Cloudy water and dead fish in new aquarium ...
spectre911
On Tue, 11 Nov 1997 11:30:39 -0600, Martin Schuessler
<martin.s...@amd.com> wrote:
>I recently decided to set up a small 10gal aquarium
>in my son's room. The filter is a aquaclear 200 with
>foam, carbon, and zeolite; 100W heater, quartz gravel
>as substrate and the requisite plastic plants.
Good setup, about the best filter for a tank that size IMO.
>I started by using 5gal R.O. water and added 5 gal of
>tap water (our tap water is very hard). I also added
>a sachet of "pH right 7.0", since I heard Tetras like
>lower pH.
My tap water is about 8.0 pH and my Tetras all seem to just fine with
it. The one exception is Cardinals, these are the only tetras I have
ever kept that required special water conditions. Most tetras are
fairly ribust and fairly tolerant of water conditions, despite what
the "conventional wisdom" says. A few of them, like cardinals, are
quite difficult to keep. Neons can be a problem too, but not so
sensitive as cardinals in my experience.
>Add to this mix 6 Neon Tetras on sunday morning.
I assume the tank was not cycled? Neons are not a good fish to use for
cycling a new tank. I would recommend guppies (cheap) or barbs(tough).
>On monday morning, the water was very cloudy.
Cloudy water is normal in a cycling tank. The way you describe a
residue though I think it is the buffer you added. I have had that
happen in the past where for some reason the buffering agent did not
completely dissolve and it left my water milky. Very irritating and
probably not safe either, though I didn't lose fish.
>I'm assuming ammonia is not a culprit (I haven't
>done a test yet) since I'm running a zeolite
>filter.
Not a safe assuption. Filter media like zeolite are very limited in
the amount of pollutants they can remove from water. Most of the
denitrification in any tank comes from bacteria in a cycled tank.
>1) What is causing the cloudy water ? (one person
> said phosphates from the local tap water)
I think it is the buffer you added. It is possible that phosphate in
your tap water reacted with something in the buffer, or inhibited the
buffers ability to dissolve in the water. Maybe some chemistry major
out there can clear this up? High phosphate levels in tap water are a
fact of life for many of us though, and phosphate alone does not cloud
water.
>2) Why did the fish die ? Insuffifient acclimation
> time when the fish get dumped into pH 7.0
> water with only a 10 minute acclimation period ?
> (I was sloppy, I know)
Most the dealers where I live keep ALL fish in tap water, which is 8.0
here. Going from 8.0 to 7.0 pH could be a shock, but since they didn't
die til the next day that probably isn't it. My guess is ammonia. I
would check the water immediately and if it is ammonia start doing
water changes. It is normal for an uncycled tank to go through periods
of high ammonia, then high nitrite and then finally, when they cycle,
0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, just realatively harmless nitrate.
Martin Schuessler
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OK. I'll probably get roasted for this, but here's
my story ...
I recently decided to set up a small 10gal aquarium
in my son's room. The filter is a aquaclear 200 with
foam, carbon, and zeolite; 100W heater, quartz gravel
as substrate and the requisite plastic plants.
I admit that I did not research the freshwater aspect
very thoroughly, since I have a 55gal marine aquarium
that hasn't lost a fish yet.
I started by using 5gal R.O. water and added 5 gal of
tap water (our tap water is very hard). I also added
a sachet of "pH right 7.0", since I heard Tetras like
lower pH.
Add to this mix 6 Neon Tetras on sunday morning.
On monday morning, the water was very cloudy.
The fish were eating flake food normally.
This morning, the water had cleared up, but two
of the fish were dead. When pullin them out, I
brushed against the plastic plants and noticed
that a milky substance came off of them, making the
water cloudy again. The water also smelled kind
of bad.
I'm assuming ammonia is not a culprit (I haven't
done a test yet) since I'm running a zeolite
filter.
So:
1) What is causing the cloudy water ? (one person
said phosphates from the local tap water)
2) Why did the fish die ? Insuffifient acclimation
time when the fish get dumped into pH 7.0
water with only a 10 minute acclimation period ?
(I was sloppy, I know)
Any help appreciated.
Regards,
Martin "I thought freshwater is supposed to be easier
than saltwater" Schuessler
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<HTML>
<TT>OK. I'll probably get roasted for this, but here's</TT>
<BR><TT>my story ...</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>I recently decided to set up a small 10gal aquarium</TT>
<BR><TT>in my son's room. The filter is a aquaclear 200 with</TT>
<BR><TT>foam, carbon, and zeolite; 100W heater, quartz gravel</TT>
<BR><TT>as substrate and the requisite plastic plants.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>I admit that I did not research the freshwater aspect</TT>
<BR><TT>very thoroughly, since I have a 55gal marine aquarium</TT>
<BR><TT>that hasn't lost a fish yet.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>I started by using 5gal R.O. water and added 5 gal of</TT>
<BR><TT>tap water (our tap water is very hard). I also added</TT>
<BR><TT>a sachet of "pH right 7.0", since I heard Tetras like</TT>
<BR><TT>lower pH.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Add to this mix 6 Neon Tetras on sunday morning.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>On monday morning, the water was very cloudy.</TT>
<BR><TT>The fish were eating flake food normally.</TT>
<BR><TT>This morning, the water had cleared up, but two</TT>
<BR><TT>of the fish were dead. When pullin them out, I</TT>
<BR><TT>brushed against the plastic plants and noticed</TT>
<BR><TT>that a milky substance came off of them, making the</TT>
<BR><TT>water cloudy again. The water also smelled kind</TT>
<BR><TT>of bad.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>I'm assuming ammonia is not a culprit (I haven't</TT>
<BR><TT>done a test yet) since I'm running a zeolite</TT>
<BR><TT>filter.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>So:</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>1) What is causing the cloudy water ? (one person</TT>
<BR><TT> said phosphates from the local tap water)</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>2) Why did the fish die ? Insuffifient acclimation</TT>
<BR><TT> time when the fish get dumped into pH 7.0</TT>
<BR><TT> water with only a 10 minute acclimation period ?</TT>
<BR><TT> (I was sloppy, I know)</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Any help appreciated.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Regards,</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Martin "I thought freshwater is supposed to be easier</TT>
<BR><TT>than saltwater" Schuessler</TT></HTML>
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TURTLE6776
how much did you feed them? Overfeeding is the #1 killer of fish tetras are
very prone to this i would start over and this time buy something a little
hardier such as a gourami or some zebras or maybe some rainbows. After about
3-4 weeks you will notice spikes in ammonia and then nitrates these are fine
and expected do a 70% water change you should be fine for now if you wnat
to keep these tetras i would say stop feeding them so much there stomachs are
no bigger then there eye think this way and you wil be fine oh ya did your
son feed them any? As unwanted food will sink and cause ammonia pretty fast if
not under check
DOUGLAS FELPS JR.