Deaths due to water source?

[bronzefighter]

So in the last 3 day I've lost 5 of my Lwanda Females and all three of the males in my malawi tank. No signs of disease, and using the API test kit all of my water parameters are fine.

PH 8, Everything else is 0.

So I wake up this morning, and now the shrimp tank has a few fatalites, notably Bacon Shrimp the Bamboo Shrimp. Water parameters are all acceptable as well. The only thing I can think of is something coming from the faucet because the shrimp tank didn't start showing any deaths until this morning, and last night was the first time I changed the water in awhile.

Any suggestions?

 

[plaamoo]

Test your tap water, TDS, gh & kh, PH. Call your water company and ask them if they've done anything different lately.
No other possible household contaminants? Sounds bad, good luck!

 

[Madness]

On your water changes do you use cold water straight from the tap or do you use warm water from the hot water tank?

 

[KaraWolf]

Depending on "awhile" it could be old tank syndrome that was being discussed in another thread o.o

 

[Anonymous]

Oh geez, this is messed up! That's an old building the pipes maybe super old and releasing an abundance of minerals.... Just trouble shooting here... If there is a way to check minerals like copper, zinc, and whatever those old pipes are made of... Also, if the hot water tank is old it could very well releasing an abundance of minerals and or icky toxins.  I would switch to small cold water changes of like 10% if you are not already doing so! Maybe invest in a filter to run the water through...

These are just things to think about, perhaps try...

 

[bronzefighter]

Well, the house that I live in was built in the 1800s and renovated in the 80's, but I havent had a problem with any sort of contamination in the past.

Hot water tank is relatvily new, with in the past 3 years or so.

Water changes are straight from the tap, adjusted for to match tank temp.

Not old tank, this tank has only been up for a few months.

GH/KH are acceptable, I just tested them last night.

Ugh, this is so lame. The only thing I can think of is the construction site a few blocks away in Everett, where they are building the Farmers Market. I'll try giving the water company a call tomorrow. In the meantime, I popped a Magnum HOT (Thanks Ron!) filled with ZeoCarb.

Happy thanksgiving! ಠ_ಠ

 

[bronzefighter]

I forgot to add, I feel absolutely terrible about this. Mainly because the Lwandas are endangered species and I was in the process of getting them CARES registered.

 

[Anonymous]

For a hot water tank, 3 years IS old enough to accumulate sludge on the bottom. This is he reason as we are growing up our parents tell us NOT to drink warm water from the tap. I haven't used warm water for water changes in a long while. Water changes in the 10% range won't change temp to dramatically. Pipes from the 80's, you do realize these are copper, they could be plastic but still have copper fittings . Either way that's over 30 years old now.

 

[bronzefighter]

Ok, both of those things make sense. But two things:

Why hasn't this been a problem before?

And if this is the case, what can I do to avoid it in the future.

Just watched another Lwanda bite the dust. No signs of distress at all. She just became lethargic over a 20-min period and then went belly up. I'm going to do a PWC, with cold water, and run another set of tests.

 

[Cory]

You could bring some tap and both tank waters to my shop tomorrow and I can figure it out. I deal with this almost weekly. "My tanks were fine, and now stuff died" It has to be the water nothing has changed.

It's very rare it's related to your water source. Typically if something is killing fish, it'll kill all the fish, and any survivors are a different species. If it was say copper in your water from old pipes, you'd see every invert die, not just 1 bacon shrimp etc.

The human mind loves to jump to conclusions. Another perfectly logical answer, which there are probably 100 different things that could be going on is. Lwandas have hit sexual maturity and have now killed each other off due to pecking order. Shrimp dies from random tank parameters or molting problem etc. As humans we lump those two things together because they happened in a close time frame. But in reality with a lot of research you find out it was two different things going on.

BTW, make sure your pH is staying the same during your water changes as .2 of a change can kill fish outright. I've bred lots of Lwandas in the past at Conway Tropical Fish etc. All in tapwater at 7.0-7.2. The 8.0 ph makes it hard to keep a pH stable when your tap water is far off from that.

 

[bronzefighter]

You could bring some tap and both tank waters to my shop tomorrow and I can figure it out. I deal with this almost weekly. "My tanks were fine, and now stuff died" It has to be the water nothing has changed.

I might swing by on Saturday if I get the chance and take you up on that offer.

