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Old 11-25-2009, 01:53 PM   #14 (permalink)
Oldman
Water Chemistry/ LiveBearer Specialist
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Default Re: Intro and question

OK here we go again. The chemicals that you are using to tie up ammonia are not going to work for long. They are intended as an emergency measure like when you are leaving for work and can't stop long enough to do a water change. A water change is the only realistic way to remove ammonia for the fish's health. You are doing something else that is risky and that is using distilled water for water changes. Fish cannot live in pure distilled water, they need some mineral content in their water. Since you already have reduced the mineral content of the water considerably, I would use a mix of tap and distilled for water changes until you can get the water back up to reasonable mineral levels. The rams may be fine in ultra-pure water but most fish , including guppies, will not. The most effective way to do a water change, for chemistry problems, is to do as big a change as you can all in one go. I would drain the present tank so far the guppies in it have a hard time staying wet. Then refill with dechlorinated and temperature matched water that has only a small increase of minerals compared to the water they have been in. By doing one large change, you will likely get rid of most of the chemical problems the first time compared to doing multiple 50% changes to have the same effect.
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