All Fish Have Died Cos Of Cloudy Water

[charlton]

This isn't an emergency cos its late to save any of them, i went away fri night to receive a phone call from the other half sat afternoon to tell me the waters gone all cloudy and they've all died !! I returned home yesterday and sure enough she was right, its so cloudy that you can even see the back of the tank and its only about 1 foot in depth, there's also a strong eggy type smell aswell. Any ideas of what might be the cause of my catastophy ?

cheers

charlton

 

[Davo86]

Hi
you've either just set up and added loads of fish without cycling the tank first or you have recently cleaned the filters in tap water,

cloudyness is a sign of new tank syndrome caused by one of the above
eggy smell is likely to be ammonia caused by a lack of beneficial bacteria to break it down

 

[Brette]

It can also be the sign of a really bad bacterial bloom. My water usually gets cloudy when i have fungal finrot/columnaris in my tank. Regardless of perfect water stats, the bacteria can make the water very cloudy.

Did your fish have any fungus-looking stuff on them? Or fin rot?

 

[charlton]

Hi
you've either just set up and added loads of fish without cycling the tank first or you have recently cleaned the filters in tap water,

cloudyness is a sign of new tank syndrome caused by one of the above
eggy smell is likely to be ammonia caused by a lack of beneficial bacteria to break it down

It's not a new tank, been set up for about a year and no new fish have been added for months so thats that theory out the window

It can also be the sign of a really bad bacterial bloom. My water usually gets cloudy when i have fungal finrot/columnaris in my tank. Regardless of perfect water stats, the bacteria can make the water very cloudy.

Did your fish have any fungus-looking stuff on them? Or fin rot?

None of the fish had anything noticably wrong with them from what i could see !!

whats the next step to take, i was thinking of making large water changes until it seems clear again while still adding ammonia to keep all the benificial bacteria alive !

 

[Davo86]

you won't have any beneficial bacteria alive if there is a strong eggy smell, high ammonia levels will kill bacteria off,
are you sure nobodies touched the filters? this is usually the most common cause.
can you test the water?

apart from the two reasons I have mentioned above the only other explanation is that a chemical has gotten into the water, i.e. air freshner, deoderant etc.

 

[charlton]

you won't have any beneficial bacteria alive if there is a strong eggy smell, high ammonia levels will kill bacteria off,
are you sure nobodies touched the filters? this is usually the most common cause.
can you test the water?

apart from the two reasons I have mentioned above the only other explanation is that a chemical has gotten into the water, i.e. air freshner, deoderant etc.

well i'm just changing some of the water and realised that not everything has died, still got 5 corys and my pair of opaline gourami's. no one can get near the filters because they're hidden behind the christmas tree, and its got a lid on the tank so no contaminents could of got in there. just doing water stats now !!

 

[WILDER]

A rotting egg or sulphor smell can mean you have bad bacteria in your tank.
Any dead fish rotting in your tank.

 

[charlton]

you won't have any beneficial bacteria alive if there is a strong eggy smell, high ammonia levels will kill bacteria off,
are you sure nobodies touched the filters? this is usually the most common cause.
can you test the water?

right i've tested the water and all my stats are fine apart from the ph which has raised to about 8.0, i'm starting think it might be my new back ground i recently fitted, diy polystyrene one coated in cement then sealed with pond sealent. Seems odd because it was deinately sealed properly before being placed in the tank but this is the only thing i can think of !!

A rotting egg or sulphor smell can mean you have bad bacteria in your tank.
Any dead fish rotting in your tank.

the only dead fish are the ones i came home to find after being away for the weenkend but they've now been removed !!

 

[WILDER]

How long did you leave the background to set before you filled the tank up with water.
When did you add the background to the tank?

Do you have a spare tank that you can add the fish too as if it is the background the tank needs stripping down and the back ground removing.

 

[charlton]

How long did you leave the background to set before you filled the tank up with water.
When did you add the background to the tank?

Do you have a spare tank that you can add the fish too as if it is the background the tank needs stripping down and the back ground removing.

The background has been a project for the last few months and had a final coat (5 in total) of sealant about a month ago so its had plenty of time to cure, then i lowered the level of the water in the tank for about a day and a half while i used silicon safe sealent to secure it into my tank and let that go off. I then fill the tank up to its normal level, that was about a week to the day that its started to go cloudy, all the time i had the level lowered i had the filter running so this wasn't the issue.

Unforunately i haven't got a spare tank to move the few that survived into while i remove the background. But in all honesty the more i seem to think about the background i'm thinking it might not be the issue. Would it really take a week to do any damage ? Even though i used pond sealant and aquarium safe silicon ?

cheers

charlton

 

[Schmill]

Probably a silly question, but are you 100% sure that nothign got cuaght behind the background when you fitted it?
1 week would sound about right for something dead and decomposing to start pumping serious ammonia into the tank... but then you say ammonia levels are fine...

 

[charlton]

Probably a silly question, but are you 100% sure that nothign got cuaght behind the background when you fitted it?
1 week would sound about right for something dead and decomposing to start pumping serious ammonia into the tank... but then you say ammonia levels are fine...

Nope there was nothing stuck behind the background when i fittted it, i've just doubled checked my ammonia levels to make sure they were as should be and they're fine !!! Really baffled as to what it might be !!!

 

[Attilauk]

eggy smell is likely to be ammonia caused by a lack of beneficial bacteria to break it down

Ammonia does not smell eggy at all, an eggy smell is normally hydrogen sulphide which is produced as part of the decay process and that can be poisonous in large enough levels.

is your tank planted? rotting plant matter can give an eggy smell so can rotting uneaten food

 

[charlton]

eggy smell is likely to be ammonia caused by a lack of beneficial bacteria to break it down

Ammonia does not smell eggy at all, an eggy smell is normally hydrogen sulphide which is produced as part of the decay process and that can be poisonous in large enough levels.

is your tank planted? rotting plant matter can give an eggy smell so can rotting uneaten food

nope its not planted, anymore suggestions ?

cheers

charlton

 

[WILDER]

Best to list eveythiong what was in the tank when it went cloudy and started to smell.
From substate to ornaments.
Any roads works being done down your road.
Do you use tap water or rain water for water changes.
Something altered your ph.
What sealent did you use to seal the background.
Do you think its leaking toxins into the water.
Cement can make a tank go cloudy if its not set properly.
Did you let the cement mature and harden before you started to seal it.