True Story: I had a beautiful 75 gallon fully planted freshwater aquarium with 2 breeding pair of angelfish, some cory cats, two dozen neons tetras and a red tail shark in it and I kept the tank for roughly three years without a single problem other than having to take out some of the plants because they were overgrowing the tank. My routine was simple, feed the fish daily, change the carbon monthly and I always did a partial water change once a week every Sunday on my day off using tap water with the usual chemicals for neutralizing the chlorine and adjusting the ph. My tank was thriving. Never had a kept such a fantastic looking aquarium before and I was proud of it. Then one day, I did my usual Sunday morning water change exactly as I always had and thirty minutes later every fish in that tank was dead from the chemicals that the city had added to the tap water supply. That was a hard day to go through. After that, I sold the tank and got out of the hobby for the better part of ten years. My advice, don't ever use tap water...it's not worth the gamble if you value your aquarium's livestock.
Help with fish breathing
- Thread starter idh550
- Start date
True Story: I had a beautiful 75 gallon fully planted freshwater aquarium with 2 breeding pair of angelfish, some cory cats, two dozen neons tetras and a red tail shark in it and I kept the tank for roughly three years without a single problem other than having to take out some of the plants because they were overgrowing the tank. My routine was simple, feed the fish daily, change the carbon monthly and I always did a partial water change once a week every Sunday on my day off using tap water with the usual chemicals for neutralizing the chlorine and adjusting the ph. My tank was thriving. Never had a kept such a fantastic looking aquarium before and I was proud of it. Then one day, I did my usual Sunday morning water change exactly as I always had and thirty minutes later every fish in that tank was dead from the chemicals that the city had added to the tap water supply. That was a hard day to go through. After that, I sold the tank and got out of the hobby for the better part of ten years. My advice, don't ever use tap water...it's not worth the gamble if you value your aquarium's livestock.
Floyd79
New member
Lids are an issue with saltwater tanks. It's due to gas exchange regardless of surface agitation etc.
Filtration: Your liverock is the biological filtration not any other media so replacing carbon will not effect any biological filtration.
Carbon bags can be rinsed weekly to remove detritus and carbon replaced every 3 weeks or it just releases things back into the water.
Sponges really shouldn't be used in sw filters, they are nutrient traps. It's best to use filter floss that's replaced twice a week. It's used simply to remove particles from the water, to trap food. Etc.
Bioballs can be an issue as well with nutrients and trapping them.
Canisters need frequent cleaning.
Tap water is a big issue. It's not just about the nutrients and issues that come with those nutrients but the numerous chemicals used to treat it and all other contaminants.
Conditioners can't remove everything.
Ro/do or distilled should be used in saltwater tanks.
Btw, Prime is a great product but it does effect oxygen levels in the tank.
When you clean the glass on the tank, spray any cleaner far away from the tank onto a cloth.
Hope this helps
Filtration: Your liverock is the biological filtration not any other media so replacing carbon will not effect any biological filtration.
Carbon bags can be rinsed weekly to remove detritus and carbon replaced every 3 weeks or it just releases things back into the water.
Sponges really shouldn't be used in sw filters, they are nutrient traps. It's best to use filter floss that's replaced twice a week. It's used simply to remove particles from the water, to trap food. Etc.
Bioballs can be an issue as well with nutrients and trapping them.
Canisters need frequent cleaning.
Tap water is a big issue. It's not just about the nutrients and issues that come with those nutrients but the numerous chemicals used to treat it and all other contaminants.
Conditioners can't remove everything.
Ro/do or distilled should be used in saltwater tanks.
Btw, Prime is a great product but it does effect oxygen levels in the tank.
When you clean the glass on the tank, spray any cleaner far away from the tank onto a cloth.
Hope this helps
Diana A
Member
Be careful of those pads in your canister. They need to be cleaned every week. The canister would not be the problem. It only has plain carbon, not a carbon with ammonia blend?
I do have polyester filling for my filters, I am going to start using solely that when I get back home instead of the padding as well. I think it is plain carbon.
Thank you all for yours help, especially Alcimedes! I've learned a lot just from this short thread that my research didn't show me. Apparently my puffer and all the fish are back to breathing normal, so I think it really was tap water and the chemicals in it. I was aware tap was less than ideal but I really thought mine wasn't so toxic.
Yeah, I think tap water is what was causing the problem. I don't know if my situation was similar to yours and just now the city added something or that tap water was just getting caught up to the fish. Also could be the old carbon wasn't effective anymore. One thing for certain, though, is that I'm definitely never using tap again.
Yes, it does help! Thank you very much, all very useful information to have. I did a TON of research before even considering buying SW, guess not enough.
monkeysee1
Member
Get an RO unit!!
Or, if you can't do so right away, go to the supermarket and get several gallon jugs of distilled water before you do your next water change!
Or, if you can't do so right away, go to the supermarket and get several gallon jugs of distilled water before you do your next water change!
Our local walmart has a RO water for sale by the gallon we bought a reusable jug for about 9$ and the water is 37cents per gallon. I had the water tested at our L.F.S. for TDS and it was only 8 ppm when our tap water in the area is about 200ppm. For short term it is cheaper then purchasing an RO system.
