Water from Wal-Mart?

[jon in tx]

I recently took the advice of a friend who uses the filtered water from Wal-Mart for his salt water aquarium. 1-2 weeks later, my yellow tang died and my coral beauty angel has ick! It was from the Culligan machine that has filtered water. Could this be a coincident? Anyone else buy filtered water from Wal-Mart for their tanks?
I should mention that I bought water from the local fish store before exclusively. I've never had ick in my tank before and only 1 death in last 6 months.

 

[jon in tx]

More info - I have a 90 gal tank and the water from Wal-Mart was only 5 gal of fresh water added at 2-3 different times over 1-2 weeks. Could this small amount of water caused my problems?

 

[nemo_66]

that sucks, my only advice would be, and only because of precation, stop using that water and go back to your old rotine(sp)

 

[newtoreef_tank]

It don't matter where u get the water from ick is in ur tank no matter what ur fish just catch it when they get stressed out

 

[40 galons]

me being a water from wal-mart user, i have never had any problems.

 

[jonny]

how long have you had the fish and when was the last time you introduced a fish. also i think the water from walmart would help in an ick outbreak for its probably come in contact with copper rings. ick wouldn't come from the water it was introduced some other way.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by NewtoReef_tank
It don't matter where u get the water from ick is in ur tank no matter what ur fish just catch it when they get stressed out
Not true. Ich must be introduced to your tank via an infected fish. All fish don't have it, and it is entirely possible to have a system that is free from illness.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by Jon in Tx
I recently took the advice of a friend who uses the filtered water from Wal-Mart for his salt water aquarium. 1-2 weeks later, my yellow tang died and my coral beauty angel has ick! It was from the Culligan machine that has filtered water. Could this be a coincident? Anyone else buy filtered water from Wal-Mart for their tanks?
I should mention that I bought water from the local fish store before exclusively. I've never had ick in my tank before and only 1 death in last 6 months.
Was the one death in the last six months the yellow tang, or another fish?
Ich did not kill your tang. It doesn't kill that quickly. I'm curious if you had another sick fish at some point and what symptoms you saw. Did the yellow tang show any visible symptoms before it died? Was it sudden death?

 

[cvetnich]

I got a RO/DI unit last month but before that I always bought my water from Wal Mart and never had any problems.....

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by jonny
how long have you had the fish and when was the last time you introduced a fish. also i think the water from walmart would help in an ick outbreak for its probably come in contact with copper rings. ick wouldn't come from the water it was introduced some other way.
I introduced a new fish (Rainbow/Paddlefin Wrasse) a few weeks ago which could be a contributing factor. The Wrasse is larger than the other fish and very active but didn't seem to bother the others. Is it possible this new fish brought ick into my tank (although he seems to be fine)?

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by nicetry
Was the one death in the last six months the yellow tang, or another fish?
Ich did not kill your tang. It doesn't kill that quickly. I'm curious if you had another sick fish at some point and what symptoms you saw. Did the yellow tang show any visible symptoms before it died? Was it sudden death?
The one death I mentioned was not the Tang. I meant I lost another one about a month ago (Bi-Color Blenny). Neither showed any visible symptoms or problems. The day before the Tang died, I noticed he didn't eat.

 

[sepulatian]

Ich did not come from the store water. Ich spends very little time in the water column of a SW tank. The water from Walmart is FW. FW ich cannot live in SW, something else is going on in the tank. Can you post your current water readings for us?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by nicetry
Not true. Ich must be introduced to your tank via an infected fish. All fish don't have it, and it is entirely possible to have a system that is free from illness.
This is 100% true.

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
Ich did not come from the store water. Ich spends very little time in the water column of a SW tank. The water from Walmart is FW. FW ich cannot live in SW, something else is going on in the tank. Can you post your current water readings for us?
All my readings were normal except for Nitrates, which were 30! Any idea what causes them to go up? They are usually 0. Also, I've lost two more fish (Coral Beauty Angel & Strawberry Psuedo)!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Jon in Tx
All my readings were normal except for Nitrates, which were 30! Any idea what causes them to go up? They are usually 0. Also, I've lost two more fish (Coral Beauty Angel & Strawberry Psuedo)!

How long have you had this tank? How much LR and LS do you have? Nitrates can take some time to show. If you are concerned that it may have been the water, test the nitrate level of the source water. As for now, do some 10-15% water changes spaced 3 or 4 days appart until the nitrate level is down.

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
How long have you had this tank? How much LR and LS do you have? Nitrates can take some time to show. If you are concerned that it may have been the water, test the nitrate level of the source water. As for now, do some 10-15% water changes spaced 3 or 4 days appart until the nitrate level is down.
My tank has been set-up for a little over a year and no prior nitrate problems previously. I have 135 lbs of live rock in 90 gal tank.

 

[darthsimon]

There distilled water is good for top offs...