Everything Is Going Wrong

[MichtheFishGirl]

I have 90L tank Temp 29C PH 6.5 Ammonia 0

1 Platinum Gourami
3 German Blue Rams
3 Platys
1 Pleco sucker

Two days ago I did the weekly thing and removed about 15 litres and replaced with same temp water and Prime water additive. The Prime smelt 100 times worse than usual and I put about two capfuls
1st Question could the Prim be off?

Now what has happened since. The platys are all sitting at bottom of tank, occasionally shimmering from side to side. One died.

German Blue rams were lethargic yesterday and are now sitting on bottom.

Today I raised the temp to 29 and did a partial water change took carbon filters out and treated with knockout.

8 hours later platinum gourami now sitting on bottom as well.

there is lots of air - two outlets.

There is some tattering on the tails on the platys and a little bit of white fluff on some of the fish. their eyes are slightly cloudy as well.

Are they all doomed. I am frantic and stressed. The more I google the more I think I have done something wrong.

 

[KirkyArcher]

I would recommend doing a large volume water change (80%), if you are able to go out and buy some new tap water conditioner (try a standard dechlorination product) just in case there is issue with your bottle of "Prime"
Medication on top of what may just be a water quality issue can knock a your fish for six. Keep air on full blast for a while

 

[MichtheFishGirl]

Oh crap. It's a bit late tonight, will do first thing before work. I hope they survive the night. Shall I put carbon filters back in after this water change? Is 29 too hot?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hello and 

to the forum!
 
First off, am going to ask, did you add two capfuls of Seachem Prime?
 
If so, I use the same product, the dosage instructions says
 
"Use 1 capful (5ml) for each 200 L (50 gallons) of new water."
 
So if you are using the bucket method of water changes, 15 litres would mean you only need, 0.4ml (rounding up), which is less than 1 cap thread (1 cap thread is approx 1ml).
 
Or to treat you whole 90 litre tank, you only need half a cap at most.
 
2 capfuls of Prime would be enough for 400 litres of fresh water.
 
So my first suspicion is that you have overdosed on Prime de-chlorinator and this will most likely have an affect on your fish.
 
2nd suspicion, is the your Prime may be off, but Prime does stink anyway.
There is no expiry dates on my bottle of Prime so am unsure about expiration.
 
If you are using a different product or your bottle directions are different then ignore what have just stated.

 

[MichtheFishGirl]

Yes I have used way too much. I am so daft I am only treating the water going in not the whole tank aren't I?

Yes Prime smells, but this reeked with the lid on and the cupboard closed I could still smell it. - Thrown out now anyway.. I am furious with myself.

Water change in the morning for sure. Or should I get up and do it now?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Well, water change, the sooner the better really if you can 

 
 
 If you have already thrown out the de-chlorinator, hopefully you have another bottle already to use if you change water now?
 
Don't be too hard on yourself, this sort of thing happens to most of us at some stage and I have made my fair share of mistakes too! 

 

[daizeUK]

Yes I have used way too much. I am so daft I am only treating the water going in not the whole tank aren't I?

If you are dechlorinating in a bucket then you should only add enough Prime to treat the bucket (i.e. for a 15L you'd need around 0.5ml of Prime off the top of my head).

If you are adding the water straight to the tank and then dechlorinating the tank then the instructions on Seachem Prime state to add enough for the whole tank volume, which in your case is a 90L tank so that's about 3ml of Prime you should be adding.

In either case 2 capfuls is far too much. You can safely use double the recommended amount of Prime (I always double it due to chloramines in my water supply) but I doubt it's safe to just chuck capfuls in - Prime is a very concentrated product.

As a side note, I don't think a weekly 15L water change is sufficient for your tank. You should be aiming for between 25-50%, let's say 33% is a good target which would be 30L for your tank.

 

[Ch4rlie]

As a side note, I don't think a weekly 15L water change is sufficient for your tank. You should be aiming for between 25-50%, let's say 33% is a good target which would be 30L for your tank.
 

 
Agreed, I do in fact have a 90 litre tank as well, and I always do about 35% water change every week, about 30 odd litres. 
 
FYI, I use a python hose method (which is basically using a long hose directly from mains tap to the tank and vice versa) for syphoning water from the tank and re-filling tank, in using this method I dose for the entire tank volume, 90 litres which is 2.5ml using a syringe as my usual method of dosing with Prime. 
 
If you use a bucket, you only need to dose for the volume of fresh water in the bucket which is presumably 15 litres, 0.4 to 0.5ml of Prime.
 
There are different chemical reactions between using Prime in a bucket of water and re-filling tank directly from tap using hose method, which is why the dosage is slightly different even though its exactly the same amount of water am taking out and re-filling.
 
Syringes or eye droppers are methods I use for measuring as it makes life easier!
Rather than trying to get exactly half a cap and trying to pour out excess if overdo it as I found out was pretty annoying! lol
 
Very cheap to buy a pack or a couple of syringes from eBay or something like that, worth it and mark syringe with permanent marker so you know what the dosage is every time you do water changes to your preferred method.

 

[Chaydell]

My bottles says you can go up to 5 times the recommended dosing in emergencies when when detoxifying nitrites. And from what I have read it is generally agreed upon that 5 times dosing is the absolute most you should ever put in. Most things I've read also say it is best to add that amount slowly. Ie 1 dose then test water after 5-10 minutes. If nitrites are still high a second dose then test after 5-10 minutes. Continue until levels are safe or max dose has been reached. So I would definitely agree that you over dosed the prime but would that cause the "white fluff" that you see? Just to be safe maybe you can post some pics of that to try and rule a bacterial infection as well. Of course as other posters have suggested the water change is the most immediate and best thing to do. And to reiterate what Ch4rlie said, don't be too hard on yourself. We've all made mistakes and will likely make more.

 

[MichtheFishGirl]

This has been excellent advice thank you all.

I did 24L water change before bed and I am pleased to report this morning there are no fatalities and everyone is at the front of the tank. Still sitting low but better colour and not huddled like last night. Doing another change again before work.

Thank you thank you thank you !!

 

[Ch4rlie]

 
This is what we're all here for, to help and advise to the best of our abilities.
 
Fingers crossed your remaining stock will recover and have no adverse affects.
 
Think you're over the worst of it now hopefully 

 

[misterpro]

Nice to see the matter solved.  I've just got a little remark.
 
Prime smells like rotten eggs² especially if the bottle is getting more and more empty.  The more air in your bottle, the more it reeks when you open it.  No need to chuck it out next time, it's (sadly) normal.
 
Also, I prefer a syringe for dosing my prime.  It's more accurate and you don't turn the bottle top into a putrid smelling lid.