# 7 out of 9 RBP died after %60 water Change????



## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

Ok i have a 30 gallon tank that will soon be replaced with a 100 gallon for my 9 RBP. I did about a %60 water change today and added Black water and standard make water safe treatment. In about 7 hours i have lost 3 of 9 RBP that are about 2 months old. To be perfectly honest this is my first water change since i got them. After more extensive reading I see most people do about a %30 weakly.

The 6 that are left appear to be doing fine and seem much more active like when i got them. The ones that died showed some tale fine nips but no bites on other parts of bodies. I alternate feed from 2 times a day to one a day every other day as they appeared to be leaving food when i was feeding 2 times a day every day.

My ph and other chemical levels seem to be fine and water temp is between 80-82.

Any ideas on why they are dying? Stress etc... I have only lost 1 since i got them 2 months ago. So i am leading tword the stress of the water change. I hope i do not have a probelm when i move them to 100 gallon tank in a week or 2.

I have a 100 gallon tank that i keep regular community fish in and have had several of them for more than 2 years. So im not completly new to the fish scene but I am to the RBP scene.










Thanks guys!

Gary


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Could be chlorine poisoning. I've lost fish that way even after using de-clor.


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

I added 15ml - per tetra 5ml for every 10 gallons, can you add to much do you sugest me adding more?


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## slckr69 (Feb 21, 2004)

for future reference being a smaller tank i would only do maybe 10 - 20 percent change weekly

did u check the temp of the water you put in cuz even a few degrees coulda shocked the poor fellas


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

i did try to moderate it by feel of course they tended to stay at the oppisate side of the tank so that could have done it but not real shure...


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

stress maybe?

or that when u did the water change u put in water that was colder or warmer than the wate rin your tnak. thus causing shock.

srry to here that though


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

Gary said:


> Ok i have a 30 gallon tank that will soon be replaced with a 100 gallon for my 9 RBP. I did about a %60 water change today and added Black water and standard make water safe treatment. In about 7 hours i have lost 3 of 9 RBP that are about 2 months old. To be perfectly honest this is my first water change since i got them. After more extensive reading I see most people do about a %30 weakly.
> 
> The 6 that are left appear to be doing fine and seem much more active like when i got them. The ones that died showed some tale fine nips but no bites on other parts of bodies. I alternate feed from 2 times a day to one a day every other day as they appeared to be leaving food when i was feeding 2 times a day every day.
> 
> ...


This is the first time you have changed the water in 2 months and you said the water parameters were fine? What are the exact readings for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates? Did you test the water before or after the water change? Also, did you cycle the tank before you put the fish in?

Oh, and pardon me for being so rude. Welcome to the site!


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

I did not do a recent test before water cycle so i have nothing to compare to. But i used 5 in 1 test for nitrate and nitrites and they were withing accectable region, not sure what the numbers were amonia was a little high so i did what i shouldnt have done and that was attempt to lower the amonia so they probally went from a very high amonia tank to almost no amonia if i were to guess.

I did not cyle the tank before adding fish. I am assuming cycleing the tank is the process of removing about %30 of the water 1 time a week until you reach %100?????

I am about to setup a new 100 gallon in the next couple of weeks what are the key things i need to do to prevent this from happening again??

thanks, gary


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

Gary said:


> I did not do a recent test before water cycle so i have nothing to compare to. But i used 5 in 1 test for nitrate and nitrites and they were withing accectable region, not sure what the numbers were amonia was a little high so i did what i shouldnt have done and that was attempt to lower the amonia so they probally went from a very high amonia tank to almost no amonia if i were to guess.
> 
> I did not cyle the tank before adding fish. I am assuming cycleing the tank is the process of removing about %30 of the water 1 time a week until you reach %100?????
> 
> ...


Ok, so my prediction was correct. Have a look at this and feel free to ask any remaining questions you may have. This is information you will definitely want to know before setting up your new tank and losing the rest of your fish. Also, check out this thread, where someone recently went through a similar situation.


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

ok filters should be hear wednesday! tank on wednesday as well! fish later after i cycle tank!

What do you think about this to cycle tank.

I have a 10 gallon tank that has 2 feeder gold fish in it and to small neons. When i get the new tank ready i will fill it with about 85 gallons then the contents of the 10 gallon tank water fish and scenery to the tank. It only has a filter rated for a 20 gallan tank should i go ahead and run this filter plus the 2 fluval 404's or what combination should i use? The one in the tank i have now will need to stay there to keep the 2 P's i have left alive! I have the 5in1 test stips that you have mentioned before + the amonia test strips from the master kit. So i should be able to tell how it is going! Thanks, for the great help!! You must really love this hobbie, and it is growing on me i have already invested about $400 in it and with the new tank i will be spending about another $1000 :0


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## kelrx8 (Apr 1, 2006)

do 20-30% water changes, try to have temp coming from sink as close to what you have in the tank alread.I always condition the water before i place it in the tank also.