It's very rare it's related to your water source. Typically if something is killing fish, it'll kill all the fish, and any survivors are a different species. If it was say copper in your water from old pipes, you'd see every invert die, not just 1 bacon shrimp etc.

The human mind loves to jump to conclusions. Another perfectly logical answer, which there are probably 100 different things that could be going on is. Lwandas have hit sexual maturity and have now killed each other off due to pecking order. Shrimp dies from random tank parameters or molting problem etc. As humans we lump those two things together because they happened in a close time frame. But in reality with a lot of research you find out it was two different things going on.

See, I had one male die a few weeks ago due to bullying. I pulled him from the tank but he passed in the hospital tank. Though I did notice a sharp increase in females holding afterwards. These deaths have been...different. I've seen fighting and dominant fish asserting themselves over subs, and have not seen any behavior like that at all. In fact, now that I think about I've seen a noticeable decrease in aggression the past few days. Not activity, just aggression.

Thinking this through in my head, in regards to the Spec V, I know that Bacon just molted successfully a few days ago. I know shrimp can die from a failed molt, but can molting have a delayed effect on them?

 

[Gryphon]

Have they done any water main flushing in your area by chance? I know down here in Fed Way just about every other week I see where they're flushing mains, that could be a source.

Also take a moment and smell your water, I know here in Fed Way the water reeks of Chlorine, I do double doses of prime in my water as a just in case deal.

 

[Chiisai]

Can you test for Flouride? I have heard that when the city water company flushes the system a larger amount of flouride is added to the water system. Though I agree with Corey for the most part.. I would say if your half you tank has died in a 48hr period something is amiss. Keep us posted eh?

 

[pbmax]

Have they done any water main flushing in your area by chance? I know down here in Fed Way just about every other week I see where they're flushing mains, that could be a source.

Also take a moment and smell your water, I know here in Fed Way the water reeks of Chlorine, I do double doses of prime in my water as a just in case deal.

A super strong chlorine smell most likely indicates chloramine, which is definitely nastier in an aquarium. Not only does it stay in the water longer, but it contains ammonia as well. Prime handles this without issue, thankfully.

 

[bronzefighter]

OK, problem figured out!

I called up the water company. Apparently the construction site down the street is tapping the water main, or something like that, and due to that they were flushing it or something. The rep from the water company assured me that any and all chemicals and contamination would be within limits for safe human consumpetion. BUT DON'T YOU PEOPLE KNOW I KEEP DELICATE FISH?!

What a nightmare.

 

[pbmax]

How much of the water did you change? Do you use prime?

 

[bronzefighter]

How much of the water did you change?  Do you use prime?

First 2 water changes were 50% with tank temperature water, and yes, Prime was the weapon of choice. After that I performed probably 2-3 10% water changes with cold water. So far I havent had any more deaths in the past 24 hours.

 

[Anonymous]

OK, problem figured out!

I called up the water company. Apparently the construction site down the street is tapping the water main, or something like that, and due to that they were flushing it or something. The rep from the water company assured me that any and all chemicals and contamination would be within limits for safe human consumpetion. BUT DON'T YOU PEOPLE KNOW I KEEP DELICATE FISH?!

What a nightmare.

Hmmm, makes me wonder....
How much water do u change & how often? Just wondering because it seems in general ppl approach this pretty much the same but perhaps our settle differences in each area in which we live is important due to the differences in everyone's water supplies and inhabitants. Like for me & my fish I have adapted to no more than %10 for a water change and only use cold water. This small amount of water change means the parameters are changed very little. The fact that most my filters are rated nearly double the tank size & precise buffering there is security in knowing they maintain  constant water parameters .

I would think with settle changes in city water parameters and the fact I change just little amounts of water no matter what the city does, with little water changes the parameters will not be effected much.

In theory anyway, ha!

Sorry about your loss my friend. Sometimes it seems no matter what we do there is some Elements that are out of our control as we attempt to control balance in an enclosed ecosystem...

 

[pbmax]

It might be a good time to drain / flush your hot water tank. Hopefully the worst is behind you. Good luck!

I use some hot when I do my changes as well (usually about 50%); I shoot for around 65F and that seems to work for me.

 

[pbmax]

Smaller water changes with cold only are the best bet for sure, but larger changes are often desirable, especially for small and/or planted tanks with regular fertilizer regimens.