Help please.

[Cz1989]

75 gallon community tank with praecox rainbows, ottos and two columbian snowball plecos, gold lazer corys and two rainbow stiphodon gobys.   Everything was ticking like a clock with no issues for months. 

I moved over the past weekend and every fish made it through the move healthy. My water at my new apartment has a blue-ish tone to it.  

This morning I awoke to finding 3 rainbows dead, 2 corys dead, 1 snowball pleco dead and one goby dead. 
 

My parameters are: 10 Nitrate, 1 Nitrite, 300?! Hardness, 40 KH, 6.4 ish PH. 0 Chlorine. 
 

I did a 10 gallon water change before I left for work but I'm afraid my entire tank is going to be collapsed by the time I get home. Recommendations?

[Cz1989]

The only thing that I can think would be packing up everything and moving 3 days ago.  I added Fritz zyme 7 when I set the tank up as well as again this morning. 

[Lennie]

On 6/14/2023 at 4:54 PM, Cz1989 said:

The only thing that I can think would be packing up everything and moving 3 days ago.  I added Fritz zyme 7 when I set the tank up as well as again this morning. 

Maybe after having lots of fish passing away, the filter couldn't handle it so you are reading nitrites. Still quite toxic I would say.

Have you tested for ammonia?

[hawgs911]

Amoninia spike when you upset the substrate maybe?  Also whats up with the "blue water?"

I would do a 90% WC just in case and go a little heavier on the dechloarnator.  Try to find out what the water company is putting in your water.

[Cz1989]

I'm assuming it was an ammonia spike from disturbing the cycle. I had all the substrate in buckets with aquarium water for about 48 hours. I was hoping that would save my bacteria load but I'm assuming it didn't. 
 

[TOtrees]

In terms of problem solving, I think we need to disentangle or isolate the "blue water" from the move. If there is something in the new source water (beyond all the normal stuff like Chlorine or Chloramines that decholinators are known to handle well), no amount of water changes will fix whatever problem you are having. 

I think you need to keep measuring parameters to stay on top of changes, but the missing piece of the puzzle is ammonia so can you also get a measurement of that? 

In your shoes, I'd do the following:

• stop feeding for a few days
• treat with double or more rate of dechlor daily
• ensure you have excellent aeration, ie a couple of good airstones (straight up stones, no sponges)
• Add carbon or carbon/zeolite mix (if you are only running sponge filters, then you might need to add an HOB or canister to get good exposure to/circulation through the carbon)
• ensure you heater isn't putting current into the water (unplug it until things are stabilized, unless the ambient temp is too low; or put in a new heater)
• Unless you do have reason to believe the new water is somehow tainted or contaminated (which I have to say is very unlikely, if it's potable ie safe for drinking), then I'd look to do a couple 50% water changes asap, and maybe 20% daily until things stabilize. 

Hopefully things are better at the end of the day. It's so hard to walk away from these issues, when they're occurring. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/14/2023 at 6:40 AM, Cz1989 said:

I moved over the past weekend and every fish made it through the move healthy. My water at my new apartment has a blue-ish tone to it.  

This morning I awoke to finding 3 rainbows dead, 2 corys dead, 1 snowball pleco dead and one goby dead. 

Perhaps they are treating the water with something like a chlorine tablet?

Hardware stores will have a free water test you can have them do and test for specific things like metals and other items. The water goes out to a lab and they follow up with a good analysis for you.

On 6/14/2023 at 6:40 AM, Cz1989 said:

My parameters are: 10 Nitrate, 1 Nitrite, 300?! Hardness, 40 KH, 6.4 ish PH. 0 Chlorine. 

Nothing in this is alarming to me apart from a low PH. What is the KH/PH after 24 hours? 300+ GH is fine for a wide variety (a ton) of species. I recommend using a liquid test kit for GH and KH to verify results.

While this may not be the answer, I wanted to post and share this as it can be related to what you're dealing with.

I wish you nthe best of luck and hopefully we can solve this. Talk to the owner of the building and explain to them your tank died and ask them if there is any water treatment items being used. This could be a clean out, water softener, etc.

The water company themselves also should be able to help here and clarify the situation if anything on their side is causing blue water coloration.

 

[Cz1989]

You guys have been a big help.  I really appreciate all the advice and the concern. When I get home from work I will update this post as to where we stand. 
 

As far as the chlorine goes, I have been treating with tap water conditioner heavily and consistently show zero chlorine on tests.  For whatever else is in the water, who knows. 

[Cz1989]

Update:  I just got home from work and there are no new casualties.  I'm going to continue daily water changes and monitor ammonia closely. 
 

As far as the blue coloration to the water; it is very faint but still present. I'm waiting for a copper test to come in the mail. 
 

I really was expecting to have lost my entire aquarium. 

[nabokovfan87]

Awesome to hear @Cz1989

 

[Galabar]

What were you using as a filter in the 75 and did you move it over during the move?

[Guppysnail]

Your local water company does a complete water analysis usually yearly. It shows everything. Many post them online others you just call and they will send you a copy. 
They can probably also tell you what the blue tint is. If it’s u usual for your area they may even run further testing to determine what is causing it. 

[Cz1989]

On 6/15/2023 at 12:16 AM, Galabar said:

What were you using as a filter in the 75 and did you move it over during the move?

Fluval 307 canister and yes it got moved. 

[RennjiDK]

Moving is a stressful event for fish. That, combined with a new water source compounds stress. It's not entirely impossible that the move itself cause these issues. If you were using the same canister with the same media, I very much doubt you'd see any sort of ammonia spike. What is an issue is disrupting and reusing substrate. There is next to no nitrification happening on the surface of the substrate and anaerobic bacteria break down waste which form very toxic compounds in low oxygen environments. When you disturb the substrate, these are released into the water column and can cause sudden and unexpected deaths within a matter of hours.