Change Of Dechlorinator(sp?)

[Gruffle]

Hi

I've recently changed to a different brand of water conditioner after being caught out and running out of my usual stuff, I bought a new one, being assured by the LFS dude it was "good stuff" and since I introduced it as part of a water change, some of my fish have started behaving really lethargically.

My panda corys are generally ok but are visibly moping about the tank and "hiding" in places out of current, and my RTBS has become very washed out, changing from a deep black/red to grey/pale orange, he's also moved out of his cave and now resides under my driftwood in the shadows.

Did some tests on my water, results below...

nitrite: 0
ammonia: 0
nitrate: 35ppm
ph 6.7(ish )

I'm a bit stumped as to whats making my little shark so miserable, could it just be a coincidence that I changed the water conditioner, especially as my cory's are ok and i'd imagine they are more temperamental to water conditions than the shark?

 

[Gilli]

Are these test results using a liquid test kit? Have you changed your feed at all?

Just a thought - did you follow the dosage instructions on the new bottle and not just dose as per the old bottle as the dosage might be different? Othrer than that all I can think of is there might be a component in the new bottle which doesnt agree with your fish. I would go out and buy the bottle you normally use and do a 50% water change and see if they perk up.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, hi Gruffle,

I believe in your previous threads it became clear that you had some strip tests and were using those until such time as you upgraded to a larger aquarium. Unfortunately, its sometimes tough to accept spending the extra bit for a good liquid based kit but that's really the only way you'd be able to trust the numbers you are getting.

The symptoms you are describing would certainly cause most fishkeepers to be a bit worried that some ammonia and/or nitrite was not being cleared fast enough and they'd want their morning and evening tests to be giving them accurate numbers.

Usually dechlor is just not an issue with any of these kinds of fish symptoms. Nonetheless it would probably help to be very specific by naming the brands of your previous and current dechlor products as many members here are familiar with a wide variety of these and could comment. Also would help to be writing to us specifically of the amounts actually used in your 60L. (assuming this is still your 60L)

Do you have any idea of whether your local water system used chlorine or chloramines to kill bacteria in the water? Also, are you getting any ammonia or nitrates in your tap water?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Gruffle]

Thanks for replies

PS sorry if the following reply is a bit disjointed, I'm at work at the minute, typing this up when I get a bit of downtime!

My usual water conditioner is Nutrafin Aquaplus but I bought some Waterlife Haloex, as far as I'm aware I followed the correct dosage, although the wording on the tube is a little ambiguous, 3ml for 60L.

I've done water tests daily, not showing any nitrite or ammonia in the water, doing 15% water changes daily (eg one bucket ). No ammonia or nitrate in my tapwater (although I haven't tested for a couple of months, since I moved house)

Current stocking is 4 danios, 4 panda corys and a RTBS, all fine apart from the RTBS, who refuses to leave the driftwood and has gone very pale, feeding them a combination of flake and catfish pellet daily and frozen bloodworm every other weekend.

:headscratcher

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Gruffle,

As far as I know, Aquaplus and Haloex are both relatively normal dechlor products and should be fine to use for neutralizing chlorine or chloramines. Its good that you've reported what you are using, perhaps others will know some other bits of info that might be relavant.

Re the ammonia and nitrite tests however, that wasn't my question. The question was what type of test kit are you using? You can be getting zero readings from strips and find that its meaningless. I mean, it could also turn out that better tests will just show the same thing, but given that you have a problem you are trying to figure out it seems like a reasonable thing to look at.

Also, not sure whether I'm understanding you correctly, but it sounds like you've moved house and then I can't tell if you've measured and posted to us the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tap water at your new location. Let us know what those are.

~~waterdrop~~