Fishroom Emergency

zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
dogofwar said:
What Jon said: The reason that they installed the system is to reduce the nitrates in their drinking water.

Chalk one up for the fish hobby in identifying a possible human health hazard :)

My best guess as to why the fish died and/or were in distress is shock in reaction to large water changes with water with different "salt" composition than what they were used to (and not lower nitrates).

Zach - have you done small water changes with tap water to any of your other tanks? Any reaction?

Matt
Click to expand...

After stuff starting acting odd, I haven't. I hate killing fish, they can't do anything about their water. I'll do some on a tank of domestic swords, say 25%? I have a betta tank I've done a water change on a few days ago, but he's acting normal. Other than that, no recent water changes.


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CichlidAddict

CichlidAddict

Members
From the technical info the OP provided, it appears that the treatment system is an anion exchange system that exchanges nitrate with sulphate. Sulphate is harmless to fish, unless there is anaerobic condition that reduces sulphate to sulphide. 40-60 ppm of nitrate has no acute toxicity to fish, but prolonged exposure to elevated nitrate can weaken fish immune system. In my heavily loaded fish tanks, the nitrate level typically rose above 50 ppm pre WC, and I do 75-80% WC weekly to bring nitrate down to 10 ppm and start all over again.

My concern is that high nitrate in OP's water is an indicator of regional groundwater pollution, not just nitrate alone. To assure there are no other pollutants that are harmful to human consumption, it would be wise to do a broader water analysis that is inclusive of heavy metals, herbicide and pesticide that are commonly use in farming practices .
 
zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
CichlidAddict said:
From the technical info the OP provided, it appears that the treatment system is an anion exchange system that exchanges nitrate with sulphate. Sulphate is harmless to fish, unless there is anaerobic condition that reduces sulphate to sulphide. 40-60 ppm of nitrate has no acute toxicity to fish, but prolonged exposure to elevated nitrate can weaken fish immune system. In my heavily loaded fish tanks, the nitrate level typically rose above 50 ppm pre WC, and I do 75-80% WC weekly to bring nitrate down to 10 ppm and start all over again.

My concern is that high nitrate in OP's water is an indicator of regional groundwater pollution, not just nitrate alone. To assure there are no other pollutants that are harmful to human consumption, it would be wise to do a broader water analysis that is inclusive of heavy metals, herbicide and pesticide that are commonly use in farming practices .
Click to expand...

We're taking it to get it lab tested.


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zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
I did a few water changes two days ago. Two tanks got 10% and one got 20%. All fish seem fine and normal. I decided to check the water quality a second time from the tap. I bought a KH test kit and I'm really glad I did. pH came out to 7.0, KH was incredibly low. Tap water used to come out around 7.6 and very hard. I couldn't believe the drop, so I took a sample into work and tested it. My test kit was right, it's measuring about 7 now. Why the drop? Would hardness drop first, then pH? Did a change in hardness go undetected because I couldn't test it, then I performed water changes and lost fish because of a transition? I wonder how long the KH has been like this, as the pH remained the same for a period of time after the installation of the filter.


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Localzoo

Localzoo

Board of Directors
I don't have super strong understanding but ok now the filter messes with the calcium end magnesium because the resin exchanges them for sodium.... Sooo that's part of the answer not sure about the rest


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mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
I'm no chemist, but my understanding is that low KH can lead to unstable pH. (As a side note, these days I tend to monitor TDS, rather than pH, partly because it is easier and cheaper, but also because I think TDS may be at least as important as pH. TDS testers are quite inexpensive.)

My guess is that you now have gotten to the bottom of your problem. Congratulations! Great detective work!

I think the question now is whether you need to add something to buffer your water, like Seachem Equilibrium, and how much you should add for which tanks.

Edit: here's a lengthy article on the topic. There may be better, clearer ones out there, but this will get you started:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

Matt
 
Last edited:
zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
Thanks for the link!

I added Seachem Alkalinity buffer to a few tanks. It seems to keep it stable and works really well.

The mbuna may not like the new water as much as the angels ;)



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Becca

Becca

Members
I propose we start swapping buckets of water! :p

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