Archivarium 2004

Lora · New Members Joined: 24 May 2003

Just an idea, but maybe it was the pH of the tap water. My tap water is 8.4. I tested it after having pH problems in my own tank. Now I use bottled water with no additives.

johnny's fish · Regulars Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Location: Chicago

He had a drop in his temp of more than 15 deg and it was a shock for the fish, and that is what killed them. All of your other comments might be correct if he added the water at the same temp, but considering he dropped his temp more than 15deg in a matter of minutes that is what killed the fish.

John

We all make mistakes and we all learn from them, he is not to blame for this mistake, he just wanted to let us know so we might remember to not make the same mistake.

Also I'm very sorry to hear about your deaths...rip.

The Old Salt · Regulars Joined: 01 Apr 2003 Location: Alabama

Water straight from the tap usually has a very low dissolved oxygen level. While the temperature drop was the main killer, the lowered oxygen didn't help things. Ordinarily it's not that big of a problem, but when a large percentage of the water is changed, it can become one.

Therefore, make sure that new water is not only the correct temperature, but that it has been aerated for several hours before use. The pH will sometimes change as well once the water has been aerated, so that's the point at which it should be checked.

SherryNE · Moderators Joined: 05 Feb 2003

Also, ich is usually NOT introduced into the tank, as Badfrog suggests. Rather, ich is always present, and shows it's ugly head when fish are weaker or stressed for some reason.

Huntress · Moderators Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Location: Houston TX

Just to add my 2 cents. I have added unheated water to my tanks on numerous occasions especially since using hot tap water can add all kinds of ickiness to a tank and not have one death. Balas are more sensitive to water issues than most fish that I've run accross.

I do want to bring up the fact that while your water company wasn't adding chlorine or chloramines in the winter they most likely are now during the warmer months. It is also possible that the reservoir your water comes from had a bacterial bloom of some sort that was toxic to your fish. Water quality from any source other than bottled varies from day to day and is rarely consistant unless you call your water treatment plant every day to find out what they've done to the water. Even well water can be unstable. Actually even more so since there aren't as many regulations on it as city water has.

Food for thought.
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