not too worried about it.

I am using ground water. The only thing I miss about city water is not having enough HOT water to take a 2 hour shower

Boy, what are you doing in the shower that it takes you two hours?!

Why don't you just get a larger hot water heater? Isn't that all it depends on?

different toppic different thread ... but I really like the steam

So why not get a sauna or a steam shower?

can't afford it

Troender is 100% correct. It pops up here every year about this time, puffers acting strange after water changes.