Water change from he11 !!!!

[samir]

:evil: I did a water change all of my tanks a few days ago after the rains, except on some fry and the brown pair. When I got back home all the fish were black and floating around like they were dead :shock: :shock: they were being washed around by the current. One of the leopard snakes was outside on the floor.
I put them in another tank with water from the brown/fry tanks and they remained together in the top corner. now most seem to have recovered, though i still think I'll lose a couple of leopards , two of the ring leopards look 50-50.
been a horrible week :?

[goldenpigeon]

geez samir i have a similar situation at the moment mate. i just did a water change yesterday and this morning i wake up to over $1000 worth of fish floating around! mega shat off at the moment!

[aquafrogstuff]

Do either of you know why? What was in the water?

[samir]

no idea , i've put in a lot of effort , not even a frayed fin in the tank . this is just a shocker. one half of three of my pairs look like they won't make it either. :?

[goldenpigeon]

1 of my pairs (of course it has to be the largest and best looking pair i have) is in the sh!t pretty bad and one of the others is looking pretty wabbly. we have had rain up here recently, i wonder if that could have been the cause?

[FishLover]

do you guys use rain water?

[scott bowler]

samir im sorry to hear what has happened i hope you get it sorted before you lose all the fish . have you got to the bottom of it .

[samir]

would have to be something in the water :? the two that didn't get a water change are normal. I've still got a few that are on shaky ground. the leopards are worst hit, I may lose three of them. one red melon male and one BD female look dodgy. a couple of the ring leopards look like they've had a rough day. place looks like a seedy lfs :evil:

no I don't use rain water and don't think GP does either.

[goldenpigeon]

mine just came out with a swim bladder disorder Samir, and they are still getting over it.... is that what happened to yours? i think my fish will be ok in the end..

[samir]

mine turned black and slimy something like your discus plague pictures and were bunched together. some of them even had their mouths out of the water :? a couple were floating around with the current of the canister. didn't even need a net to move them. :shock:
for a moment I thought my heater cooked them and they were all dead. by the way, the day after I got my new lot, their tank in the quarantine room got cooked by a dodgy heater.

[scott bowler]

is that third thing to happen samir it sounds like you have had a string of bad luck .It only happens in threes mate hopefuly better things to come all the best mate

[Bill T]

I would be talking to whatever company supplies your water. Maybe it's just a coincidence that it rained, or maybe the rain has washed some "stuff" into the water - I wonder if your water authority may have used extra chemicals or additives for some reason? If that is the case, then you may have a case against them. There should be some way you can check what is going into the water before you use it.

[aquafrogstuff]

Interesting. Both of you live far away from other so a common water problem seems unlikely. Don't suppose either of you have a sample of the water as it came out of the tap. I know the chlorine/chloramines would have disipated now, but it would be interesting to know of this sickness may be ralted to chlorine/chloramine spikes.

Age of Aquariums sell test strips for $25 (http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/prod1424.htm)

How are they now anyway?

[samir]

all are fine a few frayed fins here and there . it was discus plague . one leopard is still very sick. will do a PP treatment tomorrow. the dramas are over :roll: lost the one fish that jumped out. :?

[brew3]

all are fine a few frayed fins here and there . it was discus plague . one leopard is still very sick. will do a PP treatment tomorrow. the dramas are over :roll: lost the one fish that jumped out. :?

I don't think it is the black disease, it is ammonia burn - everytime it rains the water supply company do increase the ammonia concentration in the water to maintain the chlorine more stable. Next time check the water chemistry when it rains.
I suspect the water supply company uses chloramine in your tap water.
Mario

:) :)

[samir]

sure looks like it :? . I'll put up a picture soon. the reason why i thought it to be bacterial was because amoxicillin fixed it pretty quickly. i tried tetracycline on one tank didn't work as well . the one fish that i didn't treat with antibiotic is still sick. probably something thats come up as a result of the ammonia or chlorine.

[brew3]

sure looks like it :? . I'll put up a picture soon. the reason why i thought it to be bacterial was because amoxicillin fixed it pretty quickly. i tried tetracycline on one tank didn't work as well . the one fish that i didn't treat with antibiotic is still sick. probably something thats come up as a result of the ammonia or chlorine.

I know that it is ammonia burn and I have told some friends overseas to increase the water conditioner to double it's amount when it rains, recirc. the water for at least 2 hours in a storage barrel before water change and it is working for them.
Mario

:) :) :) :)

[samir]

thanks Mario, I'll be careful next time the rain comes.

[samir]

did some reading and, yes Mario, it would have to be ammonia burn. I stand corrected.

[seecuta]

after reading this thread a few days ago im sad to annouce that the exact same thing has happened to me here in melbourne!

i am very *CROSSED*

the situation is i keep a few tanks at my gf's place.
i have 5 discus in one of her tanks and after she did a water change 2 days ago all the fish came down with massive cloudy eyes to the extent where it is a thick 2mm layer covering it.

4 discus have died along with a full size adult male bristlenose.

i finally manage to come down today and after doing an ammonia test found that there were a significant amount of ammonia in the wate even though this is a very established and cycled tank.

her other tank which did not get a water change and also has discus in it is fine.

chlorine neutraliser is always used during water changes.

im guessing the upping of chemicals is due to the drought we are having in melbourne to the extent of stage 3 water restrictions.


This just reinstates how serious this problem is and i would like to WARN ALL MEMBERS of the potential danger.

PLEASE CHECK YOUR WATER SUPPLY FIRST EITHER THROUGH THE WATER COMPANY OR DOING AMMONIA TESTS PRIOR TO WATER CHANGES!!!!

[Del]

Samir and seecuta, I am so sorry to hear about your losses!

What can we do to prevent this happening - the drought is only going to get worse (depends who you speak to) - so is using Prime enough?

DEL

[seecuta]

im not too sure to what extent and rate prime acts on fresh tap water.

only suggestion i can put forward at the moment is highly dose the water and age with agitation for as long as possible before adding to your tanks.

[seecuta]

ill also add an *UPDATE* the last remaining white butterfly and also my favourite discus from the bunch is recovering nicely after i had taken it home and place in 1 of my old tanks. there were also 2 common red geo's who are also recovering nicely.

[samir]

all my fish have recovered except the one in the freezer. the leopards are looking much better than before they were sick, maybe its because I'm now feeding 5 times a day. Yup I'm a chronic overfeeder. some of my ring leopards and leopard snake are now 11 cm, they were 7.5 cm on the 30th of november :shock: :shock: :shock:
my fry have also been hit so I'll probably cull the lot and start again. :x

[scott bowler]

good to hear there on the mend mate .keep up the water changes and youll be back on track

[Bill T]

Well this has been enough to shcok me out of my complacency!
It now seems far more important to test your tap water than to test your aquarium water!
I did my usual weekly change here in Coburg (Melbourne) on Thursday - no probs! I will be testing the tap water for ammonium this week, and pH as well.

[samir]

i just heard that the browns got very sick just before i got them.
all the fry got it now so maybe it was the black disease :? I've culled everything. :x all my red fry too :x i'll be giving the whole lot a complete prophylactic before i do any kind of breeding. :x