# what makes water chages so lethal?



## NUTWEAVE (Mar 4, 2004)

so i had a seperate small tank for my goldfish. i used these goldfish to cycle my 55g when i first got it, so i had to put them somewhere.

anyway, they were living in a very nasty tank. their own sh*t was all over the place and it was a murky green. so i decided to change the water. i put them in a little jar while i was dumping out the water. when i filled it back up, i put in some bio-safe to get rid of the chlorine. i then put in a little ph down since my tap water is pretty high in PH.

so about 15 min later i have 3 dead goldfish floating at the top. i also remember this is how one of my p's died. he died right after a water change.

my question is, what is it about water changes that kills fish? what am i missing? what should i be concerned about when doing a water change? i thought i had all the bases covered...


----------



## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

NUTWEAVE said:


> so i had a seperate small tank for my goldfish. i used these goldfish to cycle my 55g when i first got it, so i had to put them somewhere.
> 
> anyway, they were living in a very nasty tank. their own sh*t was all over the place and it was a murky green. so i decided to change the water. i put them in a little jar while i was dumping out the water. when i filled it back up, i put in some bio-safe to get rid of the chlorine. i then put in a little ph down since my tap water is pretty high in PH.
> 
> ...


adding proper amounts of water conditioner ....1 cap full per 10 gallons, I usually overdose on it, just to make sure


----------



## sadboy (Jan 6, 2005)

How much of a water change did you do to your tank?


----------



## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

you should let your tap water age for 24-48 hours before putting it in the tank. of course, if there are huge variances, it wouldnt show in 15 minutes. probably more like 24 hours. my guess is that either the temp of the water was way too warm, or way too cold, or you have a toxin in your water. i'd fill a bucket of tap, then test it for pH, ammonia, nitrites, alkalinity...etc. also, if your tap was way off from your regular tank with pH, then you have to let it sit for a while after you put in the pH conditioner. its not instant. i dont see that the chlorine remover wasnt added, or enough wasnt added, because it would take a while for a fish to die from chlorine. unless its a LOT of chlorine. 15 minutes wouldnt do it normally. chlorine deprives the fish of oxygen, but its dilute, and where you didnt change 100% of the water, its even more scarce. but over time, chlorine will injure and kill your fish. i'd run some tap water tests. what was the temp difference between the jars and the tank?


----------



## Mughal (Mar 3, 2005)

I think it's the quality of the water personally. Where do you guys live that your water is so Shitty? I've never cycled a tank, never added dechlorinator, and never ever even thought about testing ph and other stuff before I came to this site. I also never have lost a fish that I haven't purposefully put in with my Oscar or flushed down the drain.


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

sounds like you did 100% water change, thats your problem..

you should stay on top of your water changes, like 10 -20 % MAX and about once a month, i go two months some times three depending on the water quality based on test and what ive been feeding them, but never exceed 20 percent unless there is a severe problem with the water and even then not more then 50%..

at one point my filter got unplegged for three days so i had almost zero water movement and no filtration, the tank turned a milky color and smelled horrific, the fish where still alive but it was a bad situation.. i imediately rinsed out the canister filter since it had stagnant rotten water in it, tehn i drained the tank half way and refilled it then turned the filter back on and did another 50 percent water change a few hours later.. so basically i diluted the nasty water by about 75 percent, by the next day every thing was fine and the fish had no problems at all..

i got really lucky that i didnt loose any p's but you really have to be careful with how much cycled water you remove..


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

My guess would be a massive ph swing. Leaving them in a tank that slowly got to that condition would (i believe) have lowed the ph by quite a bit....by totally changing the water with high ph.....I think that and the overall change in water chem...high nitrAtes to 0.... is what killed them.


----------



## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

i agree with grosse. you really should let your tap water age for a day or two to see how much it changes.


----------



## NUTWEAVE (Mar 4, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> My guess would be a massive ph swing. Leaving them in a tank that slowly got to that condition would (i believe) have lowed the ph by quite a bit....by totally changing the water with high ph.....I think that and the overall change in water chem...high nitrAtes to 0.... is what killed them.
> [snapback]927852[/snapback]​


yes i did a 100% water change for the goldfish. i didn't let it sit for 24 hours either, i immediately put them in. i don't really care since they are just feeders, but when it comes to the p's in their 55g, i don't want history to repeat itself.

i should be getting a python system soon, so i will putting tap water directly into the 55g. when do i add the de-cholirnator and ph down? while the water is being put in or afterwards?

i'm almost scared to do water changes because my fish are always doing good up until a water change...that's when the bad things happen.


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Any messing with the ph should be done prior to adding the water to the tank. I would suggest that you just live with the ph your tap water has....it is much less work and unless the water is in the upper 8's...I wouldnt worry about it. I have a friend that has bred many species of piranhas in water with a ph of 8+. A constant level is much more important than a perfect level.


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

And just add the dechlorinator when you are filling the tank.....it will work just fine.

Move to water chem.


----------



## sadboy (Jan 6, 2005)

How about using drinking water when you do a water change. I myself always pick up 10 gallons of drinking water when ever I do a water change. I dont have to worrie about the water being bad in any way. I think that weekly water changes are your best bet for yuor P's or any fish you may keep. Just be carful....


----------



## Mack (Oct 31, 2004)

DON'T EVER do a 100% water change.

10 - 25% weekly.


----------



## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

Its really not too complicated. Stay on top of water changes, otherwise you will swing the chemistry of the water pretty harshly when you do the change (especially with a 100% change. Do 10-20% change depending on how dirty the tank is and what the readings are. I do it once a week because that works for me. Remember to use dechlor as well.


----------

