water changes

[iloveflameangel]

I have a 50 gal reef setup, and my tank seems to do really well when I leave it alone, but I do a water change every month to 2 months, about 20%, and then my fish start getting sick and an occasional death...any suggestions? I have about 50# lr, and a deep sand bed, as well as a power filter.

 

[souljah]

That shouldnt be happening.
Are you checking to make sure the new water you put in is
within the same readings as the water in your tank?
salinity, ammonia, nitrite etc?
Do you make your own water? or buy premixed saltwater
from the pet store?

 

[iloveflameangel]

Well, I use normal tap water and Instant Ocean, I pre-mix it with water conditioner added, and let it stand for at least 24 hours. After that period of time, and the fact that no fish were living in the water, I am assuming that ammonia and nitrites should be negligible. Is there something wrong with what I'm doing? I don't think the tap water is the issue, since I had discus and they were thriving. Any ideas?

 

[aileena]

Tap water is always an issue. The clorine and phosphates and nitrates all contribute to problems with using tap water. Check your tap water with a test kit and see for yourself. Check all the parameters. Whats not harmful to humans is often harmful to the fish especially saltwater fish. I bet you have a lot of clorine and phophates. You should always try to use R/O water. For the sake of arguement experiment yourself. Go buy some R/O water mix your SW and then try it.

 

[iloveflameangel]

Thanks for the advice...I think next time I'll purchase some RO water. There's a grocery store about 20 minutes away that sells it like drinking water in the 5 gallon bottles, and it's extremely cheap.

 

[marine fanatic]

If you are determined to use tap water, use some conditioners like AmQuel to neutralize ammonia and chloramine. You will still risk the phosphate that will cause alage growth but making sure you eliminate the chloramine is important.

 

[heavenly damsel]

Never assume that it is okay. You should test the water before adding it to your tank....even the RO water from the grocery store. There are some less than reputable bottled water companies out there that just bottle tap water.
Try doing 10% water changes once a month instead of 20% less often. You can purchase an RO unit at Lowes and do less hauling of bottled water. What we spent on bottled water over 7 months would have purchased our RO unit.

 

[ryanbooton]

Go buy a bottle of prime. Its a little expensive but lasts for a thousand gallons. It neutrlizes everything in water. Fresh or salt! That should help out ur tap if bottled is out of the question!

 

[tangtang]

Sorry if I'm missing an old post; but...
Just so I'm clear: Does my R/O (My under the kitchen sink unit by Culligan) have any amonia? This tap does not produce enough water quickly so I'm looking at adding a home depot unit on the gargage faucet??? Should I declorinate with Prime or something after the R/O process??? Do I need a Deiondizing unit as well?
Also, my house water is soft (also by Culligan) is this water better for our critters than city? Does it need to be declorinated? Should my new R/O run on soft water like my current one?
Any and all thoughts, experience and wisdom is appreciated. <smile>
Linda