Does Anyone Know..............

[TF Keeper UK]

..............what the dark lines in my silver sand are? I suspect they are the cause of the high test results (pH 7.8, ammonia 2ppm, nitrite 2.0ppm and nitrate 20ppm)

I have lost 2 fish (Homer the Julii Cory and a True Upside Down Catfish)

Since Sunday I've been doing daily water changes (25%) in an effort to get the values down. I don't wnt to stir up the sand, in case this aggrevates the problem.

I plan to move the fish to a holding tank while I thoroughly clean the sand this weekend.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Del

 

[rdd1952]

How long have you had the tank set up and running and how long have the ammonia and nitrite reading been that high? I'm not sure what the lines in the sand are but strongly suspect the cause of the deaths are the high ammonia and nitrate, especially ammonia. The toxicity of ammonia increases as pH increases. Your pH of 7.8 would make the ammonia at 2.0 ppm extremely toxic. Some corys aren't very hardy. Not sure about the USD catfish and how hardy they are. I would step up the water changes to 2 a day (maybe even up to 35 to 50 percent) until you can get the ammonia and nitrite under .5 ppm. If by chance you lose the other fish though. I would add some fish flakes or ammonia and finish cycling the tank without fish. It's a whole lot easier than trying to keep the levels low enough not to harm your fish.

 

[TF Keeper UK]

The tank has been set up since last November. I changed to a sand substrate last week. The levels started going high then.

I did a water change before i went to work this morning (430am! )

Tested the water when i got home. pH 7.2, ammonia 1.0pmm, nitrate 10ppm, nitrite 2.0ppm), better but not good. Will do a 50% change before I goto bed.

Thanks rdd1952

Del

 

[funkybodal]

Hmm...I reckon that as your previous substrate (gravel or whatever) would have provided quite a large surface area for bacteria to colonise, removing it meant that your filter couldn't cope with the extra workload and thus your nitrite and ammonia reading rocketed?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would do a 50% water change with dechlorinator imediatly as this will lower your ammonia and nitrite levels; ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish in any levels to fish and the nitrites indicate your tank is cycling- did you wash out your filter in fresh tap water or change the sponge recently?

 

[funkybodal]

Another thing that can happen with sand...as the particles are really tiny, this restricts water flow meaning that 'dead spots' can be created under the sand - which can kinda screw around with your water. This is often indicated by dark patches in the sand...

However, this probably isn't what happened here, what I mentioned in my above post is more likely.

Keep doing water changes and I'd recommend adding some sort of bacteria boosting product to the tank.

Good luck.

 

[rdd1952]

Hmm...I reckon that as your previous substrate (gravel or whatever) would have provided quite a large surface area for bacteria to colonise, removing it meant that your filter couldn't cope with the extra workload and thus your nitrite and ammonia reading rocketed?

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I imagine this (change of substrate) is a big part of it. The majority of the bacteria colony lives in the filter and on the media but some definitely would have been lost in the substrate. The key question is how did you change the sand out? If you drained the tank AND didn't keep all the plants, decorations and tank walls wet during the change, then all that bacteria would have also died off. Same goes for the filter if that media dried out. That could lead to a complete recycle of the tank.

As Tokis said, the fact that you have nitrite shows that the tank is cycling so just keep up the water changes until it finishes cycling.

 

[TF Keeper UK]

rdd1952 - i drained the tank, decorations were not kept wet.
I cleaned one half of the filter media in the old tank water and kept the filter submerged in a bowl of tank water.

funkybodal - I do have 'dead spots' in the sand! I don't want to disturb them as I think this will only raise the ammonia and nitrate levels! As the levels are falling, I think the filter is starting to cope! I'll continue the water changes (50%) twice a day until the weekend. Hopefully my levels will be at a more acceptable figure by then (0ppm)

Tokis-Phoenix - I washed the filter container in tap water, the sponge in tank water.

Thanks to one and all for your help and suggestions. Been a TF keeper since November, still on a learning curve!

Del

 

[rdd1952]

Sounds like you definitely have a mini cycle from the change. It should cycle through pretty fast since you did seed it with the old filter. That was basically all the good bacteria you had left since the others would have been removed or died off.

As for the dead spots in the sand, disturbing them shouldn't have any effect on the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate levels. You do need to poke or lightly rake the sand ever so often to keep it from compacting and allowing gases to build up. Not a major raking. You can actually do it by poking a fork in the sand like you were poking holes on a potato before putting it in the microwave.

 

[TF Keeper UK]

Thanks rdd1952, i'll rake the sand as i do the water change.

Del

 

[Dubby]

Thanks rdd1952, i'll rake the sand as i do the water change.

Del

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Adding a few fast growing plants will help as well !!! They will also help rid of the anaerobic spots.

Vallis, Egeria will grow well in sand. You can also add floating plants like hornwort.