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I have a 10 gallon with 4 zebra danios, 2 (previously 4) Cory. trilineatus, and 1 albino bushynose Pleco. I just added the cory cats and pleco last weekend. The cory cats all started out just fine, eagerly exploring the tank and eating shrimp pellets, algae wafers, and flake scraps. On Tuesday night I noticed one of the cory cats (who had a split fin) was sitting in one spot and breathing heavily. The next day he was dead. Then on Friday night, another one was doing the same thing and died on Saturday. First I thought the one with the split fin just had a bacterial infection, but now I suspect water chemistry is the problem. My water quality seems fine (temp = 78 degrees, ammonia and nitrites at 0, nitrates at 10 ppm, weekly 25% water changes, tap water treated w/ Tetra Aquasafe), however I live in Cambridge where the tap water is pH 8. I was hoping the cory cats could acclimate to this, since they seem to be relatively hardy fish from what I've read, and I've seen some websites that say they are ok up to pH 8. The fish store (Tropic Isle - sorry Ned), however, keeps their cory's at pH 6.5 as I found out later from a phone call, so it's plausible the fish are not happy with the large change. They suggested I reduce the pH in my tank. I bought some Wardley pH 7.0 adjuster, and have added a total of 3 teaspoons over the course of 1 day (the box says never add more than 4 teaspoons per 10 gallons). My pH tester now says 7.8. Will the buffer maybe slowly lower the pH further? I don't know the hardness of my water, but I think it's pretty soft actually. Does anyone else have any experience with handling Cambridge/Boston area water? Thanks in advance.

People tend to worry too much about exact water chemistry (PH, hardness), while their fish are often willing and able to simply adjust to their given surroundings. Infact, more fish have died as a result of PH up, down, and a host of other "recommended" chemicals, than have died from a one time adjustment to a tanks natural conditions.

That said, MWRA water is a bit of a challenge. After sitting in a tank for a few days, the water proves to be nice and soft with a corresponding PH of usually 7.0 or lower. The longer mwra water sits in a crowded tank the lower the PH can drop. Unfortunately, the city adds something to the water before it enters the pipes that jumps the PH way up to as high as 9.5!!! Soooo, doing a simple water change from tap to tank can alter the PH to a point that will harm fish.

I deal with this PH discrepancy by using a large barrel. I draw water from the tap to the barrel, add a dose of Proper PH 6.5 or 7.0, wait 5 minutes, and then pump the water into my fish tank. The PH buffers work on WMRA water instantly and with great efficiency. I can bring the PH down from 9.5 to 6.5 using half the recommended dose of Prop PH 6.5 and in just a few seconds!

I would definitly recommend using a system like this so that, in an emergency, you are able to do large water changes, and so you can keep your fishes conditions stable.

-Sam

Ok, now onto the cory's

Corydoras should love MWRA water - Soft with a lower PH is ideal for most species. However, as i described above, problems could arise from large ph changes that are inherent in unbuffered MWRA fish tank water changes. And yes, it is possible that an initial change from trop isle conditions to your conditions could have been stressful.

However, the fish lived for nearly a week before they died - and deaths due to PH shock would most likely have occurred in the first day or so after bringing the corys home. And furthermore - we at the fish factory only very very rarely loose fish to one time water chemistry adjustments.

I think it most likely that the cory's developed an illness from the stresses of shipping. When bringing in wild corys we sometimes loose batches to internal bacterial infections - red patches on their sides - gasping - listless behavior. I feel that this is a result of shipments coming in with highly ammoniated - low oxygen water, and not a result of any PH of Hardness matter.

In the future be very careful to inspect all fish in a batch... make sure they are active, eating, and if there are any dead or dying ones, try and figure out the cause. Also, it is always good to note how long a fish has been in a store - new arrivals often haven't had time yet to show signs of shipment stress.

And of course - you should get your fish from us, so we can make sure you get the healthiest stock possible

Goodluck
-Sam

One last note:

If you want to try and do something for your remaining corys you could add two TEAspoons per gallon of aquarium salt... a good general cure. You must remove live plants first though.

Give us a call if you notice anything specific wrong with them and maybe we can help you further.

-Sam

Thanks, Sam! I really appreciate you taking the time to so thoroughly address my question. I think I will adopt your barrel technique for water changes given the crazy MWRA water treatment, and I plan to try some aquarium salt too. I'm happy to say I did buy the albino Pleco at your place. He seems very healthy and content.

Hi,

I don't believe Cambridge water comes from the MWRA.Some of it may.I know your city water mainly comes from a reservoir in Arlington and Fresh pond in Cambridge.The city has a huge Water Plant on Freshpond Pkwy.The few people I know in Cambridge have told me their P.H. comes from the tap at 8.0 plus.The water is also very hard.You could call the Cambridge water dept. for more info., including any chemicals they use for treatment etc.
In contrast,(like Ned stated) the MWRA water comes from the tap with an extremly high P.H. but is very soft.In Chelsea the water is very soft(30-40ppm).My P.H does drop down to the 6's with time.
In a nutshell, the water is so soft from chemicals, added at water stations to protect pipes.Being closer to these stations causes my water to be extreme.Ten miles NW, the MWRA water may be a little harder etc.
Again, most fish will easily adjust to tap water as long as they are acclimated slowly.Listen to Ned.The worst thing you can do is have your P.H./water hardness bounce up and down from adding chemicals.
Use Malaysian driftwood and maybe some peat.This will help soften the water slowly and safely.Live plants also have many benefits.I do smaller water chages(10-25%) and my fish are fine.Even wild caught,delicate species and fry.I only use Sea-Chem Prime(or similiar) to condition water.
Sorry for long winded post........Good Luck

I just wanted to add,you should really have a kit to test your water hardness.Usually a high P.H. means hard water.Obviously not the case w/MWRA water.
If you do use chemical(s) to reduce your P.H.,be very careful.
Sam is obviously very experienced and has to deal w/many tanks and species including Discus,Cardinal Tetras etc.
I try to plan on doin my water changes over a couple hour period when I have the time.For example-In a 40 gallon tank,I'll vacum out 8-10 gallons.I will have 4- 2.5 gal. buckets pre-filled and treated w/ water conditioner.Every half hour,I'll add a bucket of water.
I went thru hell messing around w/ my water when I first moved back to Chelsea.Over time,I realized it was uneccesary.

Ned&Sam etc.-The tanks in store were excellent.Huge variety of healthy fish and plants.I could have stayed for hours but was sick w/gallbladder(they think) pains.Be back soon....