I Need Some Instructions On Water Changes!

[ProHaloSniper]

ok guys...Im not very happy since my $28 cleaner shrimp died and Im blaming myself. I had done a water change just prior to him passing on. Maybe I do it incorrectly?

Heres what I do:

Empty water approx. 50% with gravel vac.

Get water at faucet to within 1 or 2 degrees (higher or lower) of temp at tank

Fill up 3 gallons of water. and mix salt into each 3 gallons.

Pour directly into tank.

IS THIS INCORRECT? Im getting fish tomorrow and I dont want to kill them either. Im basically calling myself a murderer

How often do you HAVE TO water change in a SW tank?

Let me know asap

--Jim C.

 

[Musho3210]

well chances are it died of other reasons. Give us ALL the information you have about your tank. How old, how big, cycled? live rock, we know nothing of your tank so we cant jump to the conclusion of saying a water change killed your animal.

What is in your tap water? Is it well water or city tap? Do you have a water report on it? What type of salt mix are you using. I wouldnt get any fish yet, not today, not tomorrow, not the day after....

 

[sophos9]

ok guys...Im not very happy since my $28 cleaner shrimp died and Im blaming myself. I had done a water change just prior to him passing on. Maybe I do it incorrectly?

Heres what I do:

Empty water approx. 50% with gravel vac.

Get water at faucet to within 1 or 2 degrees (higher or lower) of temp at tank

Fill up 3 gallons of water. and mix salt into each 3 gallons.

Pour directly into tank.

IS THIS INCORRECT? Im getting fish tomorrow and I dont want to kill them either. Im basically calling myself a murderer

How often do you HAVE TO water change in a SW tank?

As musho said, get them parameters up... Did you not aeriate your salty water first, ideally leave it for 12hrs of aeriation.

Personally, I change 10% per week - small change but often. If the 50% new water had issues you are in for trouble. Other change 20% biweekly and some people dont do water changes however they use advanced methods of dosing.

Are you saying you took water straight from your tap? Do you know your tap water parameters?

 

[AK77]

Aren't shrimps intolerant to copper? If you are using tap water, the chances are its supplied through copper pipework in your home, which might be the reason for its demise.

 

[AndyS]

You ideally need to mix salt the day before the water change, and if you are using tap water with no dechlorinators then thats going to cause no end of problems. Buy DI or RO water, its not expensive and if you can afford the livestock then you certainly can afford the water, tap water (as already stated) can contain copper, which will be harmful to shrimp and snails particularly.

Why use tap water really?

List your water params, shrimp are generally more sensitive to Nitrates, temp and salinity changes than fish too.

Andy

 

[ProHaloSniper]

Hey guys, here's my params:

Tank: Established for 6 weeks. 30 gallons

Cycled: Yes, Nitrates at or just under 20ppm

Live Rock: About 10/15 pounds. Some is live base rock.

Water: I live in the middle of nowhere, so I have well water. No chlorine. Don't have params.

Salt: I didn't let it aerate. I usually mix the salt in the tap water, in a 3 gallon bucket, and add it to the tank. I know this is probably wrong but I had done it 4 times before and everyone was fine. This is the first time the shrimp endured a water change.

Rocks: I re-aquascaped. Maybe this stirred him up and killed him? Im not too sure

Looking forward to your help!

--Jim C.

 

[AndyS]

Id say your nitrates are the problem. 20ppm is enough to kill a shrimp over a period of time. How long had you had it? How did you acclimatise it?

Andy

 

[sophos9]

Tank: Established for 6 weeks. 30 gallons

Not established long enough to keep shrimp in my opinion

Cycled: Yes, Nitrates at or just under 20ppm

Those nitrates are high, what are ammonia and nitrite?

Live Rock: About 10/15 pounds. Some is live base rock.

Do you have a protein skimmer? For live rock to support, you should look at 1kg per gallon - you should be looking at 66lbs min

Water: I live in the middle of nowhere, so I have well water. No chlorine. Don't have params.

