PVC and Fish (RMF?) - 10/24/09
Hi,
<Hello Jed,>
I recently put a gray colored PVC pipe into my fish tank (as a filter modification). I have a 50 gallon filled with guppies. The water has turned green, not like an algae green. I suspect the pipe has leaked chemicals into the water, but I am not 100% on this.
<Yikes!>
The pipe does have a dreaded "made in china" label on it, and when I walk into the room, I smell a funny rubbery scent or similar.
<The smell is coming from the aquarium? That would be pretty bad news.
Anything that comes off something stuck in an aquarium -- whether dye, ink, or chemicals used to cure or treat the plastic -- is potentially toxic.>
I inspected the pipe, but it doesn't look like it is fading or pealing apart in any way. Is pvc, particularly gray colored ones, dangerous to fish?
<Usually not, at least, if bought as "safe for use with drinking water".
PVC is widely used for pond and marine applications.><<All so. RMF>>
Is this paint on the pipe filled with lead and/or should I worry about this and/or how can I test for this?
<I can't imagine it would be worth testing; the test kit would cost more than replacing the PVC pipe. So why not just locate a suitable supply of piping usable with potable water, and replace the questionable pipe you already have?>
Thank you very much,
Jed
<Happy to help. Cheers, Neale.>  

Re: PVC and Fish - 10/25/09
Thanks for the kind reply - I discovered the smell was coming from a nearby suitcase, but as for the discoloration of the water, I still don't know what is causing it.
<Hmm... the plot thickens. Sounds as if someone put something inside a suitcase, and it rotted. Children are wont to leave sandwiches and the like in their luggage, so bear that in mind. Hope you find the solution, anyway.
Cheers, Neale.>

Ammonia (Bi Orb tanks; fatalities; poor water quality; the usual, really...) 6/21/09
Hi Guys
<Hello,>
Hope you can help, tried everything I can from various web sites but getting know where .
<Oh?>
I've a 30 l /8 US Gal Bi Orb which has been running for about 6 months, set up end of December , added fish slowly as suggested and got up to 6 Tetras and 2 Guppy's by mid March with no problems but was aware was now getting to maximum tank occupancy .
<Do understand that 30 litres, 8 US gallons is much below the minimum recommended size for tropical fish aquaria. Even 10 US gallons would be borderline for things like Neon Tetras. More importantly, Bi Orb tanks are an "odd" design that actually isn't all that good for keeping fish. They look nifty, I admit, but the spherical shape is the worst possible for fish in terms of surface area to volume ratio. The key thing is that there isn't a lot of oxygen getting into the water. So while they're widely sold, I strongly recommend against people buying them.>
For no apparent reason started to get an ammonia reading at the start of April , 0.25 , done partial water change about 10/20% added water conditioner and added cycle , following day all reading back to normal ,
tested water again couple of days later and ammonia starting to appear again , this is still happening now .
<It's probably not a "no apparent reason" issue, but rather something that's gradually developed. Ammonia comes from the fish, and it's removed by the biological filter. If you have ammonia in the water, it means you
either [a] have too many fish; [b] have insufficient filtration; and [c] you're adding too much food, and what the fish don't need is ending up in the filter and rotting. It's also worth mentioning that as time passes a
variety of things happen. The fish grow, for one thing, and a fish twice the length it was will actually be eight times the mass, so as fish grow, they produce much more ammonia than we think. As time passes, silt clogs up the biological filter media, be they sponges or ceramic noodles, and the silt suffocates some of the bacteria. So over time, filters process less ammonia, and to remedy that the media needs to be rinsed off
periodically.>
I've done partial water changes now , vacuuming the gravel media , anything from 10% up to 50% , 2 to 3 times a week but after a couple of days ammonia starts to come back and rises very sharply . At first I was adding Ammo Lock or Ammonia Remover but haven't done this for a month now , just the water conditioner and cycle , at water changes , however even when I add cycle now I don't get a biological bloom .
<Sounds to me as if this tank is overstocked, insufficiently filtered, and perhaps too much food is added.>
All other readings are fine and have never changed .
<What are they?>
The tank currently has only 5 Tetras in it now as 1 of them and the 2 Guppy's have died , they showed no sign of illness and were behaving normally , they didn't go all at once and were taken straight out once found , last one to die was the Tetra about 2 weeks ago .
<Hmm...>
The current tank conditions are Temp 26 , ph 6.4 , ammonia .25 , nitrate 0 nitrate 0
<Woah! Guppies cannot possibly be kept at pH 6.4! These are fish that need hard, basic water: around pH 7.5 to 8, general hardness 10+ degrees dH. If you live in a soft water area, it's best to keep Guppies in a brackish water system, adding 6-9 grammes of marine salt mix (not aquarium salt or tonic salt) per litre of water. This will not be acceptable for Tetras though.>
Hope you can help
Many Thanks
Paul
<Cheers, Neale.>

Water Chemistry, FW, bewared home water softeners!  5/5/09
I have well water that has a PH of 8.2, however, I have my water for my house on a softening system.
<Do not ever use water from a domestic water softener in a fish tank. Most reputable water softener installers will tell you this, alongside also telling you not do drink the softened water. Domestic water softeners don't "soften" the water in the way aquarists mean it; all they do is replace the limescale-causing salts with sodium, and the resulting sort-of-soft but saline water is just horrible for fish.>
Thus the problem is that I have a high PH but soft (GH/KH) water.
<Use the drinking water tap, which should be unsoftened. If your water is "liquid rock", there's really nothing wrong with that. Sure, you can't keep Neons, Ram cichlids and other soft water fish -- but there are plenty of fish that *prefer* rock-hard water! Start with the Livebearers, either the regular kinds (Guppies, Platies, etc.) or the more unusual ones if you need a challenge (Limia, Ameca splendens, Xenotoca, etc.). Rift Valley cichlids as well as all Central American fish (including cichlids and Central American characins, such as Cave Tetras) thrive in very hard water, as do Goldfish and many of the European/West Asian killifish. So there are plenty of options; see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestk.htm
>
Is this even possible, is it because of the softening system?
<Yes.>
Can I put fish that prefer a high PH with hard water into my tank that is a high PH with soft water?
<No. Fish don't feel pH; it's actually trivial. Aquarists tend to talk about pH because it's an easy, High School concept they're familiar with, and much of the time it describes water chemistry adequately well: hard water has a high pH, soft water a low pH. But the fish really don't care; what they worry about is hardness, both General and Carbonate. Do see here about water chemistry:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwh2oquality.htm
>
Thanks for your expert advice. Sincerely,
Wanny
<Cheers, Neale.>

