Wildfire Nightmare

[Blackwater guru]

It sure is hard times for aquarium owners living in areas with these wildfires especially in countries like America or Australia that commonly have these wildfires because of climate change and more extreme weather.

And here I live in the swedish countryside with a privately owned well that provides consistently clean and natural tap water with a neutral pH and no additives what so ever and usually citydwellers in countries like Germany or America have to resort to RO filtration because the municipal tap water is too unhealthy for the fish.

I am sorry for what happened to your fish and I would not take a situation like that lightly at all , once the power went out for a few hours which caused me great anxiety and fear that my south american freshwater fish would be affected adversely but luckily they made it out safe because I have a 39 gallon(145 l ) tank in which changes take much longer to take effect ,had this been a established reef tank things could have gone south much faster and deadlier in just a few hours.

 

[Silvermist80]

I have no idea why you are looking for anti-biotics when your fish are dying from water quality issues and not a bacterial infection. Anti-biotics like Erythromycin should only be used on known bacterial infections that have not responded to normal fish medications/ treatments. Improper use and mis-use of anti-biotics has lead to drug resistant bacteria that kill people, birds, fish and animals.

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If you are having problems with pH fluctuations, get a couple of big plastic rubbish bins/ storage containers and fill them with tap water. Aerate the water for 24 hours and see what the pH is. If it's not where you want it, add some limestone or shells to raise it up. Or use some sodium biphosphate (available from pet shops) to lower it.

The pH of your tap water has probably gone up due to the water company adding more chlorine and ammonia (chloramine) to compensate for the dust and ash getting into the water source. They usually add pH buffers as well to help the chloramine last longer.

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Fish that are exposed to sudden changes in pH suffer from acidosis (pH drops rapidly) or alkalosis (pH goes up suddenly). This can be prevented by doing smaller water changes or holding the water in containers and adjusting it before using it.

Hi there! In my top beginning entry I stated that due to the wild pH fluctuations, it killed off my biofilter and all my tanks instantly came down with new tank syndrome. They have been cycled and healthy for almost a year prior to this. So when the water quality tanked, my fish broke out with disease, mostly Columnaris. In the past I'd use E.M. and so long as I follow the instructions and don't quit early, it's not an abuse of antibiotics, nor does it make anything resistant. I am actually trained as a vet tech and am well aware of the caution needed with antibiotics. Problem is, most fish medications are not currently available due to COVID. I've only been able to find Melafix, which doesn't always work all that well, and a similar product put out by Petco. It's also a natural remedy bacterial and fungal medicine. Now, my Columnaris has resisted those two medicines and my guppy population is at about 1/4 of what it was due to the disease outbreak. I have a hospital tank for the sick fish going, but if the bacteria is still rampant in my tanks, I'll put them back just to get sick again.... which is also happening if the Melafix decides to work in my hospital tank. So I got the Paraguard, hoping there won't be a resistance to it, and it will take care of the issue. I have been working extremely hard to keep the water quality as well as I can. I have pH Up and pH Down chemicals if I need to adjust. I'm doing frequent water changes, especially on the acidic tanks because my alkaline tap water raises it. I test the Ammonia every other day and neutralize it if I have to. People had some wonderful ideas and I'll try to take advantage of them. Only other problem is my job put me on unpaid Leave for 3 weeks and I just returned... so money is very tight on top of everything else. If it's not the fires making my life miserable, it's COVID. Just a really bad time. I may go check out the store in Boulder. I havent to this point because one, I'm not buying fish at this time, and two their website says they're out of stock or low on stock of almost everything. Will keep plugging away, but I lost another Betta last night. Water quality was fine, that's why I'm worried there may be another component in my tap water killing them off. I'll have to check into putting the RO system under the sink when I can afford it.

 

[Gypsum]

Are there any CO-based fishkeeping Facebook groups where you could touch base with other people having the same issues? They might have some ideas as well. This must be widespread across the Front Range.

 

[Silvermist80]

Are there any CO-based fishkeeping Facebook groups where you could touch base with other people having the same issues? They might have some ideas as well. This must be widespread across the Front Range.

That is an incredible idea, thanks! It's actually the whole west half of the country that is on fire heh. CA getting it the worst. If there isn't a FB group, perhaps I should start one. You guys are all full of great ideas, I really appreciate it!

