# Are Calvus really that sensitive to water changes?



## 2fnlo (Jan 21, 2008)

My new Calvus were active and eating fine.

Today I changed 5 gallons of my 29 gallon tank and now they are all laying on the bottom and not moving alot. Maybe they are just resting, they acted like this when I first got them. They are non responsive to food. Maybe they are hating the water change?

I should mention they are about 1.5 - 2 inches.


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## Furcifer158 (Feb 16, 2008)

my comps do that when i add to much buffer to the tank.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

They are pretty sensitive to water changes, so I generally siphon my water through air-line tubing just to be safe.


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## 2fnlo (Jan 21, 2008)

Well hopefully they come back around and I will try to do less next time.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I don't have that problem with mine, and they get a pretty variable care schedule. Sometimes I do 50% or more, sometimes skipping weeks, and I don't really measure the buffers and salt that I add.  I do use generous amounts of Prime water conditioner and match the temperature with my hand as I add it with a python.

I have found calvus to be overly sensitive to travel and new tank adjustment...


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## 2fnlo (Jan 21, 2008)

Now I wake up and 24 hours later 4/5 of my Calvus are dead. Thats frustrating. Only 17% water change. I think I am going to give up on trying to keep these, which is too bad they are my favorite fish     :-? :-? :-? :-?


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

:-? Sorry to hear that. My maintainance schedule sounds suspiciously similar to Triscuit's (but as I've said previously I usually siphon my water through an airline hose) and I've found my comps to be pretty hardy. I don't usually buffer my water either. I have heard that they can be pretty sensitive so I figure better safe than sorry.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

did you use anything when you add water? How about temperature? They can be sensitative.


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## Thao (Jan 30, 2006)

Obviously something with youre water is wrong. Chlorine?


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## 2fnlo (Jan 21, 2008)

I didn't add anything to my water, the tap water PH is 7.5. water temp is about 77F.

I am not sure about the chlorine I have never tested my tap water before.

I have 6 aquariums running with all different kinds of cichlid species and I use the same routine on all my tanks with no losses so far.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

you might want to think about adding some chlorine remover next time.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Yup... chlorine, chloramine, ammonia: many unfriendly chemicals can be in our drinking water. Please, always use a water conditioner. Your water company can change their treatment regime at a moment's notice so it's safer to bet that they are chlorinating than not.

It is not unusual for one species to be particulary sensitive to chlorine. Just because it isn't killing your other fish doesn't mean it's not hurting them.


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## fiupntballr (Jul 7, 2004)

I think it is safe to assume all tap water has chlorine and some levels of ammonia

sorry to hear about your fish ;-(


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## DirtyBlackSocks (Jan 24, 2008)

Pretty sure it's mandated by law in the United States that all waters provided by the city containe either chlorine or chloramine due to the way the water is filtered for nitrates.

Well water almost always contains high levels of nitrates and some level of ammonia.

If you do find that your waters only contain chlorine and you don't want to pay for dechlorinators you can get some drinking grade water containers and fill them up then aerate (agitate the water surface) them for 24 hours or so - it will eliminate the chlorine - use a hobby pump with some tubing to pump it into the tank.

The case might be that you've always had chlorine and have had tougher fish that survived the poisoning until it was aerated from the tanks - whereas the calvus didn't?


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## Prisonfood53 (May 9, 2008)

I had a similar mass killing and could only figure that the city had changed the water parameters since my last water change. I lost 5 fire fin Comps 1.5-2.0 inches. Now I add the Prime to every bucket of water and let it sit for a minute before I put it in the tank during water changes and since have had no problems.


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

I take it you don't use any chlorine remover in your other tanks as well which means even tho your fish haven't died you have most certainly caused them undo stress by exposing them to chlorine and whatever else is in your local tap water. tsk tsk. Go buy some prime dude.


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## Hurriken (Jan 13, 2006)

Even if they don't die you can cause irreversible damage including the reproductive system.


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## 2fnlo (Jan 21, 2008)

I will have to plead ignorance on this on, when I first set up my tank about a year ago I tested the tap water and the tests were negative. Now I tested some new stuff and it showed chlorine, so hopefully it just changed since the previous water change and I didn't do to much damage to my fish. I went and got some chlorine remover and I will be using it faithfully from now on.

Thanks for the help guys, I owe my fish an apology.


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## LSU (May 12, 2007)

Strange, I've never had any of these problems during water changes, my calvus act just like everything else, even when I do 50%+. In fact, one of mine was watching eggs a few days after a huge water change I did last week.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

LSU said:


> Strange, I've never had any of these problems during water changes, my calvus act just like everything else, even when I do 50%+. In fact, one of mine was watching eggs a few days after a huge water change I did last week.


Likely because there isn't chlorine in your water


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