chlorine in water

[wisteria]

Help

Have lost 3 fish this week in two tanks. I posted earlier over the loss of my gourami. Now in my other tank I have lost my queen arabesque pleco and the flying fox Someone at work said that last week there had been a mains burst and the water board had added extra chlorine I am wondering as I use a dechlorinator if there is extre chlorine in the water I should add extra dechlorinator. Unfortunately my angel fish lookslike he has been affected gasping(not at the surface)and off his food. I have done a partial water change added some stress coat to both tanks ,I have also turned the co 2 off and turned up the output of the filter. Any one else have any other suggestions

Caroline (dreading looking in the tank tomorrow)

 

[Alien Anna]

You can actually get a chlorine test. Given the mysterious nature of your fish deaths, that's worth checking out.

My other concern is what else got into the drinking water supply? What were they treating it with chlorine for? I don't trust the water companies - I know there have been cases of pollution they haven't admitted to because I've discovered my own tap water with nitrate levels in excess of 75ppm and local lakes have had severe algae bloom. A few years ago, when I was a kid, I was very sick, as were many kids in the village, and people's fish died in ponds. My dad believes to this day it was organo-phosphate poisoning but he has no proof. However, you can phone the water company and ask if there have been any incidents reported.

Check that your dechlorinator is in date and removes chloramines as well as chlorine (chloramines aren't legal in UK, but you never know). Also check for nitrates - although we generally think of them as harmless, in sufficiently large quantities they can be deadly.

In the meantime, do water changes with RO or bottled spring water (not the fizzy sort) and use double dechlorinator in your tank. Also check your temperature with a glass thermometer and clean your gravel in case you have dead spots.

If I were you, I'd put some Melafix in there too, just in case its some sort of infection.

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck.

 

[wisteria]

Well michael (the angel fish ) appears to be ok but I am not happy with the tank at the moment it looks sort of hazy I wonder if the chlorine has affected the filter and I'm getting a bacterial bloom. At the moment the nitrites,nitrates and ammonia are zero but I guess I had better check daily incase there is an ammonia and nitrite spike. The dechlorinator is well within its use by date. I' decided to do a small water change today and tomorrow hoping that the water is safe now and adding a bit more dechlorinator I think that will be ok as it is stress coat which you can use as a treatment.

caroline

 

[loachylover]

If you are still unsure of your tap water you could use the bottled water from your local shop as it has minimal ammounts of clorine while doing your partial water changes untill you know for sure(water boards are b******s they never admit anything untill it is in the new or the papers)

 

[wisteria]

Well everything looks ok and the water cannot be that bad as I have had my first baby fish It is a little baby butterfly goodeid there appears to be only one but that could explain why michael was off his food I thought the female had looked a bit big and then suddenly thin but I thought it was the tank problem ) .Anyhow this fish is a live bearer and gives birth to fish that are up to 2cm long so hopefully it will survive this one appears to be about 1.5cm fingers crossed

caroline