# Emergency - dying fish after water change



## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Well, at this point I would wait and hope for the best. Are you sure the tap water was treated? Did you have something on your hands? A friend of mine had a 75 full of electric blue jack dempseys and he got diesel fuel on his hands while fiddling with his truck. He rinsed his hands, but did not wash them using soap. that evening, he did some tank maintenance and woke up to a tankful of asphyxiated jacks. For us, it's like getting diesel injected into our blood. Icky icky stuff.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

I can't think of anything that may have contaminated the water, but it getting cloudy so quickly must mean something got in there, or my tap water is lethal. They seem to be perking up slightly, though a few are not doing any better. Some shrimp are also starting to pick at the gravel. I can't watch anymore though, had to walk away because I'm driving my husband crazy crying over fish. Should I turn the light off the ease the stress or leave it on?


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## unissuh (Jun 5, 2006)

Throw in a big dose of carbon into the filter ASAP and double dose a dechlor/detoxifier for the whole tank volume.

This happens to me sometimes, particularly during wet season. I switch to using rainwater with Seachem Equilibrium for a couple of weeks whenever it happens. The above is the best treatment as you have no idea what is causing the gasping - unless you have a secondary water source with which you can do a large waterchange with. Longer you leave them to gasp, the more likely you are going to lose some.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

omw out for carbon now, thanks!


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Once a year or so the city comes around and does something involving draining the lines to fire hydrants (there's one in front of my house). For the next couple hours, tap water is brown. No idea of the chemical properties of the water at that point, or what exactly colors the water (rust? dirt? the byproduct of some treatment?).

But that was my first thought when you said the water was cloudy right after a water change, and that you've been doing them regularly without issue.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

Well lesson learned...I will be getting r/o water from my lfs from now on. Seeing some more movement - fingers crossed.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

For CPDs that behavior is somewhat normal. I would not change out that much water in the future but they will pull through. I have had mine do this a number of times and none ever died. They will hang around the top of the tank for a couple of hours and then return to normal.
This is like it is normal of corys to act like they are dead after a large water change. The first time I saw that I was sure I killed all my corys only to find out that they were just fine and playing with me. Now I don't even pay them any attention anymore when they lay sideways in the tank and don't move unless touched. I don't know what the reason for them doing it is but I have accepted it as normal behavior and just ignore them.


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## unissuh (Jun 5, 2006)

Weird behaviour in fish after a waterchange sets off alarm flags for me...do your corys and CPDs display the same behaviour if you use aged water or distilled water that has been replenished with salts? If not, you could be giving them a mild dose of something nasty in your tapwater that isn't quite enough to kill 'em.

I don't know if I'd go so far to stick with r/o water only. Nothing wrong with tap water 99% of the time. What I would do is keep carbon, detoxifier and conditioning salts to replenish r/o water on hand, a sharp eye on the tank after a waterchange. Any sign of trouble, do another change with r/o and dose carbon + detoxifier...


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I only use R/O water all the time as I have a water purification unit on my entire house. I do not have to use any water treatment at all. And the CPDs and the corys are the only ones of my many fish that do this weird stuff. I had the corys for many years and have been breeding CPDs for over 2 years.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Is it possible the water temperature was drastically different from what you had already in the tank? If it was an extremely different temp maybe it killed you beneficial bacteria right away. I really have no idea if it would happen that quickly or not just throwing thoughts out there.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

Update - everyone made it! Well except for the 3 shrimp that got sucked into the intake because I wasn't smart enough to put the sponge back on


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## Gold Finger (Oct 13, 2011)

If it was an inconsistency in your tap water you are not alone. Most places I have lived I have experienced the occasional, unexpected sudden change in the tap, most often due to the city working on the lines. It happened here about six months ago and turned the water really nasty for a few days. It is the main reason I have my tank set up to need only very small water changes if any. Glad your tank came around.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

Thanks Gold Finger...it's just frustrating that the inconsistencies are getting closer and closer together. A month ago I had been trying to carefully dose Flourish Excel in my shrimp tank and what I can only attribute to a sudden spike in copper, I managed to kill off most of the colony. Granted that may be a pipe issue more than a water issue - but it's too close for comfort. I figure I spend too much money on this hobby to chance losing all of my livestock every week. :icon_neut


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