What does this mean?

[Jgisler2006]

I have a 29 G
eclipse 3 hood and filtration
2 green Chromis
1 Diamond Goby
1 Ocellaris clown
1 turbo

30 lbs LR
koralia power head

So today i changed the water, I used a Petco pre made 5 gallon box, tested it, it was perfect, but now for some reason all my fish are at the top popping bubbles.

does this mean something significant?

[metalhead]

What is a "petco pre-made 5 gallon box"?

[Jgisler2006]

PETCO Real Ocean Water at PETCO

[gregr]

Fish gulping for air usually means things are not good in a big way. Did you check the salinity of the Petco water compared to the water in your tank? If it was drastically different that could be the problem. Were the temps close to the same? Was the box of water damaged at all when it arrived?

[Jgisler2006]

no damage to the package, The salinity and SG are now equivalent to what it was before, and the temp is the same as well, i dont know what these were before i added the water (dumb move on me) but now they seem to be fine.

however my fish are still swimming actively and normal yet they are at the top staring at the bubbles. what do i do?

[Jgisler2006]

Fish gulping for air usually means things are not good in a big way. Did you check the salinity of the Petco water compared to the water in your tank? If it was drastically different that could be the problem. Were the temps close to the same? Was the box of water damaged at all when it arrived?

I have a power head with an optional air line, should i add some oxygen to the water, maybe that solves it?

[gregr]

I think that would be a good idea. I don't know if it will be the magic bullet but it would certainly help. It's hard to say exactly what happened with having tested the water you added. Especially in small systems it's important to keep things as stable as possible.

[metalhead]

I have a power head with an optional air line, should i add some oxygen to the water, maybe that solves it?

Hard to say... According to what I read on their site, they claim it to be natural seawater that's been filtered and stabilized. That's pretty vague at best but I do know that the RO process does remove oxygen from the water and I always aerate my make-up water for a few days after I mix it up before adding it to my tank (WC). So it may be worthwhile to try aerating your water at this point, I would also break out every test kit I had and get to work.

It seems to me that petco would be taking a big risk by collecting natural seawater and distributing it to the general public for use in their reef tanks no matter how they are filtering it. If I were you at this point, I would certainly save a sample of this "box water" and if your system ends up crashing as a result of using it I would have the water tested by a professional laboratory, get the results, find out what was in the water that caused it, then file suit against petco. Chances are there are many other people being affected if there is indeed a problem so needless to say, especially given your geographic region, there will probably already be a class action in the works by the time you get that far.

But, hopefully, simple aeration will solve the problem and you will come out of this knowing better than to use water that you can buy in a 5 gallon box.

[gregony]

You could try putting an extra bag of carbon in the tank. Those Aquaclear carbon inserts come prebagged and are pretty cheap. Just rinse and use.

[Jgisler2006]

thanks guys hopefully me aerating the water dosnt mess up anything. anyways thanks ! :/

[Steve McKay]

Do you have a hydrometer or refractrometer?Do you have any test kits?

[Jgisler2006]

Do you have a hydrometer or refractrometer?Do you have any test kits?

yes the salinity and SG are good, i just checked the Ph and its a little low at 8.0 how can i raise this slightly for now without another water change?

[Parrothead]

8.0 isn't gonna hurt anything, let the tank settle down from what ever happened first, let it be for awhile

[Ninong]

What is a "petco pre-made 5 gallon box"?

It's Catalina Water Company natural seawater. They have a pipe running offshore from Long Beach, California. If I remember correctly, the pipe runs about 1,000 feet from the shore but I can't remember how deep it is. The seawater is then filtered and sterilized. Unfortunately, the price is extremely expensive anywhere other than Southern California due to packaging and shipping costs.

It's much cheaper in California if you buy it in bulk from an LFS that receives bulk deliveries from tanker trucks. It used to be really cheap about 20 years ago but the price has been rising. It was semi-cheap (about 68 cents/gallon) in the SF Bay Area when I lived there in the 1990's but even that price was about double what it used to sell for in Southern California.

The idea of selling it in 5-gal cardboard cartons is relatively new. I think they started that seven or eight years ago. Even before they got into the cardboard carton packaging they sold it in bulk as far away as Las Vegas and Phoenix to the east and San Francisco to the north.

