Can Ammo Lock be the cause of massive death?

[Sylvia27]

Hi:

Everything was fine until today. 5 of my fish died suddenly after I added a gallon of water that had been detoxified with Ammo Lock. I didn't think I put too much of it.
pH level is fine. Nitrites and nitrates are ok too.

It's a mystery to me.

What could have happened.

The fish that died so far are 3 guppies, 1 pink tetra and 1 neon.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sylvia

 

[The Mohave Kid]

Wow .. thats bad news ... perhaps the Ammo lock did not work ?? .. What else may have been in the water ? Does indeed sound like a toxic condition.

Good Day ...

 

[skye4jc]

i have heard that ammo lock is the devil... it locks your ammo, but doesnt get rid of it, thus your fish can still be affected by it ( it also changes the reading to either make it look waaaaaay high, or waaaay low). if i were you i'd stay away from it with a 10 foot pole.

what is your reason for using it? do you have lots of ammonia? or are you trying to use it for water conditioner?

 

[WILDER]

Had the water board added something to the water supply.

 

[CathyG]

I would not be too quick to blame Ammolock, I have not heard of this chemical being responsible for any deaths before, and it is commonly used. Skye is right, it does not get rid of Ammonia, but it does convert it into the non-toxic Ammonium, which will then be taken care of the same way as the toxic form by your biological filtration. BTW, Ammolock does not change the parameter readings, but it will show a reading whether it is Ammonia or Ammonium present. If you get any reading, you know you have Ammonia (it will not create a false reading, only one unable to differentiate between toxic and non toxic ammonia)

Could a difference in the temperature of the tank and the new water caused shock?

 

[Sylvia27]

Yes, it could be that they have a disease or something. ..

Right now, I have 2 black tetras left and 2 corycats.
My snail and dwarf frog have been evacuated to my goldfish tank.

I was wondering, are goldfish easier to take care of? They seem stronger than the tropicals, but since they produce more waste, I would still have to watch the nitrites and nitrates.

I might move them to this 20 gallon tank after my last fishes die.
I guess I would need to "detoxify" the tank and start all over again.
Any advise on this? Could I put my corycats live together with my goldfish in the future? In that case, I could save them by putting them with the goldfish already.
For my tetra's I don't think that would work...



Sylvia