2+ inches of Caribsea Eco Complete Black Planted Substrate
Tiger Barbs dying off, fast!
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2+ inches of Caribsea Eco Complete Black Planted Substrate
Distilled water is never recommended for freshwater fish. RO is not the same. The OP is upping the amount of distilled water slowly. This isn’t what is killing the fish though. That was just a side note.
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We're on a well, not city water. We add neither chlorine nor chloramine, and past official water tests of our tap water didn't have any issues other than the hardness. I'm not using pure distilled water but rather mixing it with much larger quantities of tap water to slightly reduce the hardness. Using this method there should still be more than enough minerals in the water, no? I can certainly add other minerals if necessary. The level of agitation/oxygenation of the water is significant, even moreso now because I have the filter spillway dropping water from a higher height than normal.
The only difference between RO water and distilled is sometimes distilled water wont have removed chlorine and chloramine which would explain the posters ammonia spike if the poster isnt dechlorinating the distilled water.
Are you dechlorinating distilled water? Distilled water can still have chlorine and chloramine which would definitely kill your fish and cause rapid breathing?
I can’t come up with an answer. What plants did you add? Could they have been exposed to something toxic before you got them? What dechlorinator do you use? If not using one with well water then utahfish May have hit the nail on the head.
Poster said they are using prime on tap water but was adding distilled. If one is adding distilled after dechlorinating the tap with prime or topping off with distilled then one could be introducing chloramine from the distilled water.
This is not caused by ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH or mixing a bit of distilled water with well water.
Distilled water is pure water that has nothing in it. It does not contain chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, nitrite, or anything. It is pure water and should have a pH of 7.0 and a GH of 0.
Reverse osmosis water is nearly pure water and can vary depending on the type of reverse osmosis unit. Good units will remove just about everything from the tap water, but cheaper units might not remove everything. As the units get older, the filters get blocked up and remove less too.
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The fish are breathing extremely fast and look fat. If they are normally that fat it is not a problem. However, if they got fat overnight and started breathing heavily at the same time, they have internal organ failure, which is causing the fat belly, and the fish is in pain and breathing heavily.
However, as you mentioned, tiger barbs are greedy feeders and will eat and end up fat. So the fish could just be fat and this has no bearing on the issue.
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I would say it is poisoning from something that has gotten into the tank.
Did you do a water change or add anything around the time this started?
Do you use a bucket specifically for the fish or any bucket?
Have you had the well water checked for anything and everything?
Well water should be checked by a professional water testing company at least once a year and preferably a couple of times a year. It can contain chemical runoff from industrial areas or agriculture and this can poison fish.
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I would add some carbon to the filter and look at filtering the well water with carbon before using it in the tank. I would also get the well water tested to make sure it's safe for you and your pets.
Make sure nobody is using any sprays or aerosols in the tank.
Make sure you don't have any creams, soaps, perfumes or anything else on your skin when feeding the fish or working in the tank.
Don't use anti-bacterial/ antiseptic soaps before working in the tank because they can leave a residue on the skin ad poison the fish.
Distilled water is pure water that has nothing in it. It does not contain chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, nitrite, or anything. It is pure water and should have a pH of 7.0 and a GH of 0.
Reverse osmosis water is nearly pure water and can vary depending on the type of reverse osmosis unit. Good units will remove just about everything from the tap water, but cheaper units might not remove everything. As the units get older, the filters get blocked up and remove less too.
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The fish are breathing extremely fast and look fat. If they are normally that fat it is not a problem. However, if they got fat overnight and started breathing heavily at the same time, they have internal organ failure, which is causing the fat belly, and the fish is in pain and breathing heavily.
However, as you mentioned, tiger barbs are greedy feeders and will eat and end up fat. So the fish could just be fat and this has no bearing on the issue.
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I would say it is poisoning from something that has gotten into the tank.
Did you do a water change or add anything around the time this started?
Do you use a bucket specifically for the fish or any bucket?
Have you had the well water checked for anything and everything?
Well water should be checked by a professional water testing company at least once a year and preferably a couple of times a year. It can contain chemical runoff from industrial areas or agriculture and this can poison fish.
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I would add some carbon to the filter and look at filtering the well water with carbon before using it in the tank. I would also get the well water tested to make sure it's safe for you and your pets.
Make sure nobody is using any sprays or aerosols in the tank.
Make sure you don't have any creams, soaps, perfumes or anything else on your skin when feeding the fish or working in the tank.
Don't use anti-bacterial/ antiseptic soaps before working in the tank because they can leave a residue on the skin ad poison the fish.
Distilled water sometimes doesnt remove chloramine.
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What is the Difference Between Reverse Osmosis Water and Distilled Water?
Posted by Water Quality Specialist on Thursday, August 4, 2011 · Leave a Comment
RO water is comparable (or better) than distilled water. Distillation systems are not designed to remove chlorine and other chemicals completely from water. Organics such as herbicides and pesticides, with boiling points lower than 100°C, cannot be removed efficiently and can actually become concentrated in the product water."
Its a possibilty there is something in the distilled water especially since thats one thing new thats been added, shouldnt be ruled out until the poster can confirm that the distilled water is being dechlorinated. Which the poster hasnt
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OK, just to close off this issue...the substrate looked in the photos like some type of "plant" substrate and some of these do cause water issues. Eco-complete is said to contain bacteria to help with the cycling but I've no idea how this works with EC. Some of these substrates also increase pH or GH. No idea about EC. But even with all of that, I would not expect the reaction like here. Colin has now posted on the other likely possibles.
I assumed that distilled water would not contain any chlorine or chloramine. I purchase Target store-brand distilled water which has an online purity statement that specifically states that it is free of chlorine. Thus I don't add conditioner to the distilled water, just the tap water. I don't know if this was a logical thought process or if it's a stupid beginner's mistake. Should I assume that what I'm seeing is chlorine poisoning? How should I proceed?
Water changes with conditioner
In my experience, chlorine poisoning causes fish to remain at the surface, gasping for air, with rapid respiration and very red gills and the operculum [gill cover] flared. I think you should explore Colin's suggestions.
I don't feel like the fish's level of fatness has changed significantly in the past few weeks. We feed them tiny amounts, never more than what they can finish in 1 minute, twice a day. Perhaps even that is too much?
Our well water is professionally checked annually for heavy metals/etc, and every six months for coliform bacteria. It has been a month since our last bacterial check, and eleven months since our last general check. I'll take a sample in to get the water quality tested, especially since we're about due anyway.
I'll also head to the store right now and get some new carbon to replace what I have in my filter.
In terms of sprays/aerosols/etc around the tank, I only use vinegar to clean the exterior glass of the tank, when it gets smudges from dirty little hands. I spray a microfiber cloth then use that to wipe the glass, I don't spray the glass directly nor do I use ammonia or any other cleaners. There are no air fresheners, etc in the vicinity of the tank. I use liquid pure-castile, unscented soap to wash my hands and rinse thoroughly before handling anything inside the tank.
All good advice and good reminders to avoid toxins/etc around the tank, thank you!
Well, the rapid respiration they have. The red gills/flared gill cover I don't think I see (although maybe it's just not obvious to my untrained eyes). And they are definitely not anywhere near the surface but rather sitting about as low as possible in the bottom of the tank. Thanks!
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