Large Koi, Fan-Tail Goldfish and Carbon Monoxide... – 03/03/09
Dear Crew,
First of all, I want to let you know that I have spent the last 7 hours or so reading your FAQs and articles on the Peacock Eel and the Kuhli Loach that I just rescued from Wal Mart. I consider myself, not expert, but at least knowledgeable of freshwater aquariums as a hobby since I have been in possession of at least one at any given time for my entire life. Your information has been extremely beneficial to me because I had never even heard of a loach before today, but I felt so bad for the little guy wiggling around all by himself and I am planning on getting more as soon as
possible. What I am trying to say is that when I brought these creatures home I had no idea what to do with them; the first thing I did was Google them and came across WWM and I have been sitting here asking question after question and getting them ALL answered. Thanks a lot!!
OK...here is the real question: A few weeks ago my son was in possession of 2 koi (about 8") and two large (10" from end to end) fan-tail goldfish and a menagerie of other small fish (Giant Danios, smaller goldfish, tiger barbs, some Neons, and several others) in a 55 gallon tank. All of a sudden they started getting a slimy, spotty coating and about 24 hours before they finally died, it appeared they had slime trailing off of them, and the other fish would sometimes nibble at it. They just laid at the bottom of the tank; they would not eat or swim at all. I treated the fish for ick when they first started showing spots, but that wasn't it. Then I used a broad spectrum antibiotic, Tricyclene, but that didn't work. I finally treated them with this Lifeguard all in one treatment for bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic infections and that seemed to work because they started swimming and eating again, the spots and slime cleared up and they stopped dying. We lost both Koi, one Fantail and all but a small handful of the others.
The interesting thing is this: My son's bedroom (where he keeps his fish) is in the basement, where the furnace is. Right about the same time the fish started getting sick we were starting to have problems with our furnace (it smelled bad when the heat kicked on). We had the gas company come out and they said everything was fine. Then, about a week later, our eyes started to burn and we got headachy and just didn't feel very good.
Luckily, my children were gone to their dad's the week all of this was happening. When my husband called the gas company again they came out and this time the carbon monoxide was so high we had to evacuate and we had to buy a new furnace. The level of carbon monoxide was 300 times what would have caused our carbon monoxide detectors to go off if we had had one. We were lucky to be alive, and the gas company said that we were alive only because I would open the windows and patio doors when the smell would get unbearable and our eyes burned and we would feel nauseous.
DO you think the carbon monoxide caused this reaction in the fish? And if you do, what kind of infection do you think it was?
I am sorry this question is so long and I really didn't mean to get into such great detail, but these fish were very special to us; my son especially. He has had them for as long as he can remember, and telling him that they died while he was at his dad's was more horrible than you can imagine. It seems as if I am haunted by these fish and I feel horrible that I couldn't save them in time. Please help me put this to bed finally.
Lana
<Lana, the short answer is that I don't know anything about the toxicity of CO to fish, though I assume if they breathe the stuff, it's bad for them for the same reason it's bad for humans. In humans, it binds irreversibly with the haemoglobin molecule in blood, reducing the capacity of your blood supply to provide adequate oxygen. But the question I can't answer is whether CO would dissolve rapidly enough to be taken up by fish and so cause disease. CO is slightly more soluble in water than CO2, but that isn't saying much, as anyone trying to add CO2 to a planted aquarium will testify! On the other hand, even small amounts of CO are toxic, so quite possibly you could have a chronic stress situation leading to a variety of symptoms such as those you've described. In any case, your priority is to ensure that CO levels in your home are safe, and if that means using a CO detector, then that's obviously a useful investment. But I'd not immediately consign any problems to the CO incident, and as always, do a check of nitrite and pH, just to check water quality and water chemistry are as they should be. Sometimes coincidences happen, and we ignore one problem because we thought it was actually part of another. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Large Koi, Fan-Tail Goldfish and Carbon Monoxide...
Spiny eels in community tanks; mail-ordering fish 3-4-09
Thank You, Neale, for your quick response.
We have, in fact bought two CO detectors for each floor of my house, and so far all is good! We have not had any new aquarium deaths since our new furnace was installed, but I have been keeping a close eye on this tank
since it was infected; I used to leave it up to my son to let me know when his fish need maintenance (I suffer from fibromyalgia and it is not easy for me to go up and down the stairs) but now I go down at least twice a day to make sure the tank looks good and the fish are doing well.
I have a new 26 gallon tall aquarium with a bowed front with a few Dwarf Gouramis in it along with a Striped Peacock Eel and a Kuhli Loach. I have been looking for more Loaches to add to this aquarium but so far have been
unsuccessful. I have called all of my local LFSs, and even those more than an hour away and I am being told that those are pretty rare and good luck finding them. I am thinking about looking on the Internet to buy them;
What are your thoughts on purchasing fish via Internet and what should I look for/watch out for?
Lana Brown
<Hello Lana, I'm happy to help. Be careful adding loaches other than Kuhli loaches to your 26 gallon tank: Striped Peacock Eels (Macrognathus aral, I think) are slow feeders and usually starve to death in community tanks.
It's critical there's nothing nocturnal that will compete for frozen bloodworms and the other live or meaty foods you're giving it. Unlike catfish, spiny eels aren't scavengers and won't eat dried or pellet foods.
So you must take great care choosing their companions. Do also note the maximum length of Macrognathus aral is around 60 cm (24 inches) and as such much too big for your tank when mature. At that size it will be an accomplished predator too, so those Kuhli loaches and likely any small fish like tetras will be viewed as food. See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/spinyeelsmonk.htm
Anyway, as for mail ordering fish, without a doubt the key thing is that they have some sort of guarantee of live arrival. Lots of people obtain fish by mail order and do so successfully. After all, fish are shipped to pet stores by mail order! So the basic system is sound. But if the mail order company is putting it's "money where it's mouth is" in terms of
guaranteeing their livestock arrives in good health, you can be confident they know what they're doing. That said, nothing beats seeing fish in the flesh, and species like Kuhli loaches should turn up in most aquarium shops
on a regular basis. Cheers, Neale.>

Unknown Freshwater Disease
FW Stkg, Water Quality, No Information 3/1/2009
Hello there.
<Hi Nick, Mike here>
I have a small 5gal freshwater setup and have been experiencing a disease problem for the past couple months.
<5 Gallons is rather small for anything except a Betta.>
I've lost about 7 or 8 fish now total.
<Ouch!, what kind of fish?>
When they contract the disease, the fish clamp their fins to their sides and swim with an odd "waggling" motion. In addition, they breathe rapidly and have somewhat of an ashy hue.
<This isn't a disease, this is environmental\poor water quality. Have you tested your water?>
I have been gradually adding aquarium salt to see if that would help prevent spread of the disease, but it doesn't seem to be working.
<Aquarium salt is pretty much useless, and this isn't a disease.>
After removing a dead fish, the rest will be perfectly fine for a week or so, and then another will come
down with the disease all of the sudden, usually dying within 1-4 days.
<Wow, There are more questions here than answers. How are you filtering this aquarium? What species of fish, how often are you changing the water?...I could go on and on...>
Could you possibly ID the disease from my description or point me in the general direction for treating this?
<Almost certainly environmental based upon the information given. You really need to start reading. Start with these, covering both setup and maintenance:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsetupindex.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmaintindex.htm>
<Mike>

Re: Unknown Freshwater Disease
Re: >> FW Overstocked, Water Quality, 3/1/2009
<Hi Nick>
I just realized what could possibly be the problem. I completely forgot about changing and cleaning filter media- it's been about 1 and a half months since last cleaned.
<Ah Ha!>
When I cleaned it out yesterday I washed quite a bit of brown gunk off the filter pad and sponge.
<The sponge is a biological filtration medium - bacterial colonies live there, converting the toxic ammonia to slightly less toxic nitrite and then non-toxic nitrate. If you washed the sponge, you destroyed the bacteria.>
I had had about 11-12 fancy guppies in the tank initially. Could my forgetting to clean for a month and a half cause results like I was seeing?
<11 - 12 guppies is too many for a 5 gallon tank. That said, more likely than not, when you cleaned the sponge, you killed all of the bacteria, forcing the tank to cycle over again.>
The rest of the fish have appeared completely healthy while 1 or 2 have been dying per week for about the past month. The first fish that died would have only died a week or so after a good cleaning.
<Likely from ammonia poisoning>
That's the only thing that confuses me.
<Read here my friend, all shall be revealed:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm >
<Mike>

Re: >> FW Overstocked, Water Quality, 3/1/2009
If they cannot be rinsed with tap water, how should I going about cleaning the filter media?
<The filter media can be rinsed, or better yet, replaced. The sponge which should not be replaced) can be rinsed in either dechlorinated tap water or in a bucket of tank water when you do your regular water changes.>
<Mike>

FW Fish Deaths  2/23/09
Hello guys/gals!
I wrote a few weeks ago concerning my blue ram, Lymphocystis, and fish death ... You asked me for more info so here it goes (sorry it took so long).
60gal ... Little over 1yr old. 2 whisper 60 filters, 3 air stones.
My ammonia is o, nitrites o, nitrates 40 or less. pH is 7.4, temp is 78/79f. I do a 50% wc once a week. Fish stock(after deaths):
4 Angel fish (1in babies)
2 bamboo shrimp
4 black neon tetras
3 cardinal tetras
1 dwarf Gourami
4 emperor tetras
3 German blue rams
1 Mickey mouse platy
9 neon tetras
3 Otocinclus catfish
3 peacock gudgeons
2 sword tails
And before you give a lecture about the tetras they school within groups of the other species. Anyways you asked what fish have died ... In the past month I've lost 1 angelfish, 2 blue rams, 1 oto and 4 emperor tetras. I thought it was the blue rams disease killing everything but this the other day I could have swore I saw black algae growing on the fake plants ... Its possible it could've been in there for MONTHS. So my question is this ...
Could OTS or the black algae have something to do with the sudden deaths? I KNOW it's not my tank maintenance bc I keep my tank clean and I have always kept a tight cleaning schedule. Thx! Nick
<Your nitrates are too high for many species. I usually recommend to keep the nitrate levels at 20 ppm or less. This may not be your fault. Check the nitrates of your tap water. In many agricultural areas the nitrates may be as high as 50 ppm. This is because years of fertilizer use have leached through the ground water into the aquifers and now the nitrates are in the ground water. So how do you reduce the nitrate levels when water changes won't work? Live plants will help. This black algae is growing because of the nitrate problem. I would recommend getting an R/O unit. These pretty much reduce everything and leave you with mineral free water. Lots of articles on using R/O on WWM. Initial cost may be high but well worth it in the long run. Many for sale on eBay.-Chuck>

