What I'm doing wrong?

[wthurmond98]

Every time I do a water change something goes wrong. The first couple of times I did changes I was having problems with ich, but now I got that under control. I mix the water in 5 gl buckets, the temp is good the salinity is good prime is added and ph buffer. I let the water mix for 30 mins before adding, but this time after I done the change my naso tang died two hours after. I had the fish for two weeks and never displayed any problems. Everything else in my tank looks fine, I have a 150 gl display and did a 30% change. Is I'm doing something wrong in my water changes, if so please someone let me know tried of losing fish. Thanks.

[Naiad]

Are you using RO or tap water?
Jen

[mike_cmu04]

What is the salinity and ph of the new water? Are you using a clean bucket that has never had anything else in it?

[wthurmond98]

I'm using tap water and the salinity is 1.024 ph 8.4 and the buckets are used only for my water changes

[n_prise]

Originally Posted by wthurmond98

I'm using tap water and the salinity is 1.024 ph 8.4 and the buckets are used only for my water changes

too many variables as to whats in tap water, invest in an ro unit from Bulk Reef Supply! was the prime expired? did salinity and temp match very close?

[wthurmond98]

Yes the temps and salinity were on point I test it twice before putting it in the display but I might need to invest in a RO unit someone was telling me about that

[dputt88]

agreed, RO unit is nearly a must have in this hobby. good luck.

[on the spot]

Originally Posted by wthurmond98

...I let the water mix for 30 mins before adding...

Don't do this anymore.

Mix it for a day or more. Use an air stone or an airline on the mixing pump.

sorry about your fish.

[rmalone]

Yeah agree with the above. 24hrs is a good minimum for letting the salt mix. You do need to get away from tap water. You should not need to use any ph buffers after you mix your salt. DO NOT chase ph issues with buffers, you yo-yo alk too much, which is far worse than ph being off a bit. In fact just forget about ph and focus on salinity and alk.

[Jim_Dont_Care]

hope u at least used a de-chlorinator city water is full of stuff u dont want most pet stored sell ro water for like $.50 a gallon or u can always ask if some one around u has some i keep my resever (brute can) and always have at least 15 gallons but your aways from me for $139 this is the ro/di i have cheap and works
FISH TANK AQUARIUM REEF RO DI REVERSE OSMOSIS PURE WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM RD102 | eBay

[weimers75]

Many people use tap water w/o issue so it isn't killing your fish. You'll end up with algae problems though if you don't switch to r/o.

My guess is 30% is on the large side, you should do 10% weekly or 20% bi-weekly. If you're going a long time between changes, its probably the huge difference between old water and new water. How are you adding the water? If added too fast this can cause problems too. I too would avoid pH buffers, especially in water change water as it sounds like your tank water isn't 8.4 if you're using a buffer, which means a big pH difference. If you read the label, it will say not to increase pH more than a tiny amount daily...this could be the issue too. Low pH isn't really a problem, swings are definately a problem.