Fish Keep Dying

[prism127]

A friend of mine has a 90 gallon with 30 sump that has been running for a few months and is all of a sudden losing fish at a fast rate. The tank was originally cycled at my house with filtered city water. She lives in the county with well water that has high Iron. all levels on the test are good. Would the well water affect and possibly cause fish to die.
thanks

 

[ThePaliga]

So the water is treated well water or well water ran through rodi?

 

[prism127]

So the water is treated well water or well water ran through rodi?

filtered but not RODI getting that installed this week

 

[prism127]

filtered but not RODI getting that installed this week

IM getting her a few 5 gallon buckets of RODI water from my house now to do a big water change this weekend

 

[ThePaliga]

My bet would be something in the water. I know that excessive iron can cause some serious issues with fish, and I'm not sure how you could export that. When doing top offs.. it would be adding more and more iron into the tank. I think you nailed it on the head.

 

[EricTMah]

You would need a boat load of iron from well water to be killing fish. And especially it wouldn't just start happening that quickly. It would be a gradual decrease in fish as the iron slowly creeps up.

Any other outside contamination? Renovations in the house? Colouration in the water at all? Bad smells? Is she dosing anything?

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[prism127]

You would need a boat load of iron from well water to be killing fish. And especially it wouldn't just start happening that quickly. It would be a gradual decrease in fish as the iron slowly creeps up.

Any other outside contamination? Renovations in the house? Colouration in the water at all? Bad smells? Is she dosing anything?

Sony Xperia Z3

no there has been nothing different then what I do in my tank and I have had no problems. im going over this weekend to check everything out myself and put my diatom filter on it for a few days

 

[EricTMah]

Diatomaceous filters are amazing at pulling impurities out of the water.
I'd also suggest to run the water tests yourself with your test kits. Ya never know when you're getting a false reading.
Also probably wouldn't hurt to have her go through what she's doing with you. It could be something simple like her process she uses for water changes.
Some carbon after the water change might help as well.
Good luck.

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[prism127]

Diatomaceous filters are amazing at pulling impurities out of the water.
I'd also suggest to run the water tests yourself with your test kits. Ya never know when you're getting a false reading.
Also probably wouldn't hurt to have her go through what she's doing with you. It could be something simple like her process she uses for water changes.
Some carbon after the water change might help as well.
Good luck.


Sony Xperia Z3

yes they are an awesome filter ill be checking everything over this weekend

thanks for the advise

 

[yveterinarian]

I would also ask her if she has changed any of her cleaning products for her house recently. Did she add any fish recently too?

 

[sunnykita]

also candles, scented waxes etc.

 

[dale]

i would say a few month old tank with more than a couple fish could add to problems, wells can also be a source of ammonia, sulfur, copper and many other things..

 

[sunnykita]

i would say a few month old tank with more than a couple fish could add to problems, wells can also be a source of ammonia, sulfur, copper and many other things..

one of my first thoughts was ammonia too, detrimental to the fish for sure !

 

[prism127]

i would say a few month old tank with more than a couple fish could add to problems, wells can also be a source of ammonia, sulfur, copper and many other things..

ammonia levels are good nitrates, nitrite and phosphate are also good
I setup my diatom filter on it last night and no more casualties.
Tank was a bit cloudy from the sand and is crystal clear this morning
the tank is a 90 gallon with 30 sump
120 pounds of established live rock
75 pounds of live sand
40 gallons of water was cycled from my tank at setup
filled with RODI water
salt levels .022
only thing different is the well water
She bought new filters for her RODI system this morning

 

[dale]

rodi will eliminate many potential problems, which will narrow things down greatly if the problem persists.. if all fish die, i would leave running fishless for at least 2 months.. good luck..

 

[ThePaliga]

+1 dale

Diligence and patience are key

 

[zoomster]

Having been on a well most of my life I have never had a problem with ammonia.
Now sulphur on the other hand. .....
But if she has sulphur you should be able to smell it and will usually leave a greeny-gray colour residue on bathroom fixtures ect.
Had she been spraying any air fresheners around the tank?

 

[TORX]

Salt is reading a little wonky. Should be 1.025 +/-, not .022, most likely just typed wrong though.

 

[prism127]

Having been on a well most of my life I have never had a problem with ammonia.
Now sulphur on the other hand. .....
But if she has sulphur you should be able to smell it and will usually leave a greeny-gray colour residue on bathroom fixtures ect.
Had she been spraying any air fresheners around the tank?

no air fresheners and no smell from tank. bathroom just has the brown rust from the iron.

 

[prism127]

Salt is reading a little wonky. Should be 1.025 +/-, not .022, most likely just typed wrong though.

yes sorry salt is about 1.024 now I added a little bit more to her tank