Disaster! Whats Gone Wrong?

[roughyed]

Well an hour and a half ago all was well....then just before I went to bed the tank was cloudy and all my neon were at the surface gasping for air and the shrimp were abandoning the tank.

Doing a complete water change? (at nearly 3am!!!) but what caused it?

my ammonia was 0 but nitrites slightly raised (0.25ppm) a few hours ago?

 

[Danno]

Did anything get dropped in the tank from a shelf above? Do you have sand in the tank?

Add some carbon to remove any possible threats.

 

[backtotropical]

Sounds like a bacterial bloom, but that wouldn't make the fish gasp at the surface. Have you checked the temperature of the tank? It may be that your heater has failed and is overheating your tank?

 

[roughyed]

No sand and a solid lid.

It is a bit warm, up from 24 to 26.

 

[Tolak]

Nitrites will inhibit a fish's ability to process O2, that is the reason they are at the surface. From looking back at some of your previous posts this is a recently cycled tank, so it doesn't have a really strong bacterial colony established yet. If it is white cloudiness it is probably free floating nitrifying bacteria that have yet to established themselves on the filter media.

If I remember correctly you have a hob filter, drop the water level about an inch shy of full, this will create more surface movement, which will increase aeration. The white cloudiness should clear up on its own, once the bacterial colony becomes more established.

Neons are rather fragile fish, and should only be introduced into a mature tank. It takes about 6 months for a tank to really become mature after it is done cycling.

 

[roughyed]

I might have a new suspect....I've taken my yeast co2 glass diffuser out of the tank (if there is a lack of O2 then co2 wont help) and the glass diffuser is full of cloudy water. Could I of had a yeast accident?

 

[afishdude]

yes that could have happend. i had that happen it kinda makes the fish a little drunk. but it is poisen to the fish. i wouldnt put it back in until you get your problem solved.

 

[roughyed]

Well its cloudy again. And they are all at the surface. The shrimp are sat on the thermometer out of the water. Can't really do any more water changes without waking up the house.

Surface is aggitated and bubbles injected.

 

[raptorrex]

low O2 may well have a lot to do with this.

 

[roughyed]

Well its even cloudier now. If anything survives this it will be a miracle.

 

[roughyed]

Nitrites were up to 1ppm.

 

[raptorrex]

phew, large and often water changes, you may need to cycle the tank again. or maybe just let it cycle. keep us informed.

 

[-germ-]

IMO 60% water changes daily until recycled...
20% morning, noon and night. Worked for me. If you can purchase some SeaChem prime and use this in addition to your water changes.
I personally think it is somehow co2 related.....

 

[roughyed]

Well the water is now crystal clear. But I had some casualties 2 shrimp and a Neon, so far!

 

[bluetrane2028]

I had something like this happen once before, but I also had some lumpy matter of unknown origin appear at the bottom of the tank (in my 10g, three years ago). I did a massive water change, changed the filter (had to re-cycle the tank unfortunately), but I didn't lose any fish, and I had five neons in there at the time, along with 6 other tetras and the same algae eater as current... I guess I just got lucky, but sometimes drastic measures are necessary. Good luck with this!