White Substance On Plastic?

[NHmom]

Hi all, new to the forums and just posted an introduction in the new to forums section.

But thought I would post my question here. I lost my 20 gallon High planted aquarium after an extended power outage (4 days) in freezing temperatures. I had a well established tank without any incident and had three albino cory's, five bloodfin tetras, and two yo-yo loaches. After we were back in our house with the electricity and heat back on, my tank mates had not made it.

So cleaned out tank, did a 3/4 water change, cleaned the filter setup (magnum HOT pro), pulled out the dead plants, and then let the airstone, lights cycle as normal. The tank was empty for about three weeks (due to all the local stores loosing their tanks, and then the rush as everyone tried to re-stock).

I put in two otto cats, they looked really small to me, and one lasted 24 hours, the other 48 hours. I tested the water chemistry, pH 7.8 (normal for my tap water which is a well), general hardness was 6 dGH, ammonia ~0, Nitrate <10, and Nitrite ~0. So nothing really wonky there. So went out and bought five glass shrimp who are doing a great job cleaning the algea layer off my plants and two clown loaches for my DD. They have been in the tank for about 24 hours, and I hardly see them, they are huddled under the rocks. So I am concerned about what is going on?

I did notice a white substance covering anything plastic in the aquarium, the air lines, the plastic bumpers on the heater, and on parts of the filter. What is this? Could it be bacterial? Would this cause me to loose the otto cats? Any ideas?

Thanks!

NHmom.

 

[LauraFrog]

Your tank had no power supply for four days, so in my opinion the best thing to do is to treat it as a new tank, as it is highly unlikely that any of the beneficial bacteria would have survived for so long without oxygen (water flow through the filter).

When you remove the filtration system from an aquarium, particularly when there are also fish and plants decomposing in it, what you end up with is a stagnant body of water and it rapidly becomes anaerobic - in short, the good bacteria die, the fish and plants die, and then bad bacteria are able to grow. The better the cleanout is, the better your chance of getting rid of most of them - personally I would remove all the ornaments and give them a scrub, throw out all the water, and rinse the gravel (unless it was a planting substrate) after a serious tank kill. If you didn't do that, adding some melafix to the water (it's an antibacterial fish medication that will not harm plants or fish) may get rid of the white stuff. It's hard to know what it is without seeing it, as it could be just about anything. It may be bacterial, it may be fungal, and it may be some kind of opportunistic algae. Does it come off easily or is it stuck there?

When the tank was empty for three weeks, did you do a fishless cycle? (You know what cycling is, right?) When you took the water readings and wrote ~0, does that mean there was a trace showing? In 48 hours, two otos would generate a trace of ammonia and nitrite in a tank that is not cycled and it would be enough to kill them. They are very sensitive fish.
If there is a rush on pet stores due to everybody trying to restock tanks they lost when the power went out, it is likely that all the fish you bought had recently arrived at the pet store. Two changes in water conditions within a few days may have been enough to kill otos even if you acclimatised them properly and the tank was cycled. This is also likely to be the reason the loaches are hiding, although if the tank is not cycled traces of ammonia could be bothering them as well.

I should probably warn you that you won't be able to keep the loaches long-term in a 20 gallon tank. They grow enormous, at least 8 inches. In the meantime though, if the tank is not cycled you will need to do water changes, about 30% daily. If you are going through a fish-in cycle, the aim is to keep ammonia below 0.25ppm at all times.

 

[NHmom]

Thanks for the reply.

After the power outage, I did remove 3/4 of the water, the majority of the plants (it was heavily planted) a good gravel vac (but know it was not all the way down since there is about an inch of plant substrate, then substrate mixed with small river rocks for the next 1 inch.) Scrubbed the decor and sides down good. I also used a mild bleach solution when I pulled the entire canister filter apart and let it soak for a bit. (I do rinse extremely well and then let all the parts sit in a clean bucket with dechlorinator in it before re-assembly). I also pulled apart the biowheel housing and rinsed the bio weel a little with clean water (I have a well, so there is no chlorine in my tap water).

I know what cycling is, and did that the best I could, frequent water changes, added more stabliity and bacterial start up powder. I did not really see the white flaky stuff on the air lines at the time. I probably should have pulled the airlines, heaters etc and scrubbed them, but I did not think of it at the time.

The ammonia reading I posted is because I am using the colormetric test kits. I compair the color to the color slide, and if the color is close to the zero reading, I record that. If it seems to be between the zero reading and the first unit on the chart, I wil call it <x whatever the unit is on the chart. So in essence, my ammonia level was at 0, within the sensitivity of my assay kit.

So in follow up, is the Melafix ok to use with the glass shrimp? I am also planning on pulling out the rest of my plants , airlines, etc. Is it worth using a broad spectrum medication as a pre-treatment what can I use that won't kill the shrimp? I will be returning the loaches to the store shortly as well.

It just sucks that I am completely starting over. I am just trying to stay positive that this can be a good thing, and planning out my next plants, fish, etc.