Fish Died After Adding New Substrate

[BKyler]

I added new white substrate (yes I rinsed it off first before adding to existing substrate) to my 55 gallon fish only aquarium after Fluval suggested that was the reason my Aquasky 2.0 light was giving my water a yellowish tint because of my beige substrate. The white substrate turned my aquarium water a milky, cloudy color. I tested the water when a couple of the tiger barbs started dying and all the parameters are within limits. A did a couple of water changes and the water is still cloudy and a milky color. I added carbon to my Fluval 407 filter and it's a little better, but not much. Any suggestions on what else I can do before more fish start dying or just wait it out. I have corys, a red tail shark, and swordtails and they seem to be doing okay. It's just the tiger barbs.

 

[gwand45 162]

I would perform more water changes until the water clears. It appears you did not rinse the new substrate enough before adding it to the tank.

 

[MattW46 162]

Was the original substrate replaced? Or was the white added as a cap?

 

[BKyler]

Added on top.

 

[BKyler]

This is what it looks like after almost a week with the new substrate. Still cloudy and milky looking.

 

[MattW46 162]

Hmm, the only thing I can think of is that the new stuff may have reacted chemically to being in water and caused the milky colour. Do you still have the packaging? Have a look if there is any mention of limestone/limescale traces. Was it bought from a fish store?

 

[gwand45 162]

My guess is that there are tiny sand granules making up the milky cloud targeting the gills and impairing proper oxygen exchange.

 

[BKyler]

Hmm, the only thing I can think of is that the new stuff may have reacted chemically to being in water and caused the milky colour. Do you still have the packaging? Have a look if there is any mention of limestone/limescale traces. Was it bought from a fish store?

It says it is a high quality, polymer coated gravel ideal for aquariums. Because it is composed of inert stone, it will not buffer pH and is suitable for freshwater environments. I purchased it from Walmart.

 

[FattyFish]

Hi, looking at your photo, it looks like you have a lot of water movement. Have you tried taking a glass of water out and just seeing if the water in the glass settles overnight and becomes clear? It will help determine if it's fine sediment in the water that will eventually settle.

 

[BKyler]

Hi, looking at your photo, it looks like you have a lot of water movement. Have you tried taking a glass of water out and just seeing if the water in the glass settles overnight and becomes clear? It will help determine if it's fine sediment in the water that will eventually settle.

I'll have to try that. Someone did suggest taking a glass of tap water and putting some of the new substrate in and seeing if it gets cloudy. There have been no more dead fish the past couple days.

 

[Innesfan44 6]

Since the new substrate was added on top of the old I'd be concerned about creating toxic anaerobic pockets in the older substrate underneath. I defer to @TwoTankAmin on this subject as to whether my concern is justified.

 

[anewbie]

You said white substrate but can you be more precise - some white substrate commonly available is crush coral or aragonite both which will leach and change the water chemistry and depending on the fishes you have that would be sufficient to kill them.

Of course what @Innesfan said can happen but that usually takes a little bit of time for the anaerobic pockets to form and produce enough sulfate gas that it can harm the fish ('a little bit of time' is certainly longer than 48 hours though i can't give you a reliable number for min time frame). Also in my experience by the time the concentration is high enough to harm the fishes - stirring the substrate to release the gas you will smell a strong rotten egg odor.

If the substrate leaches calcium or similar (pure speculation without knowing the substrate you used) pretty much all the fishes 'cept perhaps the barbs will be vulnerable dependent on how much you put in the aquarium.

Then again if the substrate is something like crystal river (inert) it should be unrelated to the death of the fishes though it might take a week to clear depending on your filtration et all.

 

[BKyler]

It's Spectrastone from Walmart. Spectrastone will not change PH and is non-toxic and durable.

 

[anewbie]

It's Spectrastone from Walmart. Spectrastone will not change PH and is non-toxic and durable.

coated stone. Well don't know of course we can guess but fishes can die for a lot of reasons.

 

[BKyler]

It says it's an aquarium gravel and is a popular substrate for freshwater and marine environments.