Strange, never seen water turn pink before!

[James Hande]

For 4 years I have used API tap water conditioner to remove chlorine. Then a year ago I started using Seachem Prime. I have a rack holding 18 bare bottom tanks for fish breeding/grow out. Suddenly within a couple of hours from doing a water change I noticed a few tanks were the water had a definite pink color to it. In a few days it would clear up. This went on for months and always random tanks. But a few days ago I noticed one of the 75G's (which I missed doing a water change for 3 weeks) filled with pink water! The color change does not effect the fish as far as I can tell.

I called Seachem and they never heard of such a thing. I called my local water company and they never heard of such a thing. Both claiming it's not caused by them. Which I can certainly believe.

I've been keeping and breeding many fish in fish rooms since the 60's and I have never ever seen such a thing!

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

[Guppysnail]

@modified lung does water quality for a living. I’m very curious as I use prime but I have never seen pink water. Airline tubes and suction cups turning pink yes, water no. 

[modified lung]

Sounds like potassium permanganate.

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/potassium-permanganate-turns-canadian-towns-water-pink/2500529.article

If so, watch for ammonia spikes. The stuff is used to kill bacteria.

Do you have very hard water?

Edited September 15, 2022 by modified lung

[James Hande]

On 9/14/2022 at 8:02 PM, modified lung said:

Sounds like potassium permanganate.

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/potassium-permanganate-turns-canadian-towns-water-pink/2500529.article

If so, watch for ammonia spikes. The stuff is used to kill bacteria.

Do you have very hard water?

Yes it does sound like that but according to my water company (small locale town) they filter the water through sand, add chlorine and then an unknown (didn't tell me what) chemical to prevent the old town pipes from rusting.

What had me stumped is only a few say 5 out of 18 would turn pink within a couple of hours doing a partial water change. Suddenly my 75 turned pink about 3 weeks after the water change. Yesterday I just noticed a 20G turning pink, again 3 weeks since water change.

My tap water:
TDS = 126
GH = 0
KH = 0
pH = 6.8
 

[modified lung]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:58 AM, James Hande said:

Yes it does sound like that but according to my water company (small locale town) they filter the water through sand, add chlorine and then an unknown (didn't tell me what) chemical to prevent the old town pipes from rusting.

What had me stumped is only a few say 5 out of 18 would turn pink within a couple of hours doing a partial water change. Suddenly my 75 turned pink about 3 weeks after the water change. Yesterday I just noticed a 20G turning pink, again 3 weeks since water change.

My tap water:
TDS = 126
GH = 0
KH = 0
pH = 6.8
 

That's weird. The only other thing I can think of is if you have a lot of potassium, manganese, and some kind of oxidizer in the water, potassium permanganate can start forming. But with 0 GH that wouldn't happen.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I've had some slime on filter media before that was a reddish color (the color of rust).  Not pink though.  I'm confused.

[James Hande]

On 9/16/2022 at 11:02 AM, modified lung said:

That's weird. The only other thing I can think of is if you have a lot of potassium, manganese, and some kind of oxidizer in the water, potassium permanganate can start forming. But with 0 GH that wouldn't happen.

I probably should invest in a few more test kits including potassium.
Like you mentioned, with a 0 GH I don't think manganese is present.

Wow I never knew potassium permanganate could form in a tank without adding it. Still goes to show your never to old to learn new things. 😊

I thank everyone for chiming in!

[modified lung]

On 9/16/2022 at 8:23 AM, James Hande said:

I probably should invest in a few more test kits including potassium.
Like you mentioned, with a 0 GH I don't think manganese is present.

Wow I never knew potassium permanganate could form in a tank without adding it. Still goes to show your never to old to learn new things. 😊

I thank everyone for chiming in!

The water at work is extremely hard. If we dump a bunch of hydrogen peroxide or turn on the ozone machine in a tank without fish, the water turns a little pink.

[James Hande]

On 9/16/2022 at 12:20 PM, modified lung said:

The water at work is extremely hard. If we dump a bunch of hydrogen peroxide or turn on the ozone machine in a tank without fish, the water turns a little pink.

Wow hydrogen peroxide too!

[modified lung]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:28 AM, James Hande said:

Wow hydrogen peroxide too!

It's like 35% hydrogen peroxide though.

[James Hande]

On 9/16/2022 at 12:30 PM, modified lung said:

It's like 35% hydrogen peroxide though.

Interesting! Never knew that either.