I have been trying to resolve a terrible tank crash for several days now. Nothing I've done seems to help at all.
**What is happening: within 2-3 days after a partial (~10gal) water change my water went from pH 6.2, kH 1, ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0 ... to pH 6.6, kH 1, ammonia 1-2, nitrite 2-5. I have done many significant and partial water changes (from 50% to 5-10gal here and there; this is several times a day). None have even touched this issue. I believe the initial cause was: (1) I wasn't changing the water enough, (2) I assumed my fish's high activity level and my many, many trumpets were sifting the sand sufficiently - it was not, (3) my filter was clogged and not working for at least a few hours while I was not home. I have very thoroughly cleaned my substrate with a gravel vac (at least 5 times), I tried keeping the light off for a half day worth of the lighting cycle, I have added materials from my other, stable and established tank, and I have squeezed my other tank's filter foam in it to add bacteria. I also noticed that all of my java moss died - not sure exactly when, as it is mixed in with several other plants, which are not doing as well as I would expect. I used to have a lot of really healthy, abundant java moss in this same tank setup. Almost too much!
**Notable symptoms: the water looks green or blue-green, and no mater how many times I clean there seems to be some red 'debris' everywhere, particularly on my plants. I'm assuming these are both algae? I even tried rinsing off my plants, and picked through them and removed anything that wasn't doing well. If I wait a little then shake the plants around, the water gets mucky and dirty looking, and it looks like the sand is covered in waste. I clean it, and then this happens again over and over.
**Tank details: I have a 55gal freshwater tank, water established for ~half year, filter/etc established for ~1.5 years, one large catfish, planted. This tank has been on a timed lighting schedule since it was first established. I have one "regular" light and one "plant light". My substrate is sand. I have trouble with my region's water so I have several scoops of aragonite in the filter. I also add extra filtration beyond what's "required" because there's plenty of room. Despite great effort my kH remains around 1-2. My pH is also a struggle, and I'd like to raise it, but right now is just below 7. I will be installing lots of extra aeration tomorrow, because when my filter stopped my fish began suffocating.
What are the next steps I should take? Should I turn my light on or off? Should I try to shine a blacklight into the filter? Removing the fish to drain everything and start over is not an option, unfortunately.
**What is happening: within 2-3 days after a partial (~10gal) water change my water went from pH 6.2, kH 1, ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0 ... to pH 6.6, kH 1, ammonia 1-2, nitrite 2-5. I have done many significant and partial water changes (from 50% to 5-10gal here and there; this is several times a day). None have even touched this issue. I believe the initial cause was: (1) I wasn't changing the water enough, (2) I assumed my fish's high activity level and my many, many trumpets were sifting the sand sufficiently - it was not, (3) my filter was clogged and not working for at least a few hours while I was not home. I have very thoroughly cleaned my substrate with a gravel vac (at least 5 times), I tried keeping the light off for a half day worth of the lighting cycle, I have added materials from my other, stable and established tank, and I have squeezed my other tank's filter foam in it to add bacteria. I also noticed that all of my java moss died - not sure exactly when, as it is mixed in with several other plants, which are not doing as well as I would expect. I used to have a lot of really healthy, abundant java moss in this same tank setup. Almost too much!
**Notable symptoms: the water looks green or blue-green, and no mater how many times I clean there seems to be some red 'debris' everywhere, particularly on my plants. I'm assuming these are both algae? I even tried rinsing off my plants, and picked through them and removed anything that wasn't doing well. If I wait a little then shake the plants around, the water gets mucky and dirty looking, and it looks like the sand is covered in waste. I clean it, and then this happens again over and over.
**Tank details: I have a 55gal freshwater tank, water established for ~half year, filter/etc established for ~1.5 years, one large catfish, planted. This tank has been on a timed lighting schedule since it was first established. I have one "regular" light and one "plant light". My substrate is sand. I have trouble with my region's water so I have several scoops of aragonite in the filter. I also add extra filtration beyond what's "required" because there's plenty of room. Despite great effort my kH remains around 1-2. My pH is also a struggle, and I'd like to raise it, but right now is just below 7. I will be installing lots of extra aeration tomorrow, because when my filter stopped my fish began suffocating.
What are the next steps I should take? Should I turn my light on or off? Should I try to shine a blacklight into the filter? Removing the fish to drain everything and start over is not an option, unfortunately.