You should really check!!!

Salt: I didn't let it aerate. I usually mix the salt in the tap water, in a 3 gallon bucket, and add it to the tank. I know this is probably wrong but I had done it 4 times before and everyone was fine. This is the first time the shrimp endured a water change.

Mate, I think the aeriation is the least of the problems here. Do you measure your basic stats - ammonia, nitrite, PH? If so post em up - if not, the best I can suggest is for you to get the relevent test kits quickly

Rocks: I re-aquascaped. Maybe this stirred him up and killed him? Im not too sure

Possible sulpher pocket - get those stats up

 

[AK77]

Hmm I've got 4 shrimp and my Nitrates were at 20ppm for weeks. They are still around the 15ppm mark. I also have a starfish and pencil urchin, so I personally I doubt that its the nitrates caused the problem. Is there a possibility that pesticides or other chemicals could have leeched into your well water?

What are your other water parameters? Ammonia for instance? Like sophos says, the more parameters you measure the better.

 

[norite]

Don't use tap or well water. It's really best to use RO (reverse osmosis) water. You have no idea what's in your tap water - it may for example contain a high amount of copper, which will kill all your inverts and damage your live rock.
OTOH, you could get your water tested for stuff like pH, heavy metals, nitrates and pesticides - prolly a good idea if you're drinking it too!

To mix your water, I recommend the following method: get a small external filter (they're dirt cheap) like a fluvial 2, and a small aquarium heater. measure out and pour your RO water into the bucket, then start up the external filter (leave it empty, all you're using it for is to mix up the water) and slowly add the required amount of salt (usually about 35 grams per liter of RO water), then put in your heater, set to the same temp as your main tank, and switch it on. Always add the salt to the water, never the other way around. Then leave it overnight and use it the next day/evening for your water change. I let all my freshly mixed water mix for 24 hours like this, as this ensures all the salt has been dissolved and pH, oxygen and CO2 levels are balanced.

I tend to change about 15% of my water every three weeks or so...

 

[ProHaloSniper]

No, to my knowledge, there are no pesticides in the water, but here is my bigger problem...

Everything prior to last nights water change was at 0, except for my 20ppm nitrates. This morning:

My pH dropped to 7.8 from 8.2 - I added pH buffer.
My Nitrites are at .25ppm
My ammo is around .25ppm
and my nitrates are still just at 20ppm.

I am very, very disappointed as I cannot get the fish that I wanted today!

Is there anything I should do to get my levels back in check?

Let me know asap.

--Jim C.

 

[sophos9]

Please try and answer some of the questions that I posted above... Without knowing the answer I cannot really help. I have several suspicions however you are going to have to give us more info!

 

[AK77]

That's a pretty drastic change in parameters.

What is your substrate? Is it calcium carbonate based... like Aragonite sand for example? It sounds like your tank has "crashed". Somethings definitely gone amiss to suddenly cause the ammonia and nitrites to go back up. Exactly what, I don't know. Was there anything else in the tank aside from the shrimp? Dead snails or crabs or anything else? Were you feeding the shrimp?

Other than that, I can only assume its to do with your water supply. That's the problem with well water. You just don't know what's in it and the parameters may vary widely from one week to the next. I know my tap water ranges from 300-400 ppm in TDS.

It might be worth investing in a small RO unit. At least then you can eliminate any worries of contaminents entering your tank in the future.

 

[sophos9]

Answers answers answers....

 

[Musho3210]

nitrates arent high enough to cause this type of damage, dont worry about that. I know someones well water had a total of 1200 tds (no typo, it really is in the thousands). That means it has a lot of stuff in the water that isnt water (h20). Call a professional company over to test the water for you. (most city taps have 100-400 tds)

Pre-mixing the salt is a good idea but i doubt that could crash your tank if you didnt.

I think copper or unknown substances in your water supply is the culprit. Ro water is your solution. Call a water company to test your water for you, it may be dangerous for you to drink.

And im sure you know ammonia and stuff isnt good.