Water Change Question

Randal · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Hello,
I have a 20 gallon planted tank filled with a few swordtails and platys.
I do partial water changes (about 4 ot 5 gallons) every 3 to 4 weeks. I
put into the tank the dechlorinator before I add the water from the
faucet. ( I check the temperature with my hand...) Within several hours
the fish are stressed and staying near the bottom of the tank. Sometimes
one will die within a week.
I am not sure why the fish get stressed so bad... Any ideas? How close
does the temperature of the new water have to match the water in the
tank?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>freshwater>misc

Len · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 21

It is best to use a thermometer to measure the temperature. The new water
should be within a degree or two of the tank water. Too big a difference,
especially colder, can lead to problems. I add the dechlorinator(Amquel)
into the new water before I add it to the tank. Smaller, more frequent,
water changes might be better. I usually do a 15% water change evey week to
10 days.

Randal wrote:

> Hello,
> I have a 20 gallon planted tank filled with a few swordtails and platys.
> I do partial water changes (about 4 ot 5 gallons) every 3 to 4 weeks. I
> put into the tank the dechlorinator before I add the water from the
> faucet. ( I check the temperature with my hand...) Within several hours
> the fish are stressed and staying near the bottom of the tank. Sometimes
> one will die within a week.
> I am not sure why the fish get stressed so bad... Any ideas? How close
> does the temperature of the new water have to match the water in the
> tank?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help!

coelacanth · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

Have you tested the pH, etc. of your tapwater and your
tankwater? Are they radically different?

What are using to put water into the tank? I ask because this
sounds like some sort of toxicity, due either to your pipes
or using a garden hose.

The other question is what are you doing when you take water
OUT? If you have really deep gravel that has an anaerobic
strata, you may be poisoning the fish by releasing toxins into
the water, though I think you'd smell nasty sulfurous compounds
while doing this.

Other than that, it would probably be preferable to do more,
smaller water changes (say 10% every 2 weeks) once you've
figured out what's killing them.

Good luck!

-coelacanth

"Randal" wrote in message@NOSPAMalcatel.com...
> Hello,
> I have a 20 gallon planted tank filled with a few swordtails and platys.
> I do partial water changes (about 4 ot 5 gallons) every 3 to 4 weeks. I
> put into the tank the dechlorinator before I add the water from the
> faucet. ( I check the temperature with my hand...) Within several hours
> the fish are stressed and staying near the bottom of the tank. Sometimes
> one will die within a week.
> I am not sure why the fish get stressed so bad... Any ideas? How close
> does the temperature of the new water have to match the water in the
> tank?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help!
>
>
>