Sudden Water Cloudinness

[Caprichoso]

Was doing some aquarium maintenance yesterday.

Scrubbed algae off glass and rocks.
Rinsed the filter sponge and changed the carbon and ammonia filter
Vacuumed 10% of the gravel
Performed a 20% water change(adding the necessary de-clorinator and bacteria)

While vacuuming the gravel, bubbles started coming to the surface which smelled like methane. This has only happened once before to me in the 15+years I have had my own aquarium and it didn't seem to affect the fish in any way. This time however was different.

4 hours later, the water had completely clouded up and my fish were gasping for air at the top of the tank!!!

I immediately performed a 60% water change and added some ammonia rid. I also boosted up the filter a bit and increased the air stone. I lost one rummynose tetra and this morning I found one of my amano shrimps dead on the bottom. I am so gutted

I performed another water change this morning,(about 50%) and added some more ammonia rid and bacteria. The rest of the rummynose and cardinals, along with my 2 surviving shrimps and 2 green corydoras "appear" to be alright.

I just want to know what I should do at this point? I don't know if I'm changing too much of the water or not enough? Also, at what point will I be able to do an accurate ammonia and nitrite/nitrate test because of adding this ammonia rid stuff?

I didn't bother checking for ammonia as it would have given a false reading due to adding the ammonia rid.

Any constructive advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Caprichoso and to TFF.

What you are experiencing is a bacterial bloom. You can read all about these here.

The gas which came out of your substrate is Hydrogen Sulphide which is lethal and is produced by anaerobic bacteria in the substrate. This can be avoided by regularly vacuuming the substrate, making sure you disturb it and turn it over as you go.

The good news is that although the gas is deadly, as soon as it comes into contact with the water and reacts with the water's oxygen, it becomes harmless, so is very unlikely to harm you or your fish.

What you are most likely experiencing with the death of your fish is an ammonia spike which is caused by the bacterial bloom.

I would recommend performing a 100% water change immediately (making sure you match the temperature and hardness of the new water with that of the old water as far as is possible). This will also remove the ammonia treatment you used and will allow you to keep track of the actual ammonia level in the water using test kits.

Thereafter, if you detect any ammonia in the water, perform a 50% water change straight away and continue to do this until ammonia stabilises at zero again.

The actual cloudiness itself is harmless for your fish, but the ammonia it produces can often be lethal. Ammonia must be monitored and removed from your tank as far as is possible.

You should also try to vacuum the rest of the substrate to remove any other gas pockets and waste lying in the substrate as this is the major cause of bacterial blooms as described in the article linked to above.

Let us know how you get on, and if you have any questions, please ask.

Regards

BTT

 

[Caprichoso]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, I'll get right on with another water change. It worries me to vacuum out the rest of the gravel as this is what caused the problem to begin with. I have always heard that you shouldn't vacuum it all at once but maybe that only applies to regular conditions? I will do it if it's my only option. I'll check out that link as well, thanks again.

 

[backtotropical]

I do understand your concerns with vacuuming as this is what caused the problem, but if you don't, you're going to have the same problem again in the future.

You need to get to the stage where your substrate is completely vacuumed and then keep it that way with regular maintenance.

If you do the rest of the vacuuming and then immediately do the 100% water change, it will have minimal impact on your situation but achieve where you want to be with your substrate. I can't stress enough here that this whole problem was caused by not keeping your gravel vacuumed in the first place.

I notice you also have an ammonia and carbon filter? These are generally recommended to be unnecessary for every day use, and in fact an ammonia filter will hinder the cycling of your biological filter, so I'd definitely remove that. Replace it with a normal filter sponge. This will be far more beneficial to your filtration.

Regards

BTT

 

[Caprichoso]

I totally get what you're saying and thank you. I do want to point out that I regularly vacuum the gravel and do water changes. I vacuum 10% and always do a 20% water change along with it. (Every 2 weeks on average).

My filter is an aqua clear and I use a filter sponge, ammonia filter, carbon insert and on top, and those cylindrical clay things that help establish a good biological filter. This is why I'm confused as to why this has happened. I have never had fish suddenly be in distress like this in the entire 15+ years of having an aquarium.

I vacuumed some more of the gravel and noticed that the areas that are really bubbly, have a tonne of empty snail shells in the gravel. Could an abundance of dead snails under the gravel be a possible cause? I've never had this many snails in my aquarium before because I usually try to pick them out as much as possible but lately I've given up.

Anyway, I will try vacuuming the rest later tonight and continue with the water changes and try testing the water in the next couple of days. Hopefully I can get it sorted out soon, I'm so stressed out and feel so bad for my poor fish!

Thank you for reading my posts and answering, I really appreciate it!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Classic bacteria bloom, as said before.

Unless you are using an under-gravel filter (UGF), do not worry too much about cleaning all the gravel. When using an UGF the gravel is the filter media, and if you clean it all too vigorously, you lose all the biological filtration in the tank, and ammonia will spike.

Ammonia remover stuff, bin it, and just control/check the levels with water changes and a test kit.

Also, I know this is a really noobish thing, but always good to check, you are not cleaning the filter media with tap water are you?

 

[Caprichoso]

Not at all, it's a great question! I always rinse the medium with the water from the tank. Sometimes I'll also de-chlorinate a bucket of water and rinse in that.

I just cleaned a bit more gravel, did another water change and I think I'll test it tomorrow to see how things look. The fish all look bright and are acting normal. Hopefully I didn't compromise their health, fingers crossed!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Not at all, it's a great question! I always rinse the medium with the water from the tank. Sometimes I'll also de-chlorinate a bucket of water and rinse in that.

I just cleaned a bit more gravel, did another water change and I think I'll test it tomorrow to see how things look. The fish all look bright and are acting normal. Hopefully I didn't compromise their health, fingers crossed!

Good stuff! I would (however) stick to using only the tank water for rinsing in future though. Some might say its not required, but its always stood me in good stead

Just keep the water conditions good, and the fish will thrive.

In this hobby, we are essentially glorified water managment experts! Healthy fish are a by-product