URGENT HELP!!!!!!

[SIR32]

Hi all,

I topped up the water in my Barramundi tank today (it was down to about 2/3 full) the same way that i normally do.... by adding some chlorine neutraliser to the water while i'm putting some water in out of the tap.....

now, filled the tank, everything was fine and dandy, the fish seemed happy etc...

went to sleep for a few hours, and now he's gasping at the surface really badly, is very frightened etc....

i'm just wondering what is wrong (he's usually not like this when i top up the water) and is there anything i can do for him?

I've tried adding a little bit more chlorine neutraliser, and a little bit of salt to the water, but no effect...

he's splashing around alot....

this is URGENT, i'm really worried about him... don't want to lose him Sad

if someone could post up, or call me on my mobile (0402 202 978) doesn't matter what time you call, as most probably will be awake...
Thankyou!

[wrk21]

ok you have plenty of air going in the tank????

check the PH level of the water coming out of the tap and then do the water in the tank..... me think the two will be poles apart....if theres a big diff adjust the ph slowly over a few hours.

thry that for starters.....well get to it.....lol

[SIR32]

thanks for the help....

doesn't matter now though... he's passed on to the big fishtank in the sky :(

 :cry:  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

[Cory Fan]

8O  Sorry to hear that  :cry:

[SIR32]

in the end i had to put him down... he had a big spasm in the tank, splashing etc, then he just rolled over onto his back and sank... at this point i thought he's not coming back, and i didn't want him to suffer any more, so i pulled him out and brain spiked him :(

on of the hardest things i've ever had to do...  :cry:

I just hope i did it right and it was over quickly for him  :cry:

[wrk21]

yes i think we all know the feeling......anyway still do some test so you know for your own peace of mind what caused it....

[cichlidwoman]

sorry to hear of your loss buddy  :(

[Paul]

to me it sounds like "old tank syndrome". topping up the water in the tank when 1/3 has evaporated is not the best way to maintain your tank I'm afraid. regular water changes are a much better method. the death could also have been as a result of shock from a sudden change in total disolved solid concentrations or from temperature, but most likely because of OTS.

old tank syndrome is described as this:

over time, without regular water changes and gravel vacuuming, rotting fish pooh, plant debris and uneaten food break down into the water. This decomposition process produces ammonia, increases the total disolved solids in the water and will reduce the PH (the water becomes more acidic).

Ammonia is absolutely deadly to fish in concentrations over a few parts per million. However, when ammonia is present in acidic water (ph 1-6), the ammonia is far less toxic than in neutral or basic water. (ph 7-14).  

So old tank syndrome is when you have high concentrations of ammonia in quite acidic water. The water is full of ammonia, but it is not toxic to fish because of the low PH of the water. When you top up your tank with water of the tap, you raise the PH of the water in the tank because the water coming out of the tap is most likely in the ph range of 7-9. The instant you add the new water, all of the ammonia in your tank becomes extremely toxic and the sudden blast of toxicity is too much for almost any fish to handle.

It is a very common problem and the symptoms you describe are very consistent with this syndrome.

To confuse things, some ammonia test kits only report the toxic ammonia in your aquarium while others will show both toxic and non toxic ammonia.

The reason why it may have happened this time is because perhaps there was more food being fed to the fish because it was bigger this time, or perhaps a plant recently died, or perhaps the fish was off his food and alot was going uneaten and rotting on the bottom. Alot of fish keepers break the rules time and time again and rarely suffer any fish deaths. These people will often tell you the science of aquarium water chemistry is flawed because they have "never done that stuff and my fish are fine". This is because there are hundreds of contributing factors and sometimes a fish keeper will just get lucky with a particular setup. But take it from some one who has only had one fish death in the last 12 months, if your break the rules it will catch up with you eventually.

The best way to avoid this happening again is to ensure that you perform a 15-25% water change at least every 2 weeks, preferably every week, and use a gravel vacuum to clean out any build up debris in the gravel. Also ensure that you have a sufficent biological and mechanical filtration for the size of the tank and the amount of food you put in. Filtration requirements are directly related to the amount of food that goes into the system and also the volume of water in the sytem.

If you want to know more please just ask as I am happy to help. If you live not too far away I would be happy to come round and show you some good fish maintenance techniques.

Also, while a barra is a cool fish, they are a very challenging fish to keep in an aquarium. no matter how big your tank, they are sure to out grow it. I've caught plenty over barra over 1 metre and you'd need a big tank to house those suckers!!!

good luck with your future fish keeping endeavours and good on you for asking for help!