Partial Disaster

[Lolly123]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and wanted to post on here regarding a disaster with my mothers fish tank this morning. Just for knowledge, i'm not new to fish keeping but wanted some verification of how i'm going to tackle the problem.

I was awoken this morning by a frantic mum telling me all of her fish were gasping at the top of the tank and dying. I rushed down and got the test kit out. I havent been involved in the tank as I've been living in Sweden and found out that she hasnt got a complete test kit. I tested for Ammonia which showed 0 but Nitrites were sky high and have no idea about Nitrate as she has no test kit for that! (i've demanded she buy a whole new kit btw) and PH was 7.4

Water changes commenced immediately as did oxygenation as the clown loaches were on their sides, gasping with discolouration. To get the nitrite fully down I had no choice but to change about 90% of the water, obviously in two stages, syphoning out, filling up and so on. I have also noticed that the gravel bed was absolutely filthy in the underneath layers. I took out about a 5th of the gravel bed through the suction tube and showed her the decaying plant matter, stench and blackness that was coming out of this gravel. I'm not surprised the levels were sky high with this discovery of decaying rubbish. It has been about 12 hours since this horrendous incident happened...we havent lost any fish...yet, nitrite is at 0 and the fish have improved dramatically and resumed swimming about, although I am sure that their immune systems have been affected with this poisoning, and still expect some fatalities

I plan to take out another small section through the syphon in about a week and gradually clean the bed slowly. I dont want to completely wipe out the good bacteria so do you think that weekly intervals between cleaning sections of gravel are enough to ensure i dont affect the tank in a detrimental way?

I've advised mum not to feed them for a short while until we are sure the levels are stable and suitable and also advised that her over feeding has contributed to this.

Is there anthing more I can do or does anyone have any other good ideas, and has anyone had fish that have survived such a horrible occurrence?

Thanks for your time to read the long post.

Lolly.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi Lolly,

I'm new here too
Well, you've done all the right things so far...

What kind of filtration is there in the tank? If she's got some kind of canister filter, whether internal or external, you can afford to go faster with cleaning the gravel as most of the bacteria will be in the filter and not the substrate.

If it is an undergravel, then yes, you'll have to go a bit more slowly, but you should still be able to give the whole thing a good clean over in one or two days; you won't be removing that much of the good bacteria which will be on the gravel rather than in the 'gunk'. It won't be working very efficiently anyway with that sort of decomposition going on in there. It would be a good idea to test every day for ammonia spikes though, just in case.
Best of luck!

 

[Lolly123]

Hi Lolly,

I'm new here too
Well, you've done all the right things so far...

What kind of filtration is there in the tank? If she's got some kind of canister filter, whether internal or external, you can afford to go faster with cleaning the gravel as most of the bacteria will be in the filter and not the substrate.

If it is an undergravel, then yes, you'll have to go a bit more slowly, but you should still be able to give the whole thing a good clean over in one or two days; you won't be removing that much of the good bacteria which will be on the gravel rather than in the 'gunk'. It won't be working very efficiently anyway with that sort of decomposition going on in there. It would be a good idea to test every day for ammonia spikes though, just in case.
Best of luck!

Hey fluttermoth.

Thanks for the advice.

We have a fluval 205 running on the tank. Its an okay filter when it runs properly, just a complete #28### to get started again. I'm trying to persuade mum that she needs a new one, i'll end up buying it for her, and the fish of course

I tested first thing this morning for Ammonia and Nitrite, no Nitrate for previous reason stated, both were at zero which I was thankful to see, the fish were out to eat a small amount of blood worm this morning also. So things are looking good.

I think i'll take your advice on the gravel and start to clean a little bit more of it, the line of gunk sitting right on the bottom underneath is really annoying me!

Thanks alot for your time!

 

[Loach_man]

You may want to consider some bacterial additives, to get the nitrogen cycle going. Seems like something happened to the bacteria which break down nitrate into its NO[sub]2[/sub] form. I've had good luck so far with the additive, too much in fact (whitish bacteria cloud). So don't take my advice, actually.

 

[Lolly123]

You may want to consider some bacterial additives, to get the nitrogen cycle going. Seems like something happened to the bacteria which break down nitrate into its NO[sub]2[/sub] form. I've had good luck so far with the additive, too much in fact (whitish bacteria cloud). So don't take my advice, actually.

lol, okay I wont take your advice

The tank has been running for a few years and yes something peculiar happened which just shot my nitrite levels into the sky. Ive tested everyday since it happened and everything is stable and fine now and very luckily, no fish deaths! I believe it was the gravel/sand bed which caused a build up of decay and mum hadnt been too wise in noticing it.

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?
How many fish and which type?

Your mum should be preforming a gravel vac and water change once a week.
Keeping an eye on water stats.

Do some research on maintaining a tank.


Best not to over do the cleaning. Best to do half of the tank, and finish the rest the next day.
It can stress fish altering the water stats to fast.
Only slightly rinse the sponges in old tank water.. Then only rinse half of the sponges the first time.

 

[Lolly123]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?
How many fish and which type?

Your mum should be preforming a gravel vac and water change once a week.
Keeping an eye on water stats.

Do some research on maintaining a tank.


Best not to over do the cleaning. Best to do half of the tank, and finish the rest the next day.
It can stress fish altering the water stats to fast.
Only slightly rinse the sponges in old tank water.. Then only rinse half of the sponges the first time.

Yes, I am aware of how to maintain a tank, this unfortunate occurence happened because my mum is lacking in knowledge, needless to say she has learnt a lesson and I am now more active in her tank as I've returned home. I had no choice but to do a 90% water change when nitrite results were discovered to be very high, if left, my fish would have died. I do a 30% water change every week, plus gravel vacuum.

The tank is 220 Litres she has 4 cardinal tetra, 5 serpae tetra, 6 zebra danios, 4 zebra loach, common pleco, bolivian ram and a few black widow tetras.

I would have liked to see the pleco in a larger tank but I wasn't there when the decision was made. Overall I would change the stocking and maybe have a few less fish in there, in reality i'd like to buy a bigger tank but thats something my parents will not allow.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Your mums lucky to have you to take care of things for her.

I would also recommend to her to add another filter to the tank. It's best to over filter a tank.

 

[Lolly123]

Ok.
Your mums lucky to have you to take care of things for her.

I would also recommend to her to add another filter to the tank. It's best to over filter a tank.

lol...well I can get angry with her at times, because she knows this hobby holds responsibility. I use the info i have learned as well as I can, and I like browsing this forum and reading posts from far more experienced and knowledgeable people. I like fish, so naturally reading about them is fun, to me lol

Yes I would absolutely agree with the extra filter, we used to run two on an old tank and the stability, water clarity and cleanliness was wonderful. I think i'll buy her a new one!

 

[WILDER]

How are things today.

 

[Lolly123]

How are things today.

Tank looks lovely, fish are swimming happily and colours are bright. They also have a ravenous appetite, so all good i'd say and of course, levels as they should be.

 

[WILDER]

Thanks for the update.
Glad the fish are happy now.

 

[Lolly123]

Thanks for the update.
Glad the fish are happy now.

No problem

Im so relieved also. I could try and post a pic so you can see for yourself, if I can find a camera.

 

[WILDER]

I believe you. It would be nice to see a pic if you can find a camera.
You could than add the pics to the fish tank section of the forum.

 

[Lolly123]

I believe you. It would be nice to see a pic if you can find a camera.
You could than add the pics to the fish tank section of the forum.

lol i dont doubt that

Found a camera, well a phone...i'll try my best!