question

[kwok]

Tank is about two months old and after an overnight of getting more oxygen in the tank the fishies are still breathing heavily. I also use nutrafin aqua plus for my water conditioner. It might be the spring water that has melted recently. Anything else i can check for?

[daniella3d]

Have you checked for ammonia? If you have chloramine in your tap water and you used a dechlorinator, then that released the ammonia and left it behind. In that case you should use Prime. I would use Prime as your water conditionner as it is a very good conditionner that neutralize ammonia as well.

I would get a RO unit as soon as possible and do a good water change. Put some carbon in there maybe just in case there would be some chimical in it, or chemipure or polyfilter in case that would be some heavy metal.

Just don't use Kent carbon as it might be contaminated with copper. Seachem Matrix carbon is good, just rinse it very well and if you can, first soak it in boiling water for a few hours before use.

For 20 gallons tank, it is really best to have a RO unit since it will be so fast to generate enough water and it will last a long time without replacing the membrane. Since this condition coincide with the water change, I suspect some contaminant in your tap water. The conditionner only neutralize chlorine.

Originally Posted by kwok

Tank is about two months old and after an overnight of getting more oxygen in the tank the fishies are still breathing heavily. I also use nutrafin aqua plus for my water conditioner. It might be the spring water that has melted recently. Anything else i can check for?

[reefwars]

did you use liverock or dry rock??

[kwok]

i will look into buying prime water conditioner but aqua plus states it removes chlorine and chloramine. i did check for ammonia and it shows close to 0. i have about 30 lbs of live rock currently in my tank. any suggestions where to buy an ok RO unit? i'm on a budget. thanks

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by kwok

i will look into buying prime water conditioner but aqua plus states it removes chlorine and chloramine. i did check for ammonia and it shows close to 0. i have about 30 lbs of live rock currently in my tank. any suggestions where to buy an ok RO unit? i'm on a budget. thanks

should read 0 for amonia if theres any amonia it could be the cause of heavy brething could even be lethal in even just small amounts.

if theres amonia in your tank then your not finished cycling yet and with 3 fish in a 20g it would make sense that they are breathing heavy.

[kwok]

it should be finished cycling because my nitrites and nitrates read 0 and i had fish swimming around the tank and eating well for over two weeks.

[daniella3d]

In deed, at high PH and hight temperature, even a trace of ammonia can be toxic.

If your conditioner is anything like Prime, it only control ammonia for 24 hours and it must be dosed every 24 hours until the ammonia is undetectible.

Prime is also said to neutralize heavy metal, not sure if this is true or not. For a RO unit, look in the local add like on kijiji, or ebay, or put some post mentioning you are looking for one on a budget. Maybe someone has one for sale.

Originally Posted by reefwars

should read 0 for amonia if theres any amonia it could be the cause of heavy brething could even be lethal in even just small amounts.

if theres amonia in your tank then your not finished cycling yet and with 3 fish in a 20g it would make sense that they are breathing heavy.