 

[Silvermist80]

I have no idea why you are looking for anti-biotics when your fish are dying from water quality issues and not a bacterial infection. Anti-biotics like Erythromycin should only be used on known bacterial infections that have not responded to normal fish medications/ treatments. Improper use and mis-use of anti-biotics has lead to drug resistant bacteria that kill people, birds, fish and animals.

----------
If you are having problems with pH fluctuations, get a couple of big plastic rubbish bins/ storage containers and fill them with tap water. Aerate the water for 24 hours and see what the pH is. If it's not where you want it, add some limestone or shells to raise it up. Or use some sodium biphosphate (available from pet shops) to lower it.

The pH of your tap water has probably gone up due to the water company adding more chlorine and ammonia (chloramine) to compensate for the dust and ash getting into the water source. They usually add pH buffers as well to help the chloramine last longer.

----------
Fish that are exposed to sudden changes in pH suffer from acidosis (pH drops rapidly) or alkalosis (pH goes up suddenly). This can be prevented by doing smaller water changes or holding the water in containers and adjusting it before using it.

Also Colin, I agree with you on antibiotics being overused though. I think the reason the two meds I have aren't working is thanks to Petsmart, they use Melafix/Pimafix for everything and I doubt it's being used correctly. I used to work for Petsmart and their Animal Care Dept has really gone downhill. Same with the Petco medicine. That's why I was hoping Paraguard would help me out. Plus Seachem's products so far have been excellent life savers, especially Prime and Stability.

 

[Fishiemang]

As for water quality issues....

Don't do changes. For the time being, get the tanks stable, and just top the water off when it evaporates off.

This is one of them times when us fringe folk can give the most useful advice.

Your fish will be fine. The tank is suffering due to your efforts, which is to say that every habit you have is working against you. I have not done a water change on 3 of my 4 tanks for years. Just add as it evaporates enough. This will eliminate the issue of the tap, and be affordable. Also, you won't need to temp match if you add it frequently enough. It takes my tanks roughly a month to drop 1 inch. No matter tank size, they all evaporate at the same rate, and drop the same amount (pesky physics) so it's easy to calculate water needs. Your fish will thank you. Your issues should abate. You'll be able to weather the storm easier. Limit feeding as well. Skip a day or 2 even. The fish will be fine. The pollutants will go down in the water. The bacteria will be able to catch up.

Think outside the box. You may discover a different way to manage such a large....hobby.

 

[FishGuest5123]

So I figured this would be a good place to vent about my woes with the severe wildfires in the state of Colorado. They impact our air, the smoke makes it hard to breathe, my eyes burn all the time, sometimes ash falls out of the sky, and the smoke is killing flowers and plants in my gardens. As if this isn't bad enough, it has radically changed the tap water. All the ash and smoke has caused the entire city's pH to jump from about 6.8 - 7.2 prior to fires to 8.3 now. Now there's also quite a bit of ammonia coming straight out of the tap as well. So the pH change started making some of my fish sick. I had some die and if I didnt see the corpse, it sat in the tank and rotted. It also made others sick, in very large numbers, so I had to start medicating the whole tank.

So I can no longer find E.M. or other antibiotics because of COVID. I was trying to use natural remedy type medicines like Melafix and one put out by Petco in their store brand (Imagitarium). The dead fish and the medicines then swung my pH the other way and it got acidic. So with my pH being too alkaline and then too acidic, it killed off my biological filter. I wound up with new tank syndrome in almost all my tanks (I have 11 tanks). The one that went nuts first was my Angelfish 30 gal. I lost a lot of fish in that tank. Then one of my 10 gallons, I lost ALL the fish. I have a 10 gal I use to raise my baby guppy and baby cory cat fry in, they started dropping. I had a 20 gal I was dry cycling and thankfully was finished, so I put fish in it. It cycled for probably 6 weeks and the water parameters by then were pretty good. Then my 55 gal got hit hard. I have bought so many chemicals to deal with pH, ammonia, bacteria, and stress for the fish. Also different medications, I'm having trouble finding one that works. I've called local privately owned stores for advice because the whole city is going through this. These are just the parameters changing that I can test for, what else could be happening to my water? I've tried contacting News agencies for help researching the water changes, they never reply. Tonight I sat down and wrote down the fish death toll and I have lost somewhere around 55 fish over 3 months. The majority of my stock is dead and I'm trying like crazy to save the rest. I'm really down about it and frustrated. There may be advice out there for me, which at this point I'd be happy to listen to. In the meantime, I'm so tired of watching my beloved pets all die. My favorite guppies, my baby fry, plecos, cory cats. They're not close to getting the fires out either. They're breaking records for largest fires in state history.

