[Patriot]

I did a water change today as I normally do every 4 days to vacuum substrate. About a hour or two later I noticed all of my fish are dying. It seems like chlorine poisoning. I never had to treat my water before. I don't know if the city increased the amount of chlorine in the water.

I wish I had a second tank ready to transfer them over to. It sucks watching them all struggle to breath. The number dead are triple what's in the picture now.

 

[roostertech]

Ouch, are you using tap water? I had a similar event recently when my tap water parameter suddenly changed.

 

[Patriot]

Yes I am.

I surprised the shrimp are still alive. I thought they would be the first to go.

 

[Nordic]

Damn, those were healthy fish... the water beyond a doubt.


On the upside, you don't have to worry about germs in your water.

 

[JJ09]

Can you save the rest of the fish by doing water changes with extra dechlor? It says on the bottle of prime you can double or quadruple the dose in emergency cases.

 

[Fishly]

Add declor to your tank ASAP. You can't undo the damage, but you can limit how much more is done.

 

[Patriot]

Most of the fish are gone. I didn't have any chemicals on hand to treat with.

Surprisingly none of the shrimp died. 1 otto, 5 neon tetras are left.

 

[DaveK]

I did a water change today as I normally do every 4 days to vacuum substrate. About a hour or two later I noticed all of my fish are dying. It seems like chlorine poisoning. I never had to treat my water before. I don't know if the city increased the amount of chlorine in the water.
...
I wish I had a second tank ready to transfer them over to. It sucks watching them all struggle to breath. The number dead are triple what's in the picture now.

Ouch, are you using tap water? I had a similar event recently when my tap water parameter suddenly changed.

Yes I am.

I surprised the shrimp are still alive. I thought they would be the first to go.

That about sums things up. Using tap water and not treating it is "looking for a stomping". Water companies often change the amount of chemicals they are using to treat it, especially as the seasons change.

At this point you could treat the water in hope of preventing any more losses, but most likely the damage has already been done.

 

[gbb0330]

sorry for your loss.
in emergency situations like this adding a ton of fresh activated carbon to the filter may help.

 

[livingword26]

Around here, they also add more ammonia to the water to offset the algae bloom that occurs in the lake that we get part of our water from, in the spring and summer. You cant trust them.

 

[mistergreen]

I'm surprised you never added dechlor in the first place. The amount of chlorine or chloramine varies depending on the pathogens in the water.

 

[dukydaf]

Sorry for your experience but so we learn... not from other's words but on our own burned skin.

"The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them." - Lois McMaster Bujold

Also watch out that your tap water temperature is not too hot. Hot water has less oxygen disolved which can explain the gasping.

 

[CrypticLifeStyle]

Treat your water, always.

 

[Kylesaltandpepper]

Wow, this reminds me of the time when my brother in law forgot to add prime after a water change in his tank before a week long vacation. When he came back, the fish had disappeared, until he remembered why. Always add a dechlorinator to untreated tap water.

 

[Patriot]

Yep lessons learn. The fish are all gone now except the shrimp. I think the shrimp are mutants haha.

I wish the water companies would send out a notice before adding to the water supply.

 

[CrypticLifeStyle]

Well part of why they don't might have to do with they've been adding the stuff since around world war 2 lol.