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

Gary said:


> ok filters should be hear wednesday! tank on wednesday as well! fish later after i cycle tank!
> 
> What do you think about this to cycle tank.
> 
> I have a 10 gallon tank that has 2 feeder gold fish in it and to small neons. When i get the new tank ready i will fill it with about 85 gallons then the contents of the 10 gallon tank water fish and scenery to the tank. It only has a filter rated for a 20 gallan tank should i go ahead and run this filter plus the 2 fluval 404's or what combination should i use? The one in the tank i have now will need to stay there to keep the 2 P's i have left alive! I have the 5in1 test stips that you have mentioned before + the amonia test strips from the master kit. So i should be able to tell how it is going! Thanks, for the great help!! You must really love this hobbie, and it is growing on me i have already invested about $400 in it and with the new tank i will be spending about another $1000 :0


For a 100 gallon tank, you would need a lot more than 2 feeder goldfish to cycle it in a timely manner. I highly suggest you try a fishless cycling method. It is a lot faster and produces a much larger bacterial colony when the cycle has completed. If you'd like to read up on this method, then click here! doctorvtec wrote an excellent article on fishless cycling. Depending on what else you plan on adding to the tank with your remaining RBP's, you may want to keep the ammonia a tad bit higher than suggested in that article. When I cycle my tanks, I usually keep the ammonia around 3-4ppm rather than 1-2. This yields a larger batch of beneficial bacteria to prevent your tank from going through a secondary cycle if you plan on stocking it with larger fish, or a large quantity. Hope this helps!


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

NexTech84 said:


> ok filters should be hear wednesday! tank on wednesday as well! fish later after i cycle tank!
> 
> What do you think about this to cycle tank.
> 
> I have a 10 gallon tank that has 2 feeder gold fish in it and to small neons. When i get the new tank ready i will fill it with about 85 gallons then the contents of the 10 gallon tank water fish and scenery to the tank. It only has a filter rated for a 20 gallan tank should i go ahead and run this filter plus the 2 fluval 404's or what combination should i use? The one in the tank i have now will need to stay there to keep the 2 P's i have left alive! I have the 5in1 test stips that you have mentioned before + the amonia test strips from the master kit. So i should be able to tell how it is going! Thanks, for the great help!! You must really love this hobbie, and it is growing on me i have already invested about $400 in it and with the new tank i will be spending about another $1000 :0


For a 100 gallon tank, you would need a lot more than 2 feeder goldfish to cycle it in a timely manner. I highly suggest you try a fishless cycling method. It is a lot faster and produces a much larger bacterial colony when the cycle has completed. If you'd like to read up on this method, then click here! doctorvtec wrote an excellent article on fishless cycling. Depending on what else you plan on adding to the tank with your remaining RBP's, you may want to keep the ammonia a tad bit higher than suggested in that article. When I cycle my tanks, I usually keep the ammonia around 3-4ppm rather than 1-2. This yields a larger batch of beneficial bacteria to prevent your tank from going through a secondary cycle if you plan on stocking it with larger fish, or a large quantity. Hope this helps!








[/quote]

Great i will read it and follow it to a T!!!! 
I am only planning on put P's in the new tank. 
Here is the test kit that i have: test kit link it should give me all the info that i need i believe!

It is now 9:30 my time about 36 hours after i did the water change and 2 are still going! They even ate a little tonight! So i think they will be ok!

I will post some pics of the new tank and chem. results before i order from aquascape i am thinking of getting 10 in case some dont make the trip.

Any sugestions on the lighting i have been using a sun glow now it appears to be the dullest i could find. I use marine glo in my community tank and it puts off a very bright blue, dont think the P's would like it.

Thanks for all the tips! Hopefully I can contribute in the futre once i have a little bit more experiance with this field!

Gary


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

Gary said:


> Great i will read it and follow it to a T!!!!
> I am only planning on put P's in the new tank.
> Here is the test kit that i have: test kit link it should give me all the info that i need i believe!
> 
> ...


Np, glad I could help!

While the test kit that you have is not the greatest in my opinion, it will still do. I prefer the Freshwater Master Test Kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals over any kind of strip tester.

As far as the light is concerned, that is up to you. Some people prefer to use a dim light when it comes to P's, but I believe with the proper training, you can get them used to brighter bulbs. I wouldn't go as bright as marine glo, but I personally prefer aqua glo bulbs.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to the pics!


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## SAD_DC (Jan 5, 2006)

im 80% sure its because of the stuff thats suppose to get rid of chlorine /ammonia/etc..

heres an example...
a friend of mine har a nice lookin rhomb (about 3"or so) in a 30G tank
he changed water and while he was cleaning it he put the rhomb in a bucket filled with new water (stupid mistake) and NO tank water...

he proceded to change the water...everything looked good untill he added the rhomb...
2 hours after the water change rhomb was dead....
sad sad story...

but yea i think thats why, you can never trust water now adays....


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

One more thought. I just got in my 2 fulval 404 filters i currently have a 404 filter on my community tank that has been running for 5 months. what if i hook up one of the new filters to my community tank and put the cycled filter on the new P tank? Do you think this would help with the fishless cycle of the tank, or would it be a waste of time?

What do you tink about moving 50 gal to the new 100 gal tank from my community tank? as i need a water change on it anyway? If i did that and put used filter on new tank would i need to do a full cycle?

Blackwater, should i use blackwater, is it needed? Any thoughts?


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## ike609 (Feb 20, 2006)

*My 2 Survivor's!!*


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