[Ninong]

PETCO Real Ocean Water at PETCO

Jgisler,

Where do you live in California? You may be able to find an LFS that purchases Catalina water in bulk and stores it in water storage tanks. That way you're not paying for the packaging and for the Petco marketing. Depending on what part of the state you live in, you can probably find it for less than half of Petco's discounted price.

P.S. -- If you live near San Diego, you can get filtered natural seawater for FREE from the Scripps pier.

[Ninong]

P.S. -- If you live near San Diego, you can get filtered natural seawater for FREE from the Scripps pier.

I finally found one of the posts I made earlier discussing the Scripps pier. It's Post #10 in this thread.

[Jgisler2006]

Jgisler,

Where do you live in California? You may be able to find an LFS that purchases Catalina water in bulk and stores it in water storage tanks. That way you're not paying for the packaging and for the Petco marketing. Depending on what part of the state you live in, you can probably find it for less than half of Petco's discounted price.

P.S. -- If you live near San Diego, you can get filtered natural seawater for FREE from the Scripps pier.

I live in Sacramento california, so unfortunately i'm not near a large body of water :/

But the reason i chose this water was the convenience ,

So my clown seems to be the only one still gulping for air, I hope every things alright.

[Bloodydecks]

It's Catalina Water Company natural seawater. They have a pipe running offshore from Long Beach, California. If I remember correctly, the pipe runs about 1,000 feet from the shore but I can't remember how deep it is. The seawater is then filtered and sterilized. Unfortunately, the price is extremely expensive anywhere other than Southern California due to packaging and shipping costs.

It's much cheaper in California if you buy it in bulk from an LFS that receives bulk deliveries from tanker trucks. It used to be really cheap about 20 years ago but the price has been rising. It was semi-cheap (about 68 cents/gallon) in the SF Bay Area when I lived there in the 1990's but even that price was about double what it used to sell for in Southern California.

The idea of selling it in 5-gal cardboard cartons is relatively new. I think they started that seven or eight years ago. Even before they got into the cardboard carton packaging they sold it in bulk as far away as Las Vegas and Phoenix to the east and San Francisco to the north.

I use to buy from Catalina Water Company. I would buy 500 gallons at a time, so my cost was much less. The more you buy, the cheaper it was.

but i was buying direct...(but they will do home delivery).

The water is so filtered, I had to added buffers and trace elements to it. The Aquarium of the Pacific also gets there water ffrom Catalonia Water Co.

I have recently went back to making my own Saltwater now. The cost is nearly the same for me, do to fuel surcharges and a price increase, add that to the cost off buffers and elements. I just hate the amount of water I waste via the RO unit waste water. Wish I had fresh water systems to use it in. It also takes a week for me to fill my tank...



Scrips water is not filtered...it is "natural" sea water. I have bought from a company that gets there water from scripps, and i have a buddy who gets his "hobby" water from scripps. The water that is offered to the public has not been filtered. They just added the spigot to make it eaiser for hobbiest or anyone else that wants free, natural see water.

[Bloodydecks]

jgilsler..

how soon did the symptoms start?

Is it possible you filled te tank to much, and the water is so that there isn't enough gas exchange, and the O2 levels have dropped. With those hood type filters, you don;t get much surface movement if the water is to high....even with the bio wheel spinning..you still need to have some type of surface agitation....

I guess you will know your answer after a few hours, once you add the air line to the power head.

[Jgisler2006]

jgilsler..

how soon did the symptoms start?

Is it possible you filled te tank to much, and the water is so that there isn't enough gas exchange, and the O2 levels have dropped. With those hood type filters, you don;t get much surface movement if the water is to high....even with the bio wheel spinning..you still need to have some type of surface agitation....

I guess you will know your answer after a few hours, once you add the air line to the power head.

I added the airline to the power head, scared the death out of my fish. I left it on for a few hours and everything seems to be okay, except the clown still swims to the top every once in a while to grab some air.

When i did the water change i removed 5 gallons and then instantly poured in 5 galleon of the premade stuff. Im glad that the water is at least reputable, but I was not aware you could add water to quick.

My fish are eating, and swimming somewhat normal so i think aerating helped, should i continue?

Is adding more air bad?