Is My Water OK? I killed 3 fish during acclamation.

I'm new to this hobby, and I'm having tons of problems, which I believe are due to my water being poisoned.

Long story short: In the beginning I did not have a RODI system, so I used tab water with Amquel Plus. I bought a Queen Angel and set her up using that very water. The fish is still alive. Since then, I bought a RODI system and purchased 3 fish from 2 different sources. They all died after acclamation. From 5 to 10 hours after.

During the last acclamation I wanted to perform a fresh water dip, but I could not adjust the PH up using Baking Soda (as suggested in the sticky post). Someone suggested my API test kit is wrong. This made me purchase a digital tester for multiple parameters. After testing PH in my tap water and my RODI water I found something very weird (at least to me, maybe it is normal). My RODI PH is much lower than my tab water PH. Here are the results of my water:

PH – Tab Water – 7.5
PH – RODI Water – 6.5 (or it changes around that range)

TDS – Tab Water – 260
TDS – RODI Water – 0

CON – Tab Water – 378
CON – RODI Water – 16

SAL – Tab Water – 190 ppm
SAL – RODI Water – 0 ppm

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0

Is there a way to figure out if my water is correct based on the above parameters? The drop in PH and the dead fish worry me.
Is my RODI doing something to the water. I was suppose to flush it for 2 hours, which I did?

Also, if the above data is not enough to render a valid diagnosis, can you guys recommend a place where I can send my water for this kind of (fish related) testing.


More Data


0. Fish: Yellow Tang, Threadfin Butterfly, Majestic Angel
1. Temp is 78F
2. Drip Acclaim (almost 4 hours this time)
3. Fish from my LFS was eating. The last 2 I bought online. They did not eat after acclamation.
4. PH in my tank was 8.2 according to my API test kit.
5. No marks on Fish. The fish from my local store was perfect.
6. I did not clean around the tank. The first fish died on floor 4, and the last 2 fish died on floor 1. That rules out lots of environmental problems.
7. No chemicals, perfumes or anything like that.
8. I have a central AC, but I try not to run it in the winter up here in New York. You should not spray anything around your AC, so I did not.

Since I bought my RODI filter no fish was able to acclaim. I only have my fish from the tab water acclamation time (in the beginning). What throws me off the most is that my Queen Angel is in the same water (75%) now as the fish that died.

Can someone please comment on the PH drop after RODI. Is this normal. Why would the removal of metals increase the acidity? Is my RODI filter adding something to the water. When I was showing off my drinking water from the RODI my mother said "it feels something" when drinking.

The crual retest would be do buy two Butterflies again and acclaim one in the tab water with Amquel Plus and the other in plain RODI system water. I just do not want to do it.

For sure I'm not buying anything anymore until I understand what happens to my PH after RO.

The Process:




Thanks in advance.

 

well you could have an issue with your tap water i dident see where you were located
if your rodi filter catridge hasent been changed your not really filtering anything i would run to the nearest pet store and purchase prime and marine buffer
prime is the best stuff on the market and you know it is because its smells nasty
seachem marine buffer will stabilize your ph
if you leave you lights off to long your ph will suffer i really need to re read this post


ok so if i were you i would purchase the prime and use that as a "rodi" alternative its not as affective and in some circumstances like mine i can do this but i dont know what tap water your receiving your county can add whatever or maybe you have serious water issues i would bring this up with your township maybe serious issues are not as apparant but could be over time with your health and the fish

 

I would change out the water for new water completely, using RODI to mix it this time. That will remove any water contaminants like pesticides or byproducts of using so much Amquel.

The pH of RODI should be below 7 (since CO2 will enter the water and lower the pH), so I don't think your RODI is the problem.

BTW, what's CON?

 

I do not want to use Prime or anything else. I want to use water only. The water for the tank was done about 4 days prior to acclamation. I did not use any Amquel. It was pure RODI water in the tank. That is the problem water for me, but since you're saying RODI creates PH below 7, then that is not the problem.

Let me ask you this way, if my TDS is 0, could there be other things in the water that would render TDS 0, but be not good for fish? I'm in New Jersey, USA. My towns next to me had a warning of bad tab water about 6 months ago.

CON = connectivity

 

I can't tell what the pictures are supposed to be about. Did you remove the fish from the bags into little acclimation tanks and do a drip acclimation or what?

4 hour acclimation time is way too long for a fish in its original water, especially one that has been shipped and been in the bag for a very long time. They will die from ammonia poisoning any time from right away to 3 days later. As soon as you open the bag, ammonia in the bag starts rising. You need to get them out of that original water within 30 minutes. Match temperature and salinity at minimum, pH too if you want, then get them out & into a tank.

I'm just stating that because you gave no acclimation info other than it was 4 hours.

RODI water has had everything stripped out of it, so I'm not surprised the pH is low. Your salt mix and or a buffer should be buffering that back up. You also shouldn't be drinking it very often after it goes through the DI filter. Your body needs minerals from water to function properly, and DI has none.

 

I know this might be a silly question, but you are putting salt in the water, right? I haven't seen you say anything but "pure RODI" so far...

 

The acclamations was like this:

1. I bought the fish in the store.
2. Came home in about 1 hour
3. It floated in my tank for 20 minutes
4. I put the water from the bag into my acclamation container
5. The fish was there for 3 hours until water has tripled. (according to the store guarantee)
6. Fish would be ok for few hours in the QT and then it would lay down
7. The whole process took 4 hours.

My specific gravity is 1.024. It's not like I do not know what I'm doing, but rather I'm doing everything by the book and it's not working.

 

I think you need salt in the water...

 

I ran air stones 2 days prior to acclamation in the tank. The water was new (few days old).

Can you elaborate on timing? How can I be fast enough in acclamation, but not create PH and other shocks.

- what's up with these posts? I specified my specific gravity above.


By the books I means tank owners on forum. I read all sticky posts all over from those who spent 30 years in the hobby. That's why I do not know what is wrong anymore as I'm following all good advice.

 

He posted his SG.

Anyways, I think you should just change out all the water. There might be some nasty byproduct or something in there.

And make sure you mix it in a food-grade container. Others might be treated with mold/mildew/bacteria inhibitors. Same goes for silicone, and nearly anything else not meant for food or tank purposes.