Re: Fish death
FW Fish Deaths II  2/23/09
Thx! That could possibly be the problem as my tank does have live plants in it. I have recently moved and I have not tested the new water. In terms of nitrates, its not always that high its usually 20 or less but 40 is the max its ever gotten. 2 more questions : If I test my tap water and it DOSN'T give me any kind of reading what else could be the problem? (I keep my tank lights on for 12hrs a day and I do not have any other algae growth in the tank, and also its only growing on the plants hanging at the top of the tank).
< The water at your new place may be different in terms of water chemistry (pH, hardness, etc...) and fish usually don't like big changes. Combine that with the move and the fish could be stressed by a combination of both factors. Test the new water and compare the results with what you were getting at the old place.>
If I do get a high reading what other options do I have other than R/O water saying as I really don't have the $ for that. Thx again.
< With a R/O unit you know exactly what you have in the water, nothing!
This way you can add the buffers to get the water where you want it and keep it there. The other alternative is to match the fish up with the water you have. Hard alkaline water is good for many fish but not so good for others.-Chuck>

Gasping fishes (RMF, thoughts on this mystery?)   8/21/08
Hi Crew,
I am hoping you can offer me some suggestions because I am not sure what I should do.
<Oh?>
Monday I did a relatively large water change in the morning on my 35g planted tank. I normally keep my water changes 25-30% but exceeded this to approximately 50% because I wanted to do some deeper siphoning where there are no plants.
<In itself should do any harm, unless you carbonate hardness is so low the tank is "balanced on a knife edge" as far as coping with normal background acidification goes.>
All replacement water is treated with Prime water conditioner. The filter sponges (two AquaClears) were rinsed in tank water. I keep filter floss on the top for extra physical filtering and this was replaced. This is normal procedure for me. That afternoon the hydro went out for about 3 hours.
<The hydro? What is that? Some sort of filter?>
On Tuesday I had a swordtail gasping at the surface and generally looking unwell behaviourally but no physical symptoms that I could describe to you. He died. Then a dwarf neon began to display the same behaviour and again died quickly.
<This is a Dwarf Neon Gourami?>
Last night I noticed one of the baby platys seemed to be off with a little surface skimming and this morning dead. Now I see one of my threadfin rainbows and another young platy exhibiting the behaviour and suspect they too will soon perish.
<It sounds to me as if you added something poisonous. I have done something similar once before, by adding wood to a tank without realising it had been sprayed with insecticide. Many fish died quickly, with essentially the same symptoms you describe. By contrast the fish that didn't object to the poison came through unscathed showing little more than heavy breathing and a certain loss of appetite. Poisons can be of various types, the most common being things like paint fumes and bug sprays. But there's also the danger of bleach, detergent, and other cleaning materials being used in buckets and not completely rinsed out. Stuff can get into buckets and pipes accidentally, especially if you store them in the same place as cleaning tools or garden equipment. It's wiser to store them somewhere safe, perhaps in the cabinet itself, so they can't be accidentally contaminated.>
Normally, this quick succession of deaths would point to water quality issues and since I guessed it is always possible that I put the tank through a mini-cycle, I tested this morning and everything checks out. Nitrite and ammonia 0. Ph 8.0 and Nitrate 20 which is consistent with my tap water. The threadfins and wrestling halfbeaks were the latest additions but that was 6 weeks ago. The threadfins went through the normal 2 week quarantine the halfbeaks did not. This is because my quarantine tanks are not suitable for jumpers. That said, they were specially ordered in for me and at the LFS for 5 days. I know that these fish are treated with erythromycin on arrival. The manager was not there one day last week when I was in and I saw employees adding it to the tanks. The halfbeaks are so far thriving and growing.
<It may well be the Halfbeaks aren't fussed about whatever toxin got into the tank. Once settled in, they are certainly quite hardy fish, particularly Dermogenys spp.>
There are potentially a few other hints. Last week I added a male swordtail who I have had a year in another tank (the dead fellow from above) I added him to impregnate a female Lyretail who I have also had for some time. It was my intention to keep her next brood but she did not appear to be pregnant (approximately eight weeks after she last gave birth) although she had been exposed to males and pregnant in the past. She suddenly showed up dead but I thought the male perhaps had become overly aggressive with her and killed her.
<Would tend to agree with that analysis.>
I am sorry but other then telling you that it was last week sometime I cannot pinpoint the time line. There were no hints of illness with her. The only other potential hint is a platy who is presently in quarantine due to popeye. I recently had a male "come-of-age and he is rather aggressively chasing the other platys at times, I assumed the pop-eye was due to trauma suffered at the hands of the rogue. She has recovered well in Epson salt and isolation.
<If one eye has "popped", that's usually trauma; if both, then environmental or some systemic infection.>
Lastly, I would like to mention that this tank contains along with plants a happy school of Corydoras. I mention this because I know in any suggested treatments, these fellows need special consideration.
<Unless these are some funky wild-caught species of Corydoras, they'll likely be tolerant of whatever medication you use. I've never had problems treating Peppered or Bronze Corydoras for example with standard Ick medications. That said, the old salt/heat approach is perhaps preferable.>
I do not think that waiting this out is good idea as it seems to be continuing but I do not know what steps to take.
<The usual: daily water changes and close observation for further symptoms, at least for the next week.>
Should I add carbon to the filter?
<Not a bad idea at all. Will remove many toxins. Remove and dispose of the carbon after 1-2 weeks; it'll be saturated by then anyway, and you run the risk of the toxins leaching out in the long term.>
Should I put a UV light on it?
<I wouldn't bother. Doesn't sound like this is caused by a waterborne parasite.>
Will this help if it is bacterial in nature? I am on a well and we have had a lot of storms and rain, it is possible the well in contaminated (we do not drink the water).
<Ah, this is certainly something worth considering. You can get stuff like ammonia and nitrate running off fields into the water table, and these can stress/kill fish. Do check the water for ammonia before adding to the tank and see how it registers. Would tend to recommend only using potable water for aquaria, unless you're sourcing from something known to be (at least acceptably) safe, such as rainwater outside of a city. Treating inbound water with water conditioner and filtering through carbon isn't a bad idea at all.>
The family is going away for a few days at the end of the week, so I could shock the well then and have all the bleach run through before they return?
<Somehow I don't think this is biotic but abiotic.>
Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated.....
Aileen
<Cheers, Neale.> <<Mmm, the "Prime" might have gone bad... or there may have been a bunch of chloramine pulsed into the municipal water for that day... Or some sort of negative interaction with either these and some biota here... My usual advice to mix/store change water, avoid such large % change-outs. RMF>>

