Disaster! My Own Fault But I Need Some Advice.

[rory1944]

Hi All,

Sorry that my first post is in this section.

Background - I got back from a holiday to find my fish tank covered in algea. The fish were fine, healthy even, and one of my guppy mommies had given birth, while most of the fry were eaten I now have two guppy babies that will survive.

Fish are now 5 guppies + 2 baby guppies. 6 Cory Julii (but not really the more common kind that looks the same), 3 small bristle nose catfish, and 1 amano shrimp.

So I got it into my head to clean my tank. During this process I pulled out all the rocks and wood that I have in there and cleaned them with a kitchen sponge. The sponge had been used before and as you would expect it killed all the bacteria in my tank.

The first that I knew of it was approx two days later when my guppies started to gasp at the surface. I did the usual run of tests and found high nitrite levels, not too bad but high enough for concern. So I did a water change and added some bacteria thinking that it was a temporary spike. When I got back from work the levels were off the chart.

In between cleaning and seeing nitrite I went down to my local pet store (no specialist nearby) and I had bought a tiny cheap #16##### tank, 13L, I was planning on putting my other pregnant guppy into it as she has been getting hassle from the males and so that once she gives birth I can separate her from the fry.

I then moved all my fish into the small tank that had only been cycling for 1 1/2 days max. I took all the wood and rocks back out of the tank. Added a bunch of carbon to the filter and a bowl of it in the main body of the tank. I have been doing three water changes daily on the small tank and adding bacteria everytime.I am not feeding the small tank. I have been testing both tanks alot but the small one more. The guppis and bristle noses seem fine.

Recent Test results:

Small Tank - No sign of Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate. PH is neutral.
Large Tank - No ammonia, Nitrate between 5 and 10 mg/L, Nitrite between 0.1 and 0.3 mg/L which is a big reduction. PH neutral.

Questions - How long can I continue to do this? My cory's seem very sluggish they are alive but not moving very much will they be ok? What are my next steps? How do I get rid of whatever is now on the wood/rocks?

Please give all and any advice, it's all welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Nsubs]

Hi All,

Sorry that my first post is in this section.

Background - I got back from a holiday to find my fish tank covered in algea. The fish were fine, healthy even, and one of my guppy mommies had given birth, while most of the fry were eaten I now have two guppy babies that will survive.

Fish are now 5 guppies + 2 baby guppies. 6 Cory Julii (but not really the more common kind that looks the same), 3 small bristle nose catfish, and 1 amano shrimp.

So I got it into my head to clean my tank. During this process I pulled out all the rocks and wood that I have in there and cleaned them with a kitchen sponge. The sponge had been used before and as you would expect it killed all the bacteria in my tank.

The first that I knew of it was approx two days later when my guppies started to gasp at the surface. I did the usual run of tests and found high nitrite levels, not too bad but high enough for concern. So I did a water change and added some bacteria thinking that it was a temporary spike. When I got back from work the levels were off the chart.

In between cleaning and seeing nitrite I went down to my local pet store (no specialist nearby) and I had bought a tiny cheap #16##### tank, 13L, I was planning on putting my other pregnant guppy into it as she has been getting hassle from the males and so that once she gives birth I can separate her from the fry.

I then moved all my fish into the small tank that had only been cycling for 1 1/2 days max. I took all the wood and rocks back out of the tank. Added a bunch of carbon to the filter and a bowl of it in the main body of the tank. I have been doing three water changes daily on the small tank and adding bacteria everytime.I am not feeding the small tank. I have been testing both tanks alot but the small one more. The guppis and bristle noses seem fine.

Recent Test results:

Small Tank - No sign of Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate. PH is neutral.
Large Tank - No ammonia, Nitrate between 5 and 10 mg/L, Nitrite between 0.1 and 0.3 mg/L which is a big reduction. PH neutral.

Questions - How long can I continue to do this? My cory's seem very sluggish they are alive but not moving very much will they be ok? What are my next steps? How do I get rid of whatever is now on the wood/rocks?

Please give all and any advice, it's all welcome.

Thanks.

plants are always a good idea in a tank as a good indicator for the nitrate levels and for keeping the nitrates down.
are you treating the water on the changes ?

 

[rory1944]

Sorry should have mentioned. My main aquarium is a heavily planted tank. Plants all look to be in good health. I did remove a couple when I got back from holiday because they were covered in algae.

I always treat my water with aquasafe and easybalance according to the instructions on the bottles. I also match the water temp as closely as possible before adding new water. Actually the small tank is 3-4 degrees cooler than the large one as it lacks a heater. I am going to remedy that at lunch today.

Thanks

 

[rory1944]

OK so I went to a more specialist shop today and bought an Arc Tank 35L and a heater. I needed to get my Cory's out of the small tank as there was no heater and I have to say that now they are in the right water temp they are looking much better.

The guy at the LFS was kind enough to give me a load of mature filter media from the store system, so there is also a big pile of rocks with mature bacteria on them sat in the middle of my tank.

I still need to know how best to clean my original tank to get rid of the unwanted chemicals, and I need to know how to detox the wood and stone.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Sofia]

I dont understand how cleaning your wood and stones with the sponge would kill off all the beneficial bacteria?
As long as the filter media remained untouched this would not have been the cause of the spike.

Granted it was silly to clean the decorations with a used sponge but it would not cause the damage you have described. I think the damage caused was perhaps due to disturbing the gravel and releasing pockets of ammonia which may have caused an ammonia spike or doing a high water change.

As long as your levels are stabalising then I would just carry on as you are doing give the bacteria a chance to build up and your water chemistry to level up.

As to sterilising your decorations boiling them in water usually works if you have a big enough pot or if they fit in your dishwasher do that and put it in a hot wash-not using soap of course.

Adding carbon to your filter may help get rid of the chemicals in your main tank but in all honesty I dont think this is the cause of your problems and would not bother.

But, if you would still like to then either completly strip down the tank and start the whole process again after cleaning the tank with bleach and then rinsing and rinsing, then rinsing again or just carry on as normal, eventually the 'clean' water to chemical ratio will be so large it wont affect your fish and will eventually be taken out of the tank.

Goodluck

 

[MHunt]

Most of the beneficial bacteria's in the filter, you could probably steralise the gravel and ornaments and the filter would still be able to support the tank, what's more likely is some detergant or bleach got onto the ornament and wasn't rinsed off enough and that has killed some of your filter bacteria and you're in a mini cycle. What you're doing now is just right. Keep doing water changes and test every day till the nitrite levels reduce to zero. You could also increase the aeration in the tank as the nitrite attacks the gills so the fish can't get as much oxygen from the water. You've just got to be patient and let the bacteria do it's thing and get back to supporting the tank.

 

[Polley]

It also depends on what was on the sponge before. For example, you don't clean a tank out with bleach, because there will be bleach residue inside the tank, yes?

So then say the sponge had liquid dish soap, the residue is now on the rocks and wood. This is what I am gathering from what you said earlier, in which case I would take 'em out and let them soak for a couple of days, changing the water a couple of times. Or better yet, boil the wood. That's what I do in order to sterilize it before putting it into my tank.

Truth be told, you will probably not be able to get all of the residue or chemicals off, but you could certainly reduce the amount of chemicals greatly just by soaking the pieces, by boiling the wood, etc. oh! and just thinking of it, I keep a sponge by my tank for the sole purpose of cleaning my tank that way this doesn't happen I almost did it a couple of times this summer, so it's good to have one just for your tank.

good luck!