Mass death in t 125.... t saga continues....

T

tremper

Members
So I got back from a 8 day trip out of country to this.......

cloudy tank.jpg

If you'll review the link below,. I was the putz who poisoned a decent group of fish with an "organic" glass cleaner.

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8263

To remedy the issue I created, I drained the "poisoned" tank, and refilled and drained it 3x, refilled the tank and ran a charcoal filter on it for a day, conditioned the water and attached a seasoned fluval 404 from another tank.

The water started to cloud slightly before I left on my trip but the photo above is what I returned to.

I did leave 3 anubia in the tank which have now rotted to the point where they are a total loss. I had every intention of dropping a few goldfish in the tank but time ran away from me. There is an algaeic formation around the interier of the tank with a filmy substance that ive never seen before.

I have yet to run any water analysis as obviously, something is still heinously wrong. Anyone ever seen anything like this? I'm pretty much at a loss as to what to do next. Obviously, another drain is in order, but what the heck is going wrong here.

I've had a large tank or two for most of my life but have never seen anything like this before!

H :wacko:
E :confused:
L :(
P :unsure:
!! :angry3:

cloudy tank.jpg
 
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SubMariner

SubMariner

Master Jedi & Past VP
Take a water sample to your nearest LFS. They tend to have better testers than the average person.

If I were you I would blow it up completely and start from scratch. Drain all of it and start over and cycle it for 7 days till you retest the water.


Good luck,


RM
 
Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
Cloudiness can be due to so many different things it does not itself serve as a very definitive indicator of what is going on. But cloudiness on start up of a tank can be due to a bacteria bloom if the water contains a lot of nutrients. You can rule that out if you started with tap water, but not if you started with water from another tank.
The rocks in the picture appear to be river rock and these would be inert, so no factor regarding cloudiness. However if there are one or two rocks not in the picture that are soft rocks, they could contribute to the problem.
The thing that appears most likely as the cause in MHO is the white substrate. It appears to be one of those substrates designed to control the pH of the water. Some of these dissolve fairly rapidly at least initially and lead to a cloudy tank. Some should actually be washed initially to get rid of fines in the substrate that really dissolve quickly giving cloudiness. You could check the pH and if it is 8 or above, the substrate is most likely the cause of the cloudiness. And if that is the case it will not harm the fish and it will clear up in a couple of weeks.
 
Spine

Spine

Members
I don't think you need to drain the whole tank. It should clear up soon. I would continue to do small water changes and make sure to feed minimal amounts of food.If its your unwashed substrate causing some cloudiness you could try using a diatom filter.
 
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Travis

Travis

Members
Sorry, I need to be more clear. I was looking for a more descriptive explanation of what it is that you see when you say an "algaeic formation" and "filmy substance".
 
T

tremper

Members
Thanks all.

Rocks came from a rocky beach in VA that I routinely collect driftwood and rocks from. Wood is usually bleached of tanins due to months of drifting in the ocean prior to landing on shore.

No soft rocks in the tank, all sweet ocean tumbled "river" rocks.

Substrate was from a previous large tank I had, no issues in that tank due to cloudiness nor in the previous start up on thus tank so i dont think its the substrate.

With regard to the "algaeic formation", its just a bunch of gunk, light brown / beige that has fored on the water level.

Looks like a clean out do over in order....... dran it all....
 
Travis

Travis

Members
It's hard to say without seeing the gunk, but I've seen new substrates put off a gunky/foamy beige-to-brown layer that adheres to the tank walls at the water level.

How long were you gone before you returned to the fouled tank?
 
T

tremper

Members
8 days but again, this was not new substrate. Previously used for years in one tank. Dried out and sat in sealed containers in basement, placed in new tank for a week with absolutely no clouding issues. Cleaned tank and restarted anew and THEN the clouding occured.
 
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