Re: More re: gasping fishes (RMF, thoughts on this mystery?)  8/21/08
Sorry Neale,
<Aileen,>
Hydro is electricity. It has been a stormy, wet summer in Ontario...
<Ah, I see.>
I know this could saturate the soil and increasing leaching into the water table. My nitrates in the well climbed to 40 this winter. I suspect this was due to a failed corn crop last summer. The soil was treated (herbicides/ fertilizers), but the corn crop failed. I suspect this would leave some of the stuff available to my well if there was enough water to transport it there. This well is not new, it is the old hand dug well lined with field stone and apparently highly susceptible to contamination. Anyway the nitrates are down to 20 now and remain so. I just tested the tap water for this and ammonia which is 0. I did a water change on the "big tank" Monday morning, though it was a 25% water change and inhabitants are demonstrating no ill effects. That said it is a much bigger volume of water and a much smaller water change. Would this be enough of a dilution factor?
<Bob seemed to be recommending against big water changes, which is certainly good advice if you can't be 100% sure that water chemistry/quality of the incoming water is consistent. But if the water coming in is of similar quality/chemistry to the water taken out of a pond or aquarium, you can really change as much as you want. It's fairly standard practise among freshwater aquarists to change 50% per week.><<Unfortunately, much of the mains/tapwater sources in the world have become questionable in modern times... Again, my advice to only change about 25% maximum in any given period and to pre-mix/store change-out water to avoid such issues. RMF>>
My water has plenty of carbonate hardness Neale. You had me test and retest the water, and although it does change with aeration and time, it was not enough to cause stress to the fish. This is also why as a safeguard, I always kept my water changes to about 25%.
<OK. Well, if that works, best stick with it. As Bob suggests, this will minimise variations between water changes. It sounds as if your incoming water is simply too variable to be "trusted".>
Well, since I began this return email the threadfin has died, as has a wrestling halfbeak! I had not even realized that one of the halfbeaks was sick. This is really upsetting, but I suspect you know that.
<Oh dear.>
I have done a partial water change (50% out only 25% in) with a bucket of aged water and added carbon. It is the only aged water I have on hand. My buckets are dedicated fish buckets and have been in use a year. Prior to being fish buckets they were restaurant food bucket. Though I am certainly not the only inhabitant of this household, I really do not think there is contamination by way of that route. We drank the water here until, because of the fish tanks I discovered the high nitrate level. Regular testing of potability regarding fecal coliforms had in the past revealed low levels, but shocking the well remedied that. It was literally due to the fish and WWM that we stopped drinking the water.
<OK. I'm not an expert on drinking water, so I'll cry off commenting in that direction. And I have zero experience of well water (it just isn't something that's common in the UK) so I have to be careful about commenting. But the general advice is this: the water that goes into your tank MUST be approximately the same water chemistry as what was taken out. Obviously a fish in a river isn't swimming in the same water from moment to moment, but the water flowing past the fish will have more or less the same water chemistry all the time. So in the aquarium, when you do a water change, that's your paradigm: new water, same water chemistry. If you can't guarantee that, do smaller water changes so that any fluctuations are diluted.><<Mmm, if I may, I strongly recommend looking into using a simple RO or more involved at-home water filtering system... and blending about half of this water for changes... and using the filtered water for your potable (drinking, cooking) needs. RMF>>
My gut feeling is that something is in the well or the siphon that I cannot test for. Because the 100 gal is fine, I use the same buckets for both , but I use different siphons on the tanks. How, I have no idea. I would be really interested in your thoughts on the dilution factor mentioned above.
<Proportionally smaller water changes will reduce the risk of water chemistry shock.>
However, I am going treat as if there has been contamination of some sort. I think the well water should go in for a complete analysis, but that will not be in time for these fish. I do not see an obvious date code on the Prime but I will write Seachem just in case they know something I don't. I have had this particular container about 2 months. Could bad food be a possibility?
<Bit of a long shot really.>
These guys get spectrum grow (young fish and pregnant females)
as a staple with various vegetable flakes and fresh vegetables, particularly peas. The big tank has older and larger fellows in it and get the regular spectrum and less of the vegetable based flake, although everything else is the same.
<All sounds fine.>
In regards to my other slips.. the "dwarf" is Melanotaenia praecox and the Corydorus are not funky, they are the typical but delightful juliis and sterbai.
<Right.>
"My usual advice to mix/store change water, avoid such large change-outs. RMF" Yes. I am aware of this. During this water change I was so focused on the bottom I did not think about the amount of water I was removing.
<If you keep incoming/outgoing water chemistry the same, this isn't an issue. I have done 70%, 90% water changes many times without problems. If you think about it, moving a fish from the pet store to your home aquarium is a 100% water change, and your fish survive. Sure, you might take care to acclimate them, and if doing a "big clean" I would certainly remove the fish to a 5 gallon bucket of old water, and then acclimate them to the new water over 30 minutes by swapping out some of that old water with new water. Maybe an approach you might take next time around.>
Even then I could have replaced it and should have I guess. I siphon this tank into the buckets so if I suck up a platy baby I can put it back. I have developed a really good relationship with the manager of a local store and she takes any excess young I have for credit. It also means that now when I ask a question she cannot answer, she tells me she doesn't know instead of just making one up and of course now I can answer some of hers. As far as the storage, the sheer volume of water I need every week has complicated this as well as complacently: I have been getting away with it...until now.
<It sounds like small but frequent water changes, perhaps coupled with nitrate-management approaches (e.g., fast-growing floating plants) would be the way forward. Restrict feeding and don't overstock, and then you may find weekly 20-25% water changes will be acceptable.>
I do want to put an old and therefore well rinsed rain barrel in the basement. They are of sufficient volume and come complete with a lid and tap. . I have been a little concerned about the plastic and leaching and had not yet checked this out. I am of course now very sorry that I had not moved on this sooner
Thanks again for your help gentleman. I do hope I can stop this.
<So do we.>
Aileen
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: A little more Re: More re: gasping fishes (RMF, thoughts on this mystery?)  8/22/08
Hi,
Just a quick note to let you know that it seems to have abated. I did lose a couple of fish last night still, but there are no new casualties today and nobody is indicating any stress. Surprisingly the species that escaped totally unscathed was the Corydoras. I wish I knew what I had done or more specifically what was introduced into the tank to cause this, but I have yet to figure it out exactly what or when it was introduced. However, I shall carry on and follow your recommendations and hopefully this will not happen again. Not pleasant at all.....
Thanks again for your help with stopping this potential wipe out
Aileen
<Hi Aileen. Thanks for the update. Not sure I was able to offer much constructive analysis, but it sounds as if you have some idea of what *not* to do in future, so that the chances of this happening again will be reduced. Good luck, Neale.>

Lysol...!  3/12/08
My "sweet" son dumped Lysol on all the rocks we were cleaning from our fish tank. They are a mix of quartz, volcanic (very porous) and sandstone?. Are these rocks in any way salvageable? We have one lonely old African Cichlid and were in the process of building up a new tank.... gotta love kids!
Thank you,
Deanna
<Mmm, I'd give them a long rinse in hot water, perhaps a bleach washing (please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/clnornart.htm
"Children, the promise of tomorrow... If they make it that far!" Bob Fenner>

Paint fumes, FW aquatics toxicity  – 10/30/2007
Dear WWM Crew,
I have recently (over the past week) lost fish in my 29-gallon 9-month-old freshwater aquarium. My 4 catfish died a few days ago, followed by my 2 angelfish yesterday. Today, after work, 3 zebra Danios and 1 rasbora were gone. I did a 50% water change 2 days ago (even though parameters were normal). How realistic is the possibility that paint fumes might be the reason? The aquarium sits at the bottom of a stairway, and the walls being painted were the stairway walls, and also the upstairs hallway. The painting has gone on over the last 7 days (really, last weekend and this weekend), which is also when my fish started appearing sick. The tank is covered. Water parameters are normal, I keep a fairly fastidious water change schedule per your site's recommendations, and have not had a problem until now. I'm wondering if I'm seeing "flashing", although it may be that I'm watching the fish *really* closely for the first time and exaggerating what is perhaps normal behavior. My remaining inhabitants are 6 gold barbs (who seem to me to be quite hardy), a dwarf gourami not appearing well, and 2 harlequin rasboras, who do seem to be twitching (actually, 2 of the gold barbs seem to be twitchy). I don't see anything attached to their bodies. In researching on your site, I came across the suggestion that paint fumes can have a deleterious effect, but was not able to infer if this was a rare occurrence or a common one. Thank you for your time, and please let me know what you think, I hope I've supplied the correct information. I did go to my LFS this afternoon and managed to confuse myself right out of the store.
Katie
<Katie, paint fumes are extremely toxic to fish and can easily kill them. Assuming that the aquarium is otherwise fine in terms of nitrite, ammonia, pH etc you can probably put down a mass death of fish to paint fume. Really, you should relocate an aquarium to a part of the house not being painted. If that isn't practical, then putting the fish in one or more large (5 gallon) buckets with lids in another room (ideally with a filter attached) can work too. Do regular (daily) water changes and the fish can be kept like this for several days in a centrally heated home. The degree of toxicity varies depending on the paint and how much fresh air moves through your home. In the meantime, you need to do massive water changes to flush out the fumes from the water in the tank (say, 2 x 50 water changes today). Most of your fish will be getting poisoned from the water, into which the fumes dissolve. Air-breathing fish (like Corydoras, loaches, etc.) are at greater risk, because they take in the fume-laden air directly. Different species have different tolerances. Cichlids on the whole are "canaries" when it comes to poisons, keeling over at the first sniff. Good luck, Neale.>

