# Fish all died after adding water clarifier



## Pegm (Nov 19, 2016)

While doing routine weekly maintenance on my 75 gal African cichlid tank. I added tetra water clarifier. Within minutes my very large and old Plecko shivers almost like having a seizure and dies. After the initial shock I think ok after all he was over 10 years old. But then I notice some Yellow labs doing the same thing. yep them too dead. UGH My tank is perfect as far as all testing goes. After doing a huge water change every one else starts doing the same thing some have red at base of fin some are turning from bright yellow and orange to pale yellow with allot of black on face and torso. I am at a loss. nothing new done other than the water clairifier 30 fish and all fires dead. Removed the remaining 5 fish to the "hospital ward" well sorry to report 3 left. Any one have an insight on what may of happened? #feelingdevistated

Peg


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## Biciclid (Jan 27, 2016)

By watet clarifier do you mean conditioner, as in what you use to remove chlorine? It sounds line your fish gave chlorine/chloramine toxicity.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Why did you use the tetra water clarifier? Did you use water conditioner too? Or did you use tetra water clarifier instead of water conditioner?


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## Pegm (Nov 19, 2016)

I used Tetra clarifier to remove cloudiness after I stirred up the gravel on the bottom of the tank. For some reason this times it did not settle good. The water was extremely cloudy. Seen this stuff at Walmart. claims to clear cloudy water. Husband said dont buy it. I choose not to listen. He said just wait test again see whats going on. Nope I did a water change again. this time about 80% yep down to 3 fish in the Hospital tank now.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Most water clarifiers use a flocculant called aluminum chlorhydrate. While generally safe, if the KH level is low and enough is added to the tank, the aluminum can be acutely toxic. This is probably what happened.

Generally it's a good idea to check your KH level and make sure it is at a level 6 dKH or higher before using a water clarifier. A good water change and gravel siphoning will remove the aluminum from the water and make it safe for the fish again.

Andy


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## Pegm (Nov 19, 2016)

Thanks Andy, I am pretty sure that is exactly what happened. Starting completely over new tank up and running waiting now for the cycle to finish then add back the 3 yellow labs and the one buttikoferi ... If they survive this  one yellow looks great the others not so.

Peg


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

That Butterkofferi is going to be a nightmare as it grows up. They are some of the meanest, nastiest cichlids out there. Plus they get over 12" long. Better for eating than for keeping.


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## Dark Storm (Nov 23, 2016)

You'd have been better using floss in your filter rather than adding clarifier. I have low KH and GH issues due to really soft water, I have to monitor ph as it can crash at anytime. I use aquador to keep it at a constant 6.8, and add as i need it. If you already have floss in your filter, it needs changing every 4 weeks, you can get it reasonably cheap on Ebay and cut to size. Bag will last months, if not a year, JBL do it.


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