So very sorry that you are dealing with this disaster on top of the pandemic.

 

[Koglin]

Are there any CO-based fishkeeping Facebook groups where you could touch base with other people having the same issues? They might have some ideas as well. This must be widespread across the Front Range.

@Silvermist80 and @Gypsum regarding this question, there is the CAS: Colorado Aquarium Society - you might reach out to them for advisement too.

 

[Koglin]

Hi there! In my top beginning entry I stated that due to the wild pH fluctuations, it killed off my biofilter and all my tanks instantly came down with new tank syndrome. They have been cycled and healthy for almost a year prior to this. So when the water quality tanked, my fish broke out with disease, mostly Columnaris. In the past I'd use E.M. and so long as I follow the instructions and don't quit early, it's not an abuse of antibiotics, nor does it make anything resistant. I am actually trained as a vet tech and am well aware of the caution needed with antibiotics. Problem is, most fish medications are not currently available due to COVID. I've only been able to find Melafix, which doesn't always work all that well, and a similar product put out by Petco. It's also a natural remedy bacterial and fungal medicine. Now, my Columnaris has resisted those two medicines and my guppy population is at about 1/4 of what it was due to the disease outbreak. I have a hospital tank for the sick fish going, but if the bacteria is still rampant in my tanks, I'll put them back just to get sick again.... which is also happening if the Melafix decides to work in my hospital tank. So I got the Paraguard, hoping there won't be a resistance to it, and it will take care of the issue. I have been working extremely hard to keep the water quality as well as I can. I have pH Up and pH Down chemicals if I need to adjust. I'm doing frequent water changes, especially on the acidic tanks because my alkaline tap water raises it. I test the Ammonia every other day and neutralize it if I have to. People had some wonderful ideas and I'll try to take advantage of them. Only other problem is my job put me on unpaid Leave for 3 weeks and I just returned... so money is very tight on top of everything else. If it's not the fires making my life miserable, it's COVID. Just a really bad time. I may go check out the store in Boulder. I havent to this point because one, I'm not buying fish at this time, and two their website says they're out of stock or low on stock of almost everything. Will keep plugging away, but I lost another Betta last night. Water quality was fine, that's why I'm worried there may be another component in my tap water killing them off. I'll have to check into putting the RO system under the sink when I can afford it.

Aqua Imports can prob. get you some substrate or bio media to help get things rolling again faster if you have any more crashes. Just a thought.

They have a LOT of tanks compared to other lfs' near me.

 

[eatyourpeas]

This may sound silly, but if you can get a hold of a Pothos plant, they consume nitrates like crazy!

 

[itiwhetu]

I would load your tanks with as much plant as you can and use that as a biological filter, spread your fish load over all your tanks. and try to avoid water changes. Feed only what you need to. You have lost a lot of fish so your load on your tanks will be way down. Take care, look after yourself, I feel for you during these hard times.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I am usually a 'preacher' when it comes to partial water changes, but you just may have an exception to that rule. If the RO or RO/DI unit is not the answer...
Perhaps fast growing floating plants, chemical filtration, and as mentioned, top offs only or very modest bottled partial water changes are an answer.
For chemical media, I've found API Nitra-Zorb to be an awesome product at adsorbing nitrates. Activated carbon and/or chemi-pure may also be answers.

 

[Silvermist80]

So, just thought I'd share one of our fires jumped from 15,000 acres to 125,000 overnight. It has almost joined up with another fire that is the largest in state history. It moved so fast that people are missing, they evacuated as fast as they could. I've read up on wildfires and water quality and it most likely has changed it for years in the future. Poor California is getting it even worse... I hope they get climate change under control.

 

[mcordelia]

So sorry you are going through this. I hope you and yours are able to stay safe through this, and hopefully the remaining fish will pull through. It sounds like times are tough for you right now, hang in there. How far away is the fire from where you're at.

 

[Fishmanic]

That's horrendous. Hope you get some needed heavy rain or snow to help slow the spread of this out of control fire. Hope the government help alleviate the pain and losses of people having to deal with this tragedy.