New water Caused Fish Loss   4/16/07
I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank.  For the past few weeks, after I feed the fish, the excess food that was not sucked up by the 100 gallon filter I have on there, fell to the bottom and started to collect around the decorations in the tank.  I did what I could to remove 90% of it, but it sticks to everything in a glob.  My water tested fine for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and the pH hovers at right around 6-7.  Yesterday, I was topping off the tank the way I always do and the tap water had no odor, but within 30 minutes of adding it to the tank (I only added 1 gallon and it was treated with tap water treatment) all of my fish went to the top of the tank and were gasping.  Within an hour, I had lost all 20 of my fish, including 2 Cory catfish and one lace cat. The rest were for my kids and were fancy fish, and mostly tetras of various kinds.  My 2 snails made it!  Within that first 30 minutes and all day yesterday, the tank was emitting a VERY STRONG Sulphur smell?  I tested the water after all the fish died and the only thing that was elevated was the nitrates?  I have Nitrazorb in the tank at all times and have never (in 5 years) had a total loss.  What would be causing the Sulphur smell and how do I fix it.  I have since moved my snails to my cichlid tank and they are doing fine.  I topped of the cichlid tank with the same 1 gallon of water and have had no issues at all?   Any ideas?  I'm planning on draining all the water tomorrow and rinsing the rocks, etc...Basically starting from scratch on that tank to avoid a total loss again.  The kids were devastated.  Any help you can suggest would be greatly appreciated. At a loss!? Shay Einhaus
< OK, Stick with me here. I think I can explain what is going on here. It may be a little confusing but I think I know what happened. Excess food that is not removed from the tank  is broken down into ammonia. This is deadly to fish. In an acidic pH like the one you described, there is no ammonia. The ammonia is bound up with an extra hydrogen molecule to form ammonium. This is less toxic and loved by plants. When you topped off your tank the water was probably alkaline and shifted the pH from an acidic to basic environment. All that ammonium iron then reverted to ammonia and you had an ammonia spike that started to "burn" the fishes gills. This caused all your fish to rush to the surface, since they had less active gill tissue the were starving for air. This didn't happen in the cichlid tank because it is already at a high pH so all the waste is an ammonia and the new water didn't change the pH. I would make the following recommendations. Only feed your fish enough food so that all of it is gone in 2 minutes once a day. Remove any uneaten food. Food going into the filter does not count as gone. It is out of site but not out of the system and is still affecting your fish. Get rid of the Nitrazorb. This effects the biological filtration. When the resin has expired and can no longer absorbed any additional nitrogenous wastes , it will cause the toxins to rapidly accumulate for no apparent reason. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all part of a normal aquarium system. I would recommend that you use Bio-Spira from Marineland to add the additionally bacteria needed to properly breakdown the wastes in your aquarium. Check the water you are adding with the water that is already in your aquarium or at least remove some of the old water to reduce the waste before adding any new water.-Chuck>

Poorly Fishes, need more info.    - 4/7/07
Hi
  <Hello there>
  I wonder if you can help. We are new to keeping fish but brought a 80 litre tank 4 months ago. We have been very careful and done everything that we should. Over a 8 week period we purchased 5 platy's, 2 guppy's, 5 Glowlight tetras, 3 Neons and 2 upside down catfish.
<Mmm... this last, Synodontis nigriventris... may prove to be too testy for some of your more easygoing fishes>
About 6 weeks ago we noticed that one of the yellow and blue guppy's looked more yellow, it died 2 days later. We then noticed that one of the orange platy's had a white spot on it as did a few of the others. We spoke to the Fish shop and they thought it was Ich and we treated accordingly and the spots disappeared. The big Spot on the orange Platy left a ulcer. Then we lost the other Guppy and then the Catfish - perhaps the catfish due to the Ich treatment.
  The tanks seems healthy the readings are as they should be
<Mmm, values please>
and we are doing regular water changes and we are having lots of babies.
<Generally a good sign>
We have managed to save about 30 babies and have put into a nursery tank but over the last couple of weeks this has dropped to about 10 babies..............and then there are 9 babies in the main tank that all seem to be doing fine.    
  Could this be Velvet or multiple diseases that due to out inexperience we have missed symptoms???
<Yes... there could be other disease/pathogenic at play here... but, treating for such carte blanche is always a bit of a risk... There are intolerances, toxicity to consider in administering said "medicines"... I would like to know the water test measures you have, the history of the maintenance, your set-up, before advocating a course of action. Please do respond with this information, and we'll go on from there>   
  Please help   
  Yours Frustrated   
  Jo x
<Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Re: Poorly Fishes  4/8/07
Hi Bob
   <Joanne>
  Many Thanks or reply.
   <Welcome>
  In response to the Set-Up and readings we have a Record 80, 80 Litre Tropical, Freshwater Tank with a inbuilt filter system. There are only artificial plants in the tank. The readings are PH 7.2, ammonia 0mg/l, Nitrites 0mg/l, Nitrates 10mg/l.
   <Okay>
  To add to the whole issue I went to the fish shop yesterday and explained what has been happening, the guy thought that it sounded like Velvet and gave us King British Velvet Control
<... don't see the ingredients listed on the Net... what is in this product? Aren't companies required to list such in your country?>
medicine and within an hour all 5 of the Platy's were at the bottom of the tank, gills clamped and rapidly breathing. We did a 50% water change and within an hour
<Good move>
they seemed to be fine and are now all swimming around the tank as normal. Could it be the toxins,
<The toxins? "It" was the product used>
I am even more confused as through it all the tiny babies in the main tank were fine and still are. Whilst the adults looked as though they were going to die the babies were swimming around as normal. I would have thought that whatever it was it would have hit the babies first. The 5 Glowlight tetras, 3 Neons and the catfish seemed fine.    
  Cheers    
  Jo x
<Likely "classical" habituation at play here... the old/er fishes raised in very different conditions. BTW, you might read-up on the desirable water quality of the species you list... not much if any overlap... twixt the livebearer/s and not... Bob Fenner>

Something has gone horribly horribly wrong! (high pH and white water in fw tank)   2/22/07
Hi Crew,
   I have a major situation on my hands. I have a 24g planted freshwater tank. I came home from my evening college class last night, and my tank water was white and cloudy.
<Mmm, what had been done with this tank/system recently? The last day or so?>
I immediately did a 50% water change, and left the tank overnight. There is no change today. After scouring WWM for an answer, I initially thought it might be a bacterial bloom.
<Possibly... from an overfeeding incident? A death?>
That is, until I got home from work... I tested my water and my pH has gone from 7.4 to 8.0! I tested my source water, which comes from a private well that is not treated with anything, and it's pH is 7.4. My ammonia is 0 and my nitrites read at 0.05 ppm. I've already lost a bamboo shrimp and an albino tiger barb. I want to save the rest of the inhabitants... They are all trying to bail out (literally). I can't figure out what happened, since I don't dose anything really (I use SeaChem flourish tabs in the substrate and I use a fizz-tab CO2 system. So, here's my question... What the heck happened and how do I fix it?
Sean
<First of all... "don't panic"... well, do panic in terms of action here... At least I would run some activated carbon in your filter flow path... Better still would be to move all the tank inhabitants to another system if you had/have it... or even to a friendly LFS till we can figure out... or luck into this system fixing itself. Bob Fenner>

Re: Something has gone horribly horribly wrong! (high pH and white water in fw tank)  - 02/22/07
Hi Bob,
   Thanks for getting back to me. I added a packet of activated carbon when I did the 50% water change. The tank is looking 100 times better today.
<Ah, good...>
I can actually see the back glass. all my fish have calmed down. They're no longer trying to jump out, and they're looking at me like they're hungry.
<Good signs>
   All I've done with the tank in the last week is a little cleaning. I removed some well, actually quite a few) dead leaves from some of my plants and cleaned up some hair algae that had started showing up.
<Mmm, this last might be at root (no pun intended) here... some types of algae are quite toxic... and get "upset" when "fooled with"... All the more reason for regular maintenance and... what's that oxymoron?... dynamic equilibrium>
I forgot to mention, I think my heater broke. As I was doing the water change, I thought the water felt a bit warm, and I noticed there was an unusual amount of condensation on the inside of my aquarium cover. My thermometer didn't show that the temp was high... and it's not a cheap stick-on one. I replaced the heater with a spare my soon to be mother-in-law got at a yard sale, still in the box, for $1. It's working exactly as it should.
<Good>
   Come to think of it, I'm really not sure when the shrimp died (I found the other one dead this morning), since everything went haywire either while I was asleep or while I was at work. I suppose the shrimp could have died in the night, causing a bacteria bloom that wasn't noticeable until the lights were on...
<Yes>
But I'm still confused by the high pH.
<... Well... it's possible that the shrimp dying, decomposing... provided sufficient nutrient... that it boosted photosynthesis, and your water wasn't all that well buffered for resisting an upward trend in pH... Maybe I should write for CSI? Call be Bobby Bruckheimer from now on>
I guess I won't worry about it too much. I'll just use some RO or DI water as I'm doing water changes to get it back down to 7.4, where it matches my source water (unless you advise otherwise). Is there anything else I need to do?
Sean
<Thanks for this follow-up. BobbyB>

Please Help Solve my mystery... over-treated, killed off nitrifiers, toxified with "clarifier", no mystery   2/20/07
**Stuff is bolded so you guys can "skim" all my rambling haha.**
<Can't see in the response tray...>
Hi, It's Brittany again.  I've been *having some problems*.  Alot
<A lot>
of my fish have died, and my tank is no longer a mostly-molly tank.  Here's my current set up, please look at the pictures too.
<Pix didn't "come through">
*Fish :* 1 female 24 Karot Gold Molly, 1 female lyretail Dalmatian molly, 1 male black and gold sailfin molly, 1 male Moscow guppy, 1 male cobra guppy, 2 female fancy guppies, 3 Cory catfish (I'm pretty sure 2 are male and the other is female), one "sucker fish".  I have 5 molly fry, 1 guppy fry, and 1 young sucker fish "separated" in the tank.
*Water:* *Hardly any salt* since I'm all out, *78 degrees*, Has* tap water conditioner* in it... and is *currently very green*.
<... something wrong here... Nutrient abundance, lack of filtration...>
This "green" issue has been going on for quite awhile now.  At first, *it would happen every once in awhile*.  Once some of my fish started getting sick,* I would treat them with medication*.
<... what sorts? Most of these are toxic... to the fishes, other life in the system>
After medication was used as directed, or sometimes before the full "7 days", *the water would become cloudy and foggy looking*.
<Yes... killed off your necessary beneficial (filter...) microbes>
  A few times I finished the medication use to see if it was just "normal".  When the cloudiness didn't clear up (after a few 25% water changes and such), I bought some "Water clarifier".  
<Also toxic>
That stuff was a nightmare and made my tank even worse, and no, it didn't "clear up after a few days" as some pet store people had said.  So, I resorted to my last option: full water change.
<...>
*My fish were dying and I wasn't going to sit there and watch them continue to suffer. With limited funds, I didn't have the means to buy some miracle product.*
<There is, are none>
After the full change, my water was so clear, I had forgotten what it looked like to be so beautiful!  The fish were happy, spanning their fins and sails, and chasing their reflections.
<Except it isn't cycled...>
  *When two more fish got sick, I again used the medication...*
<.......>
and when the water began to cloud again and turn greenish, I was frustrated.  *After about a 50% water change, the tank was clear again.*  Since it was my favorite male (Tyson, as you may or may not recall), I was not going to do nothing about it.  *So, I submerged a 2 gallon tank into my 28 gallon tank (since I only have one heater) and installed a 3 gallon filter for the smaller tank.*
<Good>
Here is where I placed Tyson for medication treatment.  At first he was ok, but then he started to lay on the bottom and become depressed.  I tried a few things... blah blah blah, it's off topic... but as sad as it is to say, my poor Tyson died.  I believe he has Tuberculosis or something untouchable and incurable of the sort.
<Poisoned>
Through his death and the *method of separation, I learned that separating and medicating a fish this way WOULD NOT cloud my water*.  So, of course, when my young male catfish got some modified "Version" of pop eye, I*separated him out in the same way
*.  When my male sailfin got sick with Popeye, I added him in with the catfish.  Here is where the cloudy water mystery began. * I only medicated the small "bowl" inside my tank.  Yet, somehow, 2 DAYS after I began medicating these two fish, my main tank is green as green gets.*  I can hardly see my heater on the back "wall" of my tank, and I'm amazed the fish can see.  A few days before, this happened when I was just medicating the catfish, so, *I did a 50% water change, and that seemed to clear things up.*
Now, two days later, my tank is the greenest I've ever seen.  *There is no algae build up on the glass and the cories and sucker fish are thriving.*
My lyretail molly, like all the ones before her, is fading.
*I don't know what it is about my mollies... especially lyretail, but they all end up the same... with this "curving of the spine" and then death.  The fish never appear "sad", as in, they don't separate themselves out of stop eating, until minutes before they die.*
So, the mystery... for a recap because I know I'm "long winded" in all aspects of communication:
*1) My fish are lessening by the week*
<No mystery here... they've been poisoned by your treatments, are in an uncycled system>
*2) my water is hopelessly green and cloudy despite partial water changes*
<Ditto>
*3) My lyre's don't ever survive!!*
<Again...>
The only catch.. I don't have any money.  I'm a young adult going to college this summer, so I still live with my parents.  Money goes towards gas.  I have full access to a HUGE kitchen with all sorts of things that may be "natural remedies" for cloudy and green water.
<Actually... none necessary, advised>
I don't have money to replenish my aquarium salt, but there's plenty in the kitchen which I have not used in the tank.  I have Melafix and Pimafix,
<Worthless>
API Stress Coat, Tap water Dechlorifier/ Conditioner, and different food sources.  Please help me fix my problem and save my fish with the resources I have available.
Right now I'm going to do a "full" water change of my tank.  I have removed and scrubbed my filter because it had algae collected in it.  The filter is still good for another week.
Again, sorry for the long email! I'll bold the important stuff or something for a quicker "browse".
~Brittany~
<All you need is your (obvious) intelligence, and to apply yourself... Start reading here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm
and the linked files above... Your system is uncycled... you've been poisoning your livestock... Bob Fenner>

Iron In The Aquarium, FW    2/12/07
Hey Chuck, I have the wire artificial plants in my tank and the metal is actually rusting.  I can see it through the plastic and on the bottom glass of my tank.  Is this ok for the fish and the water?
< A little iron is naturally found in many sources of tap water due to rust found in the pipes. Many newer homes have copper or plastic piping but a little iron will not hurt the fish but would be relished by live aquatic plants.-Chuck>

Gold fantail thyroid tumor? Likely Simazine poisoned  - 1/22/07
Hello crew,
<Rachel>
I have a one-eyed gold fantail named Polyphemos,
<Ahh!>
about 5 inches long from nose to the end of his tail.  A few months ago I bought a 5 gallon Regent acrylic tank for him (up from his old 2.5 gallon)
<Yikes... needs even much more room than this>
with a built-in filtration system and bio-wheel.  After reading the FAQs, I realize he should have twice that much space,
<Easily... better four or more times>
but I have nowhere to put a 10 gal. tank until I move out of this apartment.  Having lost several goldfish in years past due to poor water quality, I've been diligent about changing Pol's water - 20-30% weekly.
<Good>
I had a friend feed Pol over Christmas break.  He seemed fine when I got back, although there was a lot of algae build-up, and his dorsal fin and tail had changed to black - I chalked this up to the dark algae-covered environment.
<Mmm, both more likely due to declining water quality>
I scraped some of the algae off the tank, did a partial water change, changed the filter, and added the recommended amount of "Algae Destroyer Liquid."
<... Simazine... toxic... I do NOT endorse the use of this compound for/in ornamental aquatic use>
  Pol seemed fine for the rest of that week, and soon began to change back to his normal gold color.  However, he has now lost his appetite completely, and as far as I know has not eaten any of his food for close to a week.
(Until yesterday his tank was bare except for some river stones, which made keeping track of and disposing uneaten food a breeze.)  He now spends most of his time sitting in the corner of the tank with his nose in the air and is breathing heavily.
<Start... changing the water... daily... a gallon or two... stored from days previous...>
  He occasionally darts to the surface and swims normally when disturbed but soon settles back in the corner.  He doesn't seem to be in danger of starving just yet; he was perhaps overfed while I was on vacation, and his fins and scales are all normal and healthy.
But when he first lost his appetite, I noticed a small reddish-white bump on his throat (see picture, attached).  I thought at first from his symptoms that it might be flukes, did a partial water change, and treated with Parasite Clear, which involved a 20-30% water change before the second dose.  48 hours after the second dose of the medicine, the bump was still there, and the area of redness appeared to have grown to 2-3 mm in size.  I did another 20-30% water change, tap water as usual properly treated with a dechlorinator, hoping that it was a water quality problem, perhaps tied to the algae remover chemicals.  Nothing seems to have helped.  Ammonia levels are undetectable, pH is at 7.5.  I don't have a nitrite/nitrate test kit, but I'm assuming from these recent water changes every couple of days that it's as close as I can get it to optimal.
Usually he eats Tetra Exotic sinking mini sticks for dinner alternated with Tubifex worms for breakfast, and has always until now been extremely interested in food.  He doesn't show interest in it at all now, even when I drop the pellets directly on top of him.  Since reading the info on these pages, I've tried feeding him a thawed frozen pea, without the skin; no response.  I added a layer of gravel and some live plant bulbs last night, hoping that they could help create a more natural environment eventually, or at least a more comfortable surface for him to sit on.  Although it's been fine until now, I've also added a bubble stone in case there's a problem with oxygenation.  Besides this bump, the rapid breathing, and constant sitting in the corner, he looks healthy, but refuses to eat.
From looking at the charts at www.fishyfarmacy.com, I thought it might be a thyroid tumor, Chilodonella, or maybe even a rock stuck in his throat.  
<Mmm, no... these are distant possibilities... Your fish has been poisoned... by the initial questionable water quality... next, the Simazine...>
I've thought about trying salt, but the last time I salted a tank my fish died - I was using table salt without iodine as recommended by some other website, and wasn't sure whether that death was due to using the wrong type of salt or the inevitable progress of the infection.
<More likely by far the latter>
I've got a bag full of meds from my disease-ridden poor-water quality days, but I didn't want to dose him up with more chemicals before I knew for sure what was wrong.  Any advice or diagnosis you have would be very much appreciated!  I think he could hold out for a few more days to a week without eating, but I'm out of ideas for what else to do to help him.
Thank you,
~Rachel <><
<If you had another up and going system I'd move the goldfish to it... as you don't seem to... dilute the present ones toxicity... Bob Fenner>

Bubbles appearing on gills and bodies...HELP!  - 1/18/07
Greeting, WetWebMedia.
<Greetings, Ashley. JustinN with you today.>
I am writing because my mom's 12 gallon tank (which I help maintain) is having some trouble.
<Ok>
  Today was partial water change day, so we took out about 25%. I scrubbed the algae off the walls with a new sponge, and vacuumed the gravel, and cleaned the plants and decorations.
<When you say 'new sponge' do you mean a sponge made for aquarium use, or a standard kitchen sponge? If the latter, kitchen sponges are manufactured with anti-molding agents and bleach soaked into them before shipping, as to keep them sanitary.>
When I finished the job, I re-filled the tank. I put Wardley's Chlor-safe in, I've used it before with no ill effects. Then the trouble started.
<Am I to understand you refilled your aquarium with chlorinated tap water, and then added your dechlorinating product after the fact? Oh, no no no, my friend. You need to be mixing this in a container before adding to the aquarium, to allow the dechlorinator to fully neutralize the chlorines and chloramines.>
  The tank has a medium-sized Angelfish, a Boesemann's Rainbowfish, 4 Giant Danios, 2 Kuhli Loaches, a 'Rhino' (I think Chocolate is actually what it is) Pleco, and about 7 or 8 Zebra Danios. I know it's overstocked, but the Angelfish is still small, and as he grows, he shall be moved, and the Zebra Danios are feeder fish for a frog. They don't eat much.
<Oh my! Overstocked does not even begin to describe it, my friend. Your Pleco will too likely grow far too large for the confines of its current aquarium, as likewise your giant danios, rainbowfish, and angelfish will need larger quarters with time. This doesn't even begin to consider the nitrogenous waste accumulation that must be occurring, or the psychological and physiological crowding taking place!>
Anyway, as soon as I'd refilled the tank, they all began gasping at the surface. Bubbles began appearing on their skin, and gills, and a few were on the Angelfish's eyes. I wasn't worried (since the occasional bubble appears on them all the time) until the bubbles appeared on Jack's (the angelfish) eyes and everyone's gills.
<Mmm, the effects of chlorinated water/toxins in the tank>
And then, I took them all out of the tank and put them in water from an older tank, so I could clean the tank out again. I wondered what could have caused this, and now I'm thinking either the sponge I used to clean the walls, or the bucket I used to refill the tank, or maybe the Chlor-Safe was expired. Or maybe I just took out too much water. I did use a tiny bit of bleach on the plants, but it wasn't that, because I hadn't even put them back in the tank yet.
<Was likely a double-whammy attack here, from the (likely) inappropriate sponge use and chlorinated tap water combination.>
Then, while they were in the bucket of older tank water, a Giant Danio jumped out. It took me a while to get it, and when I put it in the bucket, it got worse, and went belly-up, then died. I looked at it, and thought it was because of the tank, but it was indeed the one who'd jumped out. So then I was relieved, until I noticed some sort of fuzz on Jack's long fins. When I put him back in his tank, I discovered that it was more bubbles. So this time, I took out nearly 80% of the water, and added more water to it, using Aqua-Safe instead of Chlor-Safe, and added some Aquarium Salt to help their slightly inflamed gills. And I added some old tank water so they wouldn't be in a totally new, 'uncycled' tank.
<The old water will help some, however, the water does not contain your nitrifying bacteria. This is located on the surfaces of your aquarium, such as the glass, substrate, and decor.>
So far, they've been okay, one Zebra went belly-up, and I removed him, but everyone else seems okay. They still have bubbles on them, but just on their fins, and they still are 'breathing' rapidly. What else can I do?
<If another fish has died, then all is not ok. You have already begun my first recommendation, by executing another water change. Furthermore, from here on out, when you go to do a water change, mix your tap water and dechlorinator in a separate container such as a bucket before adding to the aquarium, and allow a few minutes for neutralization. Secondly, you really need to reduce the bioload in your aquarium, it is direly overstocked.>
  I'm sorry for the excessively long email, thanks in advance for any help you can give!
  Ashley
<No worries for the email length, Ashley. The details help us evaluate the issue. -JustinN>

Bubbles appearing on gills and bodies...HELP!  - 1/18/07
Thanks. I am sorry, I failed to be specific about the water. I do put the dechlorinator in the water before I put the water in, and let it sit for a few minutes. And I wrote the wrong name for the Wardley's Chlor-safe. It's actually called Chlor-Out. The sponge was a new kitchen sponge, and it came in a 4 pack, and I'd used one of them before with no ill effects in another tank...
<Or you used it before, and it didn't have as much of the antimicrobial treatment on it last time... Either way, these sponges are not made for aquarium use, nor are they suitable for them. Get an algae sponge and just rinse it thoroughly, you'll be glad you did. Peace of mind is important, you know *grin*>
  Well...a few more fish have died. Another Giant Danio died, and we only have 4 out of the 7 or 8 Zebra Danios left. Then, just a few minutes ago, the Pleco died. I put a little bit of Melafix in there, since Jack's fins are looking a bit ragged, and the net was a bit rough on them. What else can I do now? Everyone else seems fine...But then again the Pleco looked fine until he started floating at the surface and couldn't swim down. :(
<Melafix will likely not be doing anything but exacerbating the problem at this point, Ashley. There's a toxin of some sort in your water that's making things amiss..>
  Would it be wise to move them to another 20 gallon tank? It only has 6 Zebra Danios in it, and it just finished cycling a few weeks ago.
<I think this would be wise, yes>
I feel terrible, because these fish were just fine until I cleaned their tank. I'm almost afraid of cleaning my other tanks for fear of killing them. (But I'll do it anyway, just with a confirmed fish-only bucket, and no sponge)
<Perhaps its time you invested in some wonderful magnetic algae scrapers? There are many available, such as those manufactured by Mag-Float, and they make the algae cleaning a breeze... I have one on all of my tanks, even my 2 and a half gallon acrylic Betta tank! Otherwise, as long as you're premixing your water, I see nothing wrong with doing other tank maintenance here. You might also look to your tap water output quality, perhaps something has changed there that is mal-affecting your aquatic charges? Good luck! -JustinN>
  Ashley
  (And I did leave the other message below, you already responded to that one, thank you very much! My fishies would be grateful if they only knew how much you guys help.)
<Thank you for this, my friend.>

Water Changes  9/7/06
Hi,
<Hi, Pufferpunk here.>
I understand that this issue is more than adequately addressed on your webpage but the more I read, the more confused I get so please be patient with my tale of woe.
I bought two goldfish for my daughters 3 weeks ago.  I got a 20g tank and let it sit for about a week, putting a small amount of flake food in everyday.  
<Did you test the water, during this cycling process?  How about a 90% water change, before adding the fish?>
After introducing the fish, I overfed which resulted in high ammonia.  After doing partial water changes every several says and reducing feed, I have the ammonia down to .5ppm.  Today, however, the nitrite shot up to 2ppm.  One of the fish is hanging out on the bottom behind a plant.  I did a 50% water change and the ammonia is now .25ppm and but the nitrites are the same.  The fish still looks stressed.  I have been adding API stress coat, Cycle (which is see is junk) and ACE (also junk?).  I have no live plants, about 2 inches of gravel and a Whisper 20 filter.  Water temp is between 75 and 80 which is probably too high but not sure how to lower it (I live in the Mojave Desert).
<Definitely a bit uncomfortable for goldfish...>
I plan to add a real plant and switch to frozen (thawed) peas for feeding.  What else should I do!?  How much of an emergency is this? 
<Ammonia & nitrites are extremely toxic to most fish.  Goldfish are a bit hardier than tropicals & can handle poor water conditions a bit better.  I still suggest water changes, water changes, water changes!  Your tank is still cycling.  The only product I'd add is Prime.  ~PP>
Thanks, Russell

Re: Nitrites and fancy goldfish- help Seachem's Prime  9/8/06
OK thanks!  This morning the ammonia is 0ppm and the nitrites are still 2ppm.  The fish still looks stressed but ate.  Neither fish went for the peas but ate the flake food OK.  
<I would feed very minimally, while trying to cycle your tank.>
What is Prime?  
<Prime is IMO the best water conditioner to use for your fish. removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.
See: http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Prime.html>
Water temp is down to 72 after leaving AC on all night.
<Glad to hear they're doing better.  Keep doing water changes.  ~PP>

Re: Nitrites and fancy goldfish- help Seachem's Prime  9/8/06
OK got the Prime (I found it on www right after my email this morning) and added a plant so we will see what happens.  Also did a 25% change.  How long does it take the Prime to work?  
<Should work instantly.  Are you using enough for the entire tank, not just the water you're replacing?  You should be.>
Also, I assume that even if the Prime is working and detoxifying nitrites, it will still test positive.  Think I read that somewhere.  Thanks for your help!  My daughters don't want to loose
their new pets.
<With the right care & tank size, they can live >20 years!  ~PP>

White Cottony, Furry Substance... FW toxic situation, no useful data   8/30/06
I hope you can help us.  We have a 55-gallon freshwater aquarium.  We've had it about 2 years.  We have not added any new fish in about a year.  We have two catfish about 5 to 6 inches long, a goldfish about 8 inches, a tiger fish
<Mmm, wonder what this is species-wise?>
about 8 inches, 3 small berry tetras,
<And these>
2 eels,
<And...>
and an albino frog.
<Xenopus laevis?>
Again, all have been living in harmony for about a year.  We have small river gravel and large rocks and fake plants.  
<Not a good idea to mix tropical and non-tropical life...>
    Recently, the smaller of the catfish started acting very odd and would swim straight up very fast and bang his nose on the tank lid.  It was constant and loud and lasted for about a week, at which time the behavior subsided and he was back to normal.  About this same time, a white cottony, furry substance started showing up on our rocks, then the plants, and now the gravel.
<Likely some population/mix of mostly algae...>
It is spreading rapidly and taking over the tank quickly.  The catfish that had been acting strangely,
<Some algae produce toxins...>
but then was doing fine, died yesterday and the larger catfish looks like he is almost dead as well.  The goldfish also does not look healthy either and the eels are no where to be found.  We drained and replaced about 1/3 of the water in the tank today, but I can't seem to find anything on the internet that describes what is happening in our tank.
     Please help us before we lose all our fish!  Is this a fungus?  Where did it come from?  How do we get rid of it?  Thank you for any help or advice you can supply.
<Could be a toxic situation concerning the algae... but w/o any data re water quality, the actual species involved... not possible to make other/better speculations. Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwalgcontrol.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Can a new aquarium filter be defective??   8/21/06
<Yes>
All of my fish died within 24 hours of replacing a filter.
<Frightening...>
I emptied the tank, cleaned (with no soap, etc.) with aquarium sponge. Rinsed all decorations, etc.  When I started the tank using only the under gravel
filter the water looked fine.  Then when I added the bio filter, the water appears to have tons of little white particles in the water.
<Likely bits of packing material, or plastic bits from manufacture?>
  I have never had this before.  After circulating for 24 hours, it still looks the same.
Could it be from the filter (it came from the same pack that was used prior to the fish dying)??  
<Yes... though I've rarely seen, heard of this. Do you have a means of magnification? Perhaps the store where you bought this unit does... I would take a water sample into them for testing, a look-see. Measures of nitrogenous wastes at this point could easily be from the stress, death of your livestock>
Deborah Marsh
<I would thoroughly clean (dump, rinse, re-fill) this system, and leave running w/o livestock for a few weeks before trying some hardy animal to do a bio-assay. Bob Fenner>

Amquel et al. going bad - 8/10/2006
Hi Bob
<<Tom, actually. Greetings.>>
Have you heard of Amquel or Novaqua 'going bad'?
<<Can't say that I have, DR. In fact, Amquel is reported by Novalek to remain stable indefinitely. I have not seen any "stability" reports on NovAqua or NovAqua Plus+, however.>> <Mmm, RMF has... not common, but can become contaminated with live bacteria...>
I add dose of each to a FW 75gal. on a monthly or bi-monthly basis and the last time I used it, my water got very cloudy and within days I had an algae bloom.  This has not happened before and am wondering if these products caused it?
<<Perhaps, but not for the reason you suspect, i.e. the product(s) going bad. To the contrary, DR, the Amquel, in particular, might have done its job a little too well. Consider that one of the indications that an aquarium has completed cycling is the growth of algae. Not uncommon at all for new aquariums to experience the type of "bloom" that you did. The result, most frequently, of a sudden splurge, if you will, of nitrates. My thought is that your tank was in equilibrium but on a very tight line. An "imbalance" occurred during the last water change that partially starved your bio-colonies, perhaps due to using the Amquel. A minor ammonia build-up took place, which the remaining beneficial bacteria "jumped on" creating a temporary increase in nitrate production. The ever-present algae spores had a field day with the excess nutrients in the water and you inherited a "bloom".>>
I e-mailed Novalek, but they will not respond to this question. All water parameters are good and nothing else has changed.
<<Might be a little late now, DR, but check your nitrate levels again. On a side note, just stick with the NovAqua during water changes. The less you treat your tank, chemically-speaking, the better, manufacturers' recommendations notwithstanding. ;)>>
Your help is, as usual, greatly appreciated...Thanks again...DR
<<Happy to help, DR. Tom>>

Re: Amquel et al. going bad - 8/10/2006
Hi Tom..
<<Hey, DR.>>
Thanks for the fast response and informative answer.
<<Not a problem.>>
I should have mentioned that I do a 10% water change on mon. and Thurs.. of each week. This keeps nitrates down to 10 or less. Monthly I do a 25-30% change, clean filter pads (2 emperor 400's) vac gravel, clean inside of glass, add seasoned, heated, aerated water and the Amquel and Novaqua. Do you think I am overdoing it?
<<No. In fact, you could write the book! I'd still drop the Amquel from the picture, though. Hard to argue with success but this still seems to be the source of the problem, in my opinion.>>
My wife and daughter think I'm nuts for working so much on these  but...I also use this schedule for my 100 gal. FW, and my 29 gal. FW.
<<My wife and daughter have given up on me! As long as the tanks are taken care of...>>
Thanks again...DR
<<Any time, DR. Tom>>

Re: Amquel et al. going bad - 8/10/2006
Hey Tom.. Write the book??? WWM is where I learned all of this! If the beginners/newbies would just do the maintenance and forget the chemicals and stop gap measures...there would be a lot less redundant questions on WWM! To all you beginners....DO the water changes and the rest will take care of itself! Thanks again Tom...DR
<<Sound advice, DR. Best